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Allies wary of sending troops to Afghanistan

By TIMES WIRES
Published January 27, 2007

America's European allies on Friday remained noncommittal about sending additional troops to Afghanistan, even as the Bush administration sought to inject new energy into the NATO mission by offering more U.S. soldiers and money. Officially, the language at a NATO meeting Friday reflected resolve. NATO "is stepping up its game in Afghanistan on all fronts," said Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, the alliance's secretary-general. But France and Germany continued to limit their combat role. Germany's Parliament has yet to approve a proposal to send six Tornado reconnaissance jets. And Prime Minister Romano Prodi is battling allies who want Italy to set a deadline for withdrawing 1,800 troops.

Kabul, Afghanistan: Afghan President Hamid Karzai's wife gave birth to their first child Thursday, a son they named Mirwais, Karzai's spokesman said. News of the birth topped Afghan state TV Friday.

$500M offered for vaccine program

A multinational health group announced at the World Economic Forum on Friday that it would commit $500-million over three years to strengthen health care systems and train workers in developing nations, addressing a key problem for implementing its vaccination programs. The GAVI Alliance, formerly called the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, is a partnership that includes national governments, the United Nations, the World Bank, the vaccine industry and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Since 2000, GAVI has prevented 2.3-million deaths, including 600,000 lives saved last year, according to World Health Organization data released Friday.

Fighting kills 13 in the Gaza Strip

Hamas gunmen stormed the home of a militant from the rival Fatah movement Friday, witnesses said, sparking a deadly gunbattle and capping a day of factional violence across the Gaza Strip that killed at least 13 people, including a 2-year-old boy. The fighting was among the deadliest in nearly two months and marred the first anniversary of Hamas' upset victory in Palestinian elections.

Elsewhere

Tokyo: Japan must overhaul its pacifist constitution, increase its international security role and free itself of World War II's political remnants, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told Parliament in a major policy speech Friday.

Moscow: Russia's foreign minister on Friday denounced the detention of a Russian man who allegedly tried to sell highly enriched uranium to Georgian agents, calling it a "provocation."

Islambad, Pakistan: A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a Marriott Hotel on Friday, killing himself and a security guard, the police and security officials said.

[Last modified January 27, 2007, 00:35:59]