Train surprises, kills antinuclear protester in France
NANCY -- A French antinuclear protester was killed yesterday in eastern France when his leg was severed by a train carrying radioactive waste to Germany, officials said. Paramedics quickly cared for protester Sebastien Briat, 21, after the accident near the town of Avricourt, but he died on the way to a hospital, officials said. He had been surprised by the train while trying to chain himself to the tracks as part of a protest. At least one other demonstrator was injured, officials said. The death prompted an outpouring of sympathy in Germany, where an antinuclear group abandoned calls for similar protests along the train route and hundreds of people gathered to mourn the accident. (AP)
TOKYO
Japan, North Korea to discuss kidnappings
Japan and North Korea will hold talks this week on Japanese citizens kidnapped decades ago, and any failure to achieve a breakthrough is expected to boost calls in Tokyo for economic sanctions against Pyongyang. The feud over the missing Japanese is a major stumbling block to opening diplomatic relations between the two Asian countries. The four days of working-level talks starting tomorrow in Pyongyang will mark North Korea's first official contact with the outside world since the reelection of President Bush. (Reuters)
Netherlands
Arsonists, vandals hit Islamic targets
AMSTERDAM -- Angered over the alleged Muslim-inspired slaying of a controversial Dutch filmmaker, arsonists and vandals have conducted a series of attacks on Islamic targets, including attempts to burn down two mosques, Dutch media reported yesterday. Eight suspected Islamic extremists have been arrested in connection with Tuesday's slaying of Theo van Gogh, who released a film critical of Islam's treatment of women earlier this year. Among those arrested was the alleged 26-year-old killer, identified only as Mohammed B. Mainstream Muslim groups condemned the killing, but it has caused an outpouring of anger. Vandals threw red paint Saturday night on an Amsterdam center that assists immigrants, many of them Muslim. (AP)
Bird species threatened in Europe, report says
AMSTERDAM -- More than 40 percent of all bird species in Europe face an uncertain future, and some are so threatened that they may disappear soon because of intensive agriculture and climate change, scientists said today. Many bird species, including the house sparrow, starling, wood warbler, and corn bunting, have been declining alarmingly, BirdLife International said in a report titled ''Birds in Europe." ''The number of bird species in trouble across Europe is rising," said BirdLife, a British-based conservation group. The report identifies 226 species, or 43 percent of all European bird types, as threatened. (Reuters)
Haiti
UN guards in place after attack on police
GONAIVES -- Argentine UN peacekeepers guarded the police station in Haiti's third-largest city yesterday, a day after an attack by armed men led officers to flee, underscoring the precarious security situation. Two dozen police reinforcements also arrived from Port-au-Prince. Police and UN peacekeepers, meanwhile, said they had met rebel leaders who have roots in a Gonaives street gang and agreed to hold regular talks to help keep order. Supporters of those rebel leaders attacked the police station Saturday while officers fled. No one was injured. A rebel leader, Winter Etienne, said following the talks with peacekeepers, members of the Front for National Resistance would now carry weapons and wear badges while helping to police the city. But Jean Lafaille, regional commander for the UN civil police, said rebels would not be permitted to carry guns, and if they did, they would be arrested. He said the UN peacekeepers hope to use rebels as information sources. (AP)
