Other world news in brief
French soldiers die in Afghanistan
PARIS – Four French soldiers died in Afghanistan yesterday, with three men killed during a violent storm and a fourth losing his life in an unrelated traffic accident.
The storm struck when 250 French and Afghan soldiers were moving through the Afghanya valley, north of Kabul, in a predawn raid against suspected insurgents. One was killed by lightning and another swept away by rapidly rising river waters. The third drowned while trying to save his friend.
“These three soldiers . . . have paid with their lives for France’s commitment to peace and the security of the Afghan people,” French president Nicolas Sarkozy’s office said. – (Reuters)
Former Nixon speechwriter dies
NEW YORK – William Safire, the former Richard Nixon speechwriter who went on to become known for his columns on politics and language in the New York Times, has died, the newspaper said yesterday.
Safire, who was 79, died at a hospice in Rockville, Maryland.
An aide to Safire said he had suffered from cancer.
Safire won a Pulitzer prize for commentary in 1978 and had been writing the Times’s “On Language” column since 1979.
The column, which made him an influential commentator on language, examined the origins of words and phrases and their proper usage. – (Reuters)
India talks with Pakistan 'constructive'
NEW YORK – India’s foreign minister says he has held “useful, constructive and candid” talks with his Pakistani counterpart, but has stopped short of announcing a resumption of fully-fledged peace talks between the nuclear-armed rivals.
SM Krishna of India and Shah Mehmood Qureshi of Pakistan held a 100-minute meeting yesterday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in a fresh attempt to improve ties soured by last year’s militant attack in Mumbai.
Mr Krishna told reporters he had raised with Mr Qureshi Delhi’s concerns about Pakistan-based militant groups and had been told that Islamabad was acting against them.
Ties had gone into deep freeze after the attack last November. – (Reuters)