Afghanistan

Mosque bombing kills 6

A bomb blast Wednesday killed six people in a mosque, including two U.N. workers registering Afghan voters, in an area of southeast Afghanistan where U.S.-led forces frequently have battled Taliban fighters and their allies.

The attack came on the same day that the Nobel Prize-winning aid group, Doctors Without Borders, announced it was pulling out of the war-scarred nation, citing factors including deteriorating security and dissatisfaction with an ongoing investigation into the early June slaying of five of its staffers in northwest Afghanistan.

The deaths Wednesday resulted from the detonation of an improvised explosive device as employees from the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan were registering voters for the country’s Oct. 9 presidential poll, the U.S.-led military coalition said.

Israel

French Jews relocate at Sharon’s urging

Just 10 days after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon enraged French leaders by urging France’s Jews to leave for Israel, a group of 200 French Jews arrived to start a new life in the Jewish state, with Sharon at the airport to greet them.

At a welcoming ceremony, Sharon appeared to try to correct the damage from his earlier statements, saying anti-Semitism threatens the Western world, without singling out France.

“We therefore very much appreciate the determined actions of the French government, as well as the French president’s stand against anti-Semitism.”

In a July 18 speech to visiting Jewish American leaders, Sharon told them France was host to “the wildest anti-Semitism.”

“If I have to advocate to our brothers in France, I will tell them one thing: Move to Israel, as early as possible,” he said.

United Nations

More changes planned in Sudan resolution

The United States introduced a revised draft resolution Wednesday threatening sanctions against Sudan if it doesn’t disarm Arab militias in the western Darfur region, but it was considering changes to overcome opposition in the Security Council.

U.S. Ambassador John Danforth said even more changes were being considered after a meeting of the 15-nation council and a final version would be presented by today at the latest. A vote was expected by the end of the week, U.S. officials said.

The new text — the third revision in less than a week — made few significant changes from the version presented Tuesday, but it underscored the sovereignty of Sudan and removed a call to appoint a special adviser on genocide from the preamble, a U.S. official told The Associated Press.

At least 30,000 civilians, most of them black villagers, have been killed in the crisis.