News in brief

Trial opens today in Charleston, West Virginia, in a case where a funeral home inadvertently returned the dissected brain of a loved one to his family along with his personal effects.

France’s TF1 Television has reportedly won the French distribution rights for Warner Bros. film and television, taking it from state-owned France Televisions.

Northwest Airlines and its mechanics are still apparently far apart in their negotiations and a strike seems likely, though the airline plans to replace striking workers and keep its planes flying.

Country music star Garth Brooks has signed an exclusive deal with Wal-Mart which will make his recordings available only at Wal-Mart, Sam’s Clubs, and Walmart.com.

The Supreme Court of Canada will decide whether a British Columbia law shedding collective bargaining agreements with public section unions violates the country’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Thales, a French electronics company, has won the contract to modernize the airport at Vilnius, Lithuania.

Illinois State Police have canceled the contract of a national DNA testing firm and are demanding refunds, after finding that a quarter of the test results on rape kits submitted to the firm were erroneous.

[Frank Snyder]