Wednesday, September 26, 2007

UNITED NATIONS

The U.N. Security Council on Tuesday authorized a European Union force and U.N. police to help protect civilians in Chad and the Central African Republic caught in the spillover of conflict from Sudan's Darfur region.

The vote authorizes the E.U. to deploy a force for one year to help improve security, facilitate the delivery of aid and "contribute to protecting civilians in danger, particularly refugees and displaced persons."

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov of Turkmenistan at the United Nations for talks about political reform and energy sector development in the authoritarian former Soviet republic.

Turkmenistan's vast untapped gas reserves and its strategic proximity to Iran are of major interest to the West. Turkmenistan, however, still sees Moscow as a strategic partner and may be reluctant to push for a sudden thaw in ties with Washington, analysts say. The West views Turkmenistan's Caspian Sea gas deposits as a potential alternative energy source for Europe and is encouraging Turkmenistan to engage in pipeline projects that bypass Russia so that Moscow does not control the supply route.

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Three Mexican minors detained in California on suspicion of smuggling drugs stole a U.S. Border Patrol car and drove it across the border to Mexico. Police in Mexicali said the boys had been stopped by a Border Patrol agent, who handcuffed them and put them in his patrol car while he searched their truck. "He left the vehicle running and the keys in the ignition, so one of the lads, still wearing handcuffs, grabbed the steering wheel and they headed back to Mexico," a police spokesman said.

Relatives of three American defense contractors held hostage by rebels in Colombia visited neighboring Venezuela to express support for President Hugo Ch¿vez's efforts to mediate a swap of hostages for guerrilla prisoners.

Yasuo Fukuda, 71, took office as Japan's prime minister Wednesday, promising to seek approval for extending the country's contentious mission in support of U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

From News Services