World in brief

India stocks plunge over election fears

NEW DELHI - India's stock market suffered its deepest plunge in four years Tuesday due to fears the government's liberal economic policies might falter if the prime minister's ruling alliance fails to get a majority in Parliament, as predicted by exit polls.

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was widely expected to return to power, but exit polls showed his alliance would lose more seats than expected. Investors fear a weak or unstable coalition in Parliament could slow or even halt economic liberalization.

The benchmark index of the Bombay Stock Exchange, the Sensex, plunged 229.94 points, or 4.1 percent, to close at 5325.90 points.

Election results were expected Thursday and could revive the political momentum of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, with Italian-born Sonia Gandhi as leader of the main opposition Congress Party.

KANO, Nigeria - Angry young Muslim men attacked "nonbelievers" with machetes Tuesday, while others burned cars, stores and apartments in apparent revenge for last week's killings of hundreds of Muslims by a Christian group.

Three corpses - one charred and another badly mutilated - lay in the streets; it was unclear who killed them. There were unconfirmed reports of several others killed by young men who barricaded streets with burning tires and garbage.

GLASGOW, Scotland - An explosion ripped through a plastics factory in Glasgow on Tuesday, killing four people, injuring dozens and leaving an unknown number buried in the rubble, police and the fire brigade said.

The midday blast at Stockline Plastics wrecked much of the building and left 40 people injured, 16 seriously, the Strathclyde fire brigade said.

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