Afghanistan
KABUL — An attack on a patrol killed an American soldier, the third U.S. fatality this week in Afghanistan, the military said Wednesday, amid a flurry of attacks that wounded more than a dozen Americans in the run-up to the Oct. 9 presidential election.
China
BEIJING — Flooding in China during this summer's rainy season killed 1,029 people in mudslides and mountain torrents, the government said Wednesday. Heavy rains also destroyed tens of thousands of houses and caused $7.8 billion in damage during the three-month rainy season, which ended Sept. 15, according to the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.
France
PARIS — A French urban climber who calls himself "Spider-Man" scaled a 59-story Paris office building Wednesday with his bare hands and without using any ropes. Alain Robert took less than 45 minutes to climb the nearly 700-foot-tall Montparnasse Tower building, gripping the metal girders on his way up. At the top, he waved to a small crowd that gathered on the ground, some shouting "Allez, Alain!", or "Go, Alain!"
Haiti
GONAIVES — U.N. peacekeepers fired into the air to keep a hungry crowd at bay Wednesday as aid workers handed out the first food in days for some in this city devastated by floods from Tropical Storm Jeanne. Mass burials for the more than 800 victims, with bodies piled outside morgues raising fears about health, were expected to start after delays forced by public opposition. Many Haitians believe that unless a body is respectfully buried, the spirit may wander, commit evil and harm family members.
Indonesia
JAKARTA — The former general who is set to become Indonesia's next president vowed Wednesday to broker a peaceful end to Indonesia's bloodiest internal conflict, the 28-year separatist war in Aceh province. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's comments raised hopes he will provide firm leadership — a demand reflected in his apparent overwhelming victory Monday over President Megawati Sukarnoputri.
Israel
JERUSALEM — Israel's evacuation of the Gaza Strip will begin next summer and will take about 12 weeks, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Wednesday, reversing an earlier decision to speed up the pullout.
Italy
ROME — A woman was killed Wednesday when a nearly 7-foot-tall metal crucifix fell on her head in a small town in southern Italy, police said. Maddalena Camillo, 72, was walking in the main square in the village of Sant'Onofrio when the crucifix toppled from a monument being restored for a religious celebration, police said.
Japan
TOKYO — Japan confirmed its 13th case of mad cow disease Wednesday after a slaughtered Holstein tested positive for the brain-wasting illness, a government food safety official said.
Lebanon
BEIRUT — Lebanon announced the arrest of the country's top al-Qaida operative and said Wednesday that he and another Lebanese suspect plotted suicide attacks on Western embassies and recruited insurgents to fight in Iraq. Senior security officials said the two, who were arrested Friday with eight accomplices, also planned to assassinate Western diplomats and attack Lebanese security and judicial targets.
Mexico
MEXICO CITY — A man called "the amphetamine king" by U.S. authorities has been sentenced to more than 50 years in prison, and his brother received 22 years behind bars, Mexican authorities said Wednesday.
Russia
MOSCOW — Russia's lower house of parliament adopted a far-reaching anti-terror plan on Wednesday that calls for broadening the powers of all agencies involved in the fight against terrorism and threatens officials with punishment if they fail to prevent attacks.
Venezuela
CARACAS — Inmates rioted at a western Venezuela prison, killing at least six fellow inmates and injuring 35 others before hundreds of national guardsmen restored order, authorities said Wednesday. Roughly 200 National Guardsmen quelled the rioting at Central Western, which began late Tuesday with inmates tossing hand grenades and shooting at rivals with firearms, officials said.