THE mighty Danube was apparently absorbing Hungary’s massive toxic red sludge spill with little immediate harm, officials reported yesterday – even though the amount of caustic slurry spewed over the western part of the country was nearly as great as the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Officials in Hungary have said the size of the toxic sludge disaster is almost as big as that of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

A liberal intellectual has been arrested in Iran, the first detention of a prominent academic since the election of hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last year, a Cabinet minister said tonight.