NATION IN BRIEF : NEW YORK : Changes in Manville Trust Fund Ordered

Two judges supervising hundreds of asbestos injury lawsuits ordered the Manville Corp. bankruptcy case reopened to overhaul a financially ailing trust fund designed to compensate victims of asbestos-related diseases. In a joint order in New York, a federal judge and a New York state judge said the Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust was out of money and suggested the company advance it between $200 million and $300 million so it can resume payments to victims. The trust was formed in Manville’s 1988 reorganization, six years after it was driven into bankruptcy court by lawsuits over the production of asbestos.