World datelines

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Nov 4, 2008

Afghanistan: Kidnapping

KABUL -- Gunmen in a red Corolla cut off a van of French aid workers on Monday, kidnapping one and fatally shooting an Afghan who tried to thwart the abduction by grabbing an attacker's machine gun.

Three assailants, two of them armed, tried to kidnap two French citizens riding in a small van, but after a scuffle the kidnappers grabbed one man, said Mohammad Daud Amin, a police commander.

The kidnapping took place as two French aid workers were being driven from a residence rented by the aid group AFRANE -- Amitie Franco-Afghane, or French-Afghan friendship -- said Etienne Gille, AFRANE's president.

Canada: Freezing deaths

ROSE VALLEY, Saskatchewan -- A man who left his two daughters to die in a frozen field pleaded guilty Monday to criminal negligence, weeping as he held his bandaged, frostbitten hands to his face.

As the wind chill hovered at 58 degrees below zero, Christopher Pauchay lost his 1-year-old and 3-year-old daughters last Jan. 29 while walking to a neighbor's house. Pauchay's family said he was drunk at the time. The girls were wearing only diapers and T- shirts.

He eventually made it to the house and was taken to hospital suffering from severe frostbite and hypothermia. Eight hours later, when he was able to speak, he asked about his children.

Pakistan: Missile warning

ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan on Monday urged the American general taking charge of the war in Afghanistan to halt missile attacks on militants in its border badlands to avert a backlash against the U.S. in this vital ally in the war on terrorism.

Gen. David Petraeus met President Asif Ali Zardari, army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and other officials on his first international trip since taking over U.S. Central Command three days earlier.

There is growing U.S. concern about how Islamic militants are using pockets of Pakistan's northwest region as sanctuaries to support the escalating insurgency in Afghanistan.

Sudan: More peacekeepers

KHARTOUM -- The U.S. envoy for Africa said Monday that Washington was ready to airlift as many as 4,000 peacekeepers, including Ethiopians and Egyptians, for the joint U.N.-African Union mission to Darfur.

The mission started deploying in Darfur in January but remains at less than half of its 26,000 authorized capacity and has complained of Sudanese government stonewalling and transport problems.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer, who arrived here from a trip to Congo, said the Sudanese government has made "important progress" recently in speeding up the deployment of the peacekeepers.

Syria: American school closes

DAMASCUS -- An American school in Damascus closed its doors and told students to go home Monday after the Syrian government ordered it shut down in response to a deadly U.S. cross-border raid near the Iraqi border.

A voice message on the school's answering machine said the Damascus Community School was closed to comply with the government's decision. Students and teachers were seen leaving the school grounds Monday afternoon.

The closure order came two days after Syria said U.S. troops in four helicopters attacked a building inside Syria near the Iraqi border.

Taiwan: Trade talks

TAIPEI -- The highest-ranking Chinese official to visit Taiwan in six decades has begun talks with his Taiwanese counterpart on a sweeping trade pact that could help ease the threat of war between the rivals.

Today's historic meeting came a day after Chen Yunlin was greeted on arrival with a taste of the island's raucous democracy: anti- China protesters waving signs, calling him a communist bandit and rallying outside the legislature.

Chen and chief Taiwanese negotiator Chiang Pin-kung are expected to sign the trade pact later today.

The deal involves charter flights between the two sides. Each week, 36 flights cross the Taiwan Strait. That number would be increased to 108 weekly flights.

Afghanistan: Kidnapping

KABUL -- Gunmen in a red Corolla cut off a van of French aid workers on Monday, kidnapping one and fatally shooting an Afghan who tried to thwart the abduction by grabbing an attacker's machine gun.

Three assailants, two of them armed, tried to kidnap two French citizens riding in a small van, but after a scuffle the kidnappers grabbed one man, said Mohammad Daud Amin, a police commander.

The kidnapping took place as two French aid workers were being driven from a residence rented by the aid group AFRANE -- Amitie Franco-Afghane, or French-Afghan friendship -- said Etienne Gille, AFRANE's president.

Canada: Freezing deaths

ROSE VALLEY, Saskatchewan -- A man who left his two daughters to die in a frozen field pleaded guilty Monday to criminal negligence, weeping as he held his bandaged, frostbitten hands to his face.

As the wind chill hovered at 58 degrees below zero, Christopher Pauchay lost his 1-year-old and 3-year-old daughters last Jan. 29 while walking to a neighbor's house. Pauchay's family said he was drunk at the time. The girls were wearing only diapers and T- shirts.

He eventually made it to the house and was taken to hospital suffering from severe frostbite and hypothermia. Eight hours later, when he was able to speak, he asked about his children.