World in brief: Taliban leader killed at roadblock
A Taliban commander blamed for the deadliest attack on U.S. troops since they entered Afghanistan in 2001 has been killed in a shootout with security forces in Pakistan, U.S. and Pakistani officials said.
Police killed Ahmad Shah, also known as Mullah Ismail, at a roadblock near the northwestern city of Peshawar, a senior Pakistani intelligence official said.
U.S. and Afghan officials have described Shah as the leader of Taliban militants who ambushed a group of U.S. commandos in June 2005 and shot down a Chinook helicopter sent to rescue them. Sixteen American special forces members died on the helicopter.
The commander’s death could help relations between Pakistan’s new civilian government and Washington, which wants it to keep up the pressure on Taliban and al-Qaida operatives inside Pakistan, mainly near the Afghan border.
Paris
Climate talks end in disagreement
Negotiators from the world’s biggest emitters of greenhouse gases wrapped up another round of climate talks Friday by clashing over how deeply to cut the heat-trapping gases they put into the atmosphere.
The delegates from 16 nations scheduled more talks next month in trying to produce a new climate accord.
Addressing the negotiators, French President Nicolas Sarkozy warned that warming is threatening food supplies and risks sparking a dozen Darfur-like conflicts among displaced, starving people around the world.
Jean-Pierre Jouyet, the French co-chairman of the two-day meeting, said the talks were dominated by debate over how much to cut emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases that contribute to global warming. “There were divergences” between the United States and the European Union, said Jouyet. He did not elaborate.
Jerusalem
Israel plans more West Bank homes
Israel announced plans Friday to build 100 more homes in two West Bank settlements, one deep inside the territory sought by the Palestinians for their future state.
Israel’s housing minister said Israel never promised to freeze all such construction, although a U.S.-backed peace plan calls for a moratorium on settlement building.
In a television interview, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the expansion of settlements has emerged as a key obstacle to progress in peace negotiations with Israel.
The talks resumed after a U.S.-hosted peace conference in November, but there has been little visible progress. Since November, Israel has announced several building projects in areas of Jerusalem claimed by the Palestinians.
Friday’s announcement marked the first time that the government has approved construction deep inside the West Bank, in the settlement of Ariel.