World briefs 12/31/05

Palestinian police storm Egyptian border crossing

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Palestinian policemen went on a rampage over the killing of a colleague and seized the Gaza-Egypt border crossing for several hours Friday, forcing European monitors to flee. A British aid worker and her parents were released from captivity and brought to Israel early Saturday, days after Palestinian gunmen seized the family in the southern Gaza Strip, officials said. A group calling itself the Mujahedeen Brigades Jerusalem Branch claimed responsibility for the kidnappings.

Eight rescued, death toll at 43 in Yemeni landslide

DHAFEER, Yemen -- Workers pulled eight survivors from the rubble of their village Friday amid the moaning of others still trapped beneath a landslide -- victims one official said probably would not survive because falling rocks have slowed the rescue. At least 43 people were killed in Wednesday's landslide in the small Yemeni village of Dhafeer, said Bakeel al-Mattari, a city council member. Nearly 100 others remained trapped beneath the rubble. In San'a, a deal for the release of a kidnapped former German diplomat and his family has fallen through after tribesmen who abducted the group backed out of the agreement, a Yemeni official said Saturday.

Haitian elections to be postponed a fourth time

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- Haiti's national elections, set for Jan. 8 and plagued by delays and disorganization, will be postponed for a fourth time, electoral officials said Friday. Three Organization of American States election workers were kidnapped Thursday, police said, illustrating the lack of security surrounding the vote. The presidential and legislative elections have been postponed three times since November.

Taliban detonate mine at Afghan checkpoint

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Four Afghan police officers were killed, seven wounded when suspected Taliban rebels detonated a mine near a police checkpoint in southern Afghanistan, authorities said Friday. The attack occurred late Thursday in Helmand province as the officers were eating dinner, Nazarjusth district police chief Haji Bahadur Khan said. Authorities were searching for the attackers, but made no arrests so far, Khan said.

-- From wire reports