World in brief

Sudan sides cautious about deadline

NAIVASHA, Kenya - Negotiators reacted cautiously Wednesday to a U.S. deadline for ending Sudan's civil war, a conflict that has cost 2-million lives, devastated the economy and led to allegations of slavery in Africa's largest country.

After meeting Sudanese government and rebel officials, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Wednesday the warring parties had agreed to remain in negotiations and "conclude a comprehensive settlement no later than the end of December."

"This is a moment of opportunity that must not be lost," Powell said as Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Mohammed Taha and rebel leader John Garang stood alongside him.

Taha and Garang, who have been leading the negotiations, stressed that difficult issues remain.

"We are still in a state of war, and what we have is a cessation of hostilities, not even a cease-fire," Garang said. The deadline is only "an expression of hope."

Powell's comments were intended to speed up the 15-month-old talks. Three complex issues remain: wealth-sharing, the transitional administration and administration of three disputed areas.

JERUSALEM - Israel rejected an overwhelming call by the United Nations to dismantle a massive barrier being built in the West Bank, with a top official dismissing the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday as hostile to the Jewish state.

"The fence will continue to be built," said Vice Premier Ehud Olmert.

Israel says the wall is needed to keep suicide bombers out of the country. The Palestinians say the barrier is a pretext to take Palestinian land.

Asked if Israel would stop building the barrier, Olmert laughed and said: "You have a sense of humor."

JOURNALIST KILLED: An Ivory Coast police officer was being held Wednesday in the killing of a French journalist, accused of shooting him in the back of the head with an AK-47 as he waited to interview jailed opposition figures. French President Jacques Chirac, launching a tour of West Africa, condemned the killing of Jean Helene, a regional reporter for Radio France Internationale, and demanded "exemplary justice" of Ivory Coast's government.

ASIAN ROTAVIRUS: Up to 60 percent of Asian children hospitalized for diarrhea are infected with rotavirus - double the previous estimate, according to a new study. Rotavirus, which under the microscope has a wheel-like appearance, is the most common cause of severe diarrhea in children under 5 and kills an estimated half-million children worldwide every year, 85 percent of them in developing countries.

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