Mexico

Americans warned about travel near border

A recent spate of kidnappings of U.S. citizens in the Mexican city of Nuevo Laredo and a crime wave in other border cities prompted the U.S. State Department to issue a travel alert Wednesday.

The recent violence, blamed largely on warring drug cartels, has claimed the lives of dozens of Mexicans, most of them traffickers. But American citizens are also at greater risk because of the “deteriorating security situation,” a statement issued by the department said.

The travel alert applies only to the border region of Mexico.

In Nuevo Laredo, at least 21 Americans have been kidnapped since August, with most being held for ransom, U.S. consulate officials said. Two were killed, and 10 are still missing.

In Tijuana, more than 32 people have been killed this year. No Americans were among those kidnapped or killed in Tijuana, said consulate officials.

Jerusalem

Israelis, Palestinians move toward peace talks

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators achieved significant progress Wednesday toward ending violence and resuming peace talks, completing a plan for deploying Palestinian forces in the southern Gaza Strip and aiming for a summit within two weeks between the Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

New violence, however, underscored the fragility of the new momentum for peace. A Palestinian preschooler in southern Gaza was killed by Israeli gunfire after militants fired a rocket at Israel. Israeli troops shot a Palestinian militant to death and wounded two others in a West Bank arrest raid.

About 100 Jewish settlers disrupted a meeting between Israeli and Palestinian commanders in southern Gaza, throwing stones and slashing tires of participants’ vehicles.

London

Tough laws proposed to stop terrorism

The British government Wednesday proposed sweeping new powers to control suspected terrorists, including electronic tagging, curfews and house arrest of people who have not been convicted of crimes.

Home Secretary Charles Clarke said the new “control orders” would apply to both foreigners and British nationals, and he promised to introduce legislation as soon as possible.

“There remains a public emergency threatening the life of the nation,” Clarke told the House of Commons. “The threat is real, and I believe that the steps I am announcing today will enable us more effectively to meet that threat.”

The opposition Conservative Party, however, said the proposals could backfire.

“Unless the process is clearly just, the home secretary could find himself confining one known terrorist only to recruit for our enemies 10 unknown terrorists,” said David Davis, the Conservative spokesman on law and order.

Paris

Eleven arrested in probe of insurgents in Iraq

Terror investigators arrested 11 associates of French Muslims who died as insurgents in Iraq, accusing some of preparing to join the fight against U.S.-led forces, officials said Wednesday.

The French counterterrorism agency known as the DST carried out the sweep as part of its probe into a network suspected of dispatching Islamic combatants from France to Iraq.

Most of those detained were in their 20s and of immigrant origin, and at least three were ready join the Iraqi insurgency, said a senior intelligence official.

One was arrested at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle international airport and was thought to be about to leave for Iraq, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity. He added that at least two others were preparing to follow him.

Indonesia

Schools reopen in Aceh

One month after an epic tsunami ravaged southern Asia, children and teachers in Indonesia’s worst-hit Aceh province on Wednesday made an emotional return to school, where thousands of desks of classmates and colleagues sat empty.

Alqausar, a 6-year-old boy, arrived at school with his mother and wondered where his best friend Andi was. But reality soon dawned on him.

“I don’t think he’s coming,” whispered the boy, one of six in his class of 43 who showed up.

Mourners along a road on Sri Lanka’s shattered coastline lit candles and set colored flags in silent memory of at least 30,957 people who died there Dec. 26.

Up to 147,000 people are still missing across South Asia, and differing government tallies put the overall death toll between 144,000 and 178,000.