Newsline 3 December 2009: A massive people-smuggling trial reaches its climax in The Netherlands; survivors remember the Bhopal disaster 25 years ago today; and why a former Beatle is trying to persuade Europe to adopt a meat-free Monday.

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Human smugglers convicted
A Dutch court today convicted a group of 11 mostly Nigerian men to up to 4.5 years in jail for human smuggling. The men brought around 140 young women and girls into the Netherlands who then mysteriously disappeared from refugee centres. One of the biggest challenges was persuading the girls involved to testify. Annet Koopsen is the lawyer for one of victims who did agree. She told us why her client was so scared - and how a Nigerian priest helped support her.
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Afghanistan on the NATO agenda
NATO foreign ministers gather in Brussels tomorrow and a potentially divisive item on the agenda is the situation in Afghanistan. US President Barack Obama's decision to deploy an extra 30, 000 troops has increased the pressure on members of the Alliance to also step up support for the ISAF mission. But many European governments - and citizens - aren't  convinced about the wisdom of the war in Afghanistan. US Assistant Secretary for Defence Alexander Vershbouw told us that it's in everybody's interests to give Mr Obama the support he's calling for.
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Survivors remember the Bhopal disaster
Campaigners led protests across the world today to mark 25 years since the Bhopal chemical disaster in India. A gas leak at the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal killed thousands and left many more seriously ill. Campaigners say as many as 25,000 people eventually died as a result of the highly toxic gas. We spoke to some of those who survived Bhopal - they can still clearly recall the tragedy.
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Tune in to our feature programmes Earth Beat and The State We're In this week for stories of the impact of this tragedy, still being felt after 25 years.

Sir Paul calls for meat-free Monday
Paul McCartney says we should all eat less meat to help fight climate change. The former Beatle spoke to the European Parliament in Brussels today and said livestock causes more greenhouses gases than the entire transport sector. Well it seems a harmless enough suggestion, but Dutch Christian Democrat MEP Esther de Lange says Sir Paul's got it wrong.
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