World datelines

Austria

VIENNA — Relentless gale-force winds are making life miserable for Austrians, and as if two weeks of accidents, property damage and bad hair days haven't been enough, forecasters say more is on the way.

Bosnia-Herzegovina

The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Monday to transfer peacekeeping duties in Bosnia from the NATO-led force to the European Union next month and called for all war crimes suspects to surrender.

Britain

LONDON — Britain is investigating the killing of an Iraqi civilian who died when British soldiers who suspected he was a suicide bomber opened fire on him at a checkpoint in Iraq, the Ministry of Defense said Monday.

China

BEIJING — Investigators have found no evidence of terrorism or other "man-made destruction" in the crash of a Chinese airliner that exploded after takeoff and plunged into an ice-covered lake, killing 54 people, according to official reports Monday. Divers searched the lake for the "black box" flight data recorders of the Bombardier CRJ-200 belonging to China Eastern Airlines. The plane went down Sunday after taking off from the northern city of Baotou on a flight to Shanghai.

France

PARIS — Freshly armed with Yasser Arafat's weighty medical dossier, his nephew pinned blame on Israel for the late Palestinian leader's death and refused Monday to squelch rumors of poisoning — even though he acknowledged that doctors found no known poisons. Nasser al-Kidwa, who is also the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, said the files are inconclusive on the cause of Arafat's death, but "I believe the Israeli authorities are largely responsible for what happened."

India

NEW DELHI — A clampdown by Pakistan along with a new offensive by Indian forces have cut nearly in half the number of separatist militants operating in violence-torn Kashmir, Indian military and intelligence officials said Monday.

Iraq

BAGHDAD — Iraq's interim prime minister said Monday he's confident only a small number of people will boycott the Jan. 30 elections despite anger among many Sunni Muslims over the Fallujah offensive and a deadly U.S.-Iraqi raid on a Baghdad mosque.

New Zealand