World digest 02/12/03

Two killed in Israel; truce meeting put off

JERUSALEM -- Israeli soldiers shot and killed an 8-year-old Palestinian boy during a raid Tuesday in the West Bank, Palestinians said, and an Israeli was killed by Palestinian gunmen in Bethlehem.

A high-level Israeli-Palestinian meeting scheduled for Tuesday to discuss an end to more than two years of violence failed to take place.

Palestinians said Israeli troops searching for militants surrounded two houses in the West Bank town of Qalqiliya, and Palestinians threw firebombs at them. The soldiers opened fire, killing the boy and wounding nine other people, they said.

In Bethlehem, Palestinians fired on an Israeli army jeep near the Church of the Nativity, Israeli military officers said. Israeli media said an Israeli was killed. Israeli soldiers declared a curfew in Bethlehem after the shooting.

Russia welcomes monitoring of referendum

MOSCOW -- Russia said Tuesday it would welcome international monitoring of a referendum in Chechnya next month and the elections that are to follow in the war-ravaged republic.

Russia is eager to win international approval of the constitutional referendum, an effort by the Kremlin to promote stability and further discredit militants while cementing the republic as part of Russia.

The referendum takes place on March 23. Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said observers would be welcome at both.

In his statement, Yakovenko said that the proposed constitution -- which would be subordinate to the Russian constitution -- is being examined by the Council of Europe, the continent's leading human rights body.

France seeks to ban cigarette sales to minors

PARIS -- The Senate took a first step Tuesday toward disrupting the lifestyle of many French high school students, approving a proposed law to ban cigarette sales to children under 16.

The law, which still needs to clear the lower house of parliament, would impose a $4,000 fine against vendors found selling tobacco to minors and double the fine for repeat offenders. It would also ban distribution of free cigarettes to minors as part of promotional campaigns.

According to a recent study, nearly 37 percent of youths between the ages of 12 and 25 are smokers, the French Health Education Committee said. The average age children start smoking is 14.

A national law in effect since 1990 forbids smoking in enclosed public places, but the restrictions are rarely enforced.

Cargo ship boosts space station's orbit

MOSCOW -- A Russian cargo ship pushed the international space station to a higher orbit Tuesday.

Firing its thrusters, the Progress M-47 cargo ship raised the station's orbit by 6.5 miles to about 246 miles, said Russian Mission Control spokesman Valery Lyndin.

In the past, both Russian supply ships and U.S. shuttles have regularly adjusted the station's orbit, which gradually decreases under the pull of the earth's gravity.

But with U.S. shuttle missions suspended during the investigation into the Columbia disaster, the Russian ships have become the sole link to the outpost.

-- From wire reports