World datelines

Afghanistan

KANDAHAR — A roadside bomb killed five Afghan security forces and wounded four as they patrolled with NATO troops in southern Afghanistan, an army chief said Thursday.

China

HONG KONG — A roadside bomb in southern China killed two children who found the explosive wrapped in a package and began playing with it, Hong Kong media reported Thursday.

Colombia

BOGOTA — Colombia has extradited to the United States a police officer and a former policeman charged with helping smuggle more than 2 tons of cocaine into the U.S. on cargo flights, U.S. officials said Thursday.

El Salvador

SAN SALVADOR — El Salvador will send its eighth contingent of soldiers to Iraq, the president said Thursday. The new soldiers will replace those scheduled to return to the Central American country in February, said President Tony Saca, who is one of the strongest U.S. allies in the region.

India

LUCKNOW — Authorities fired six policemen for failing to investigate dozens of missing children and women, a government official said Thursday, after 17 of their dismembered bodies turned up at a house in an affluent New Delhi suburb.

Indonesia

SURABAYA — A ferry that sank with more than 600 people on board likely capsized after high waves crashed over the ship's car deck, a top Indonesian investigator said Thursday.

MAKASSAR — An Indonesian jetliner that vanished with 102 people aboard did not issue distress signals or report any mechanical problems, a top aviation official said Thursday, contradicting earlier reports.

Ireland

DUBLIN — Leaders of the Roman Catholic Church said Thursday they will ask worshippers this month to pass on information about the secret graves of several people killed by the Irish Republican Army.

Italy

ROME — Pope Benedict XVI visited a soup kitchen Thursday to bless it and dedicate it to his predecessor, 14 years after Pope John Paul II went there to meet with the poor.

Montserrat