World datelines

Canada: Avalanche kills hiker

CANMORE, Alberta — A hiker was swept away by an avalanche near a popular western Canadian ski resort, and rescuers found his body Thursday buried beneath a foot of snow and debris.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sgt. Patrick Webb said the 37-year-old man was hiking with a friend on a remote trail in Banff National Park when the avalanche struck Wednesday afternoon.

Mexico: Teens painted

MONTERREY — Four teenagers say police in a northern Mexican town spray-painted their hair, shoes and buttocks to teach them not to paint graffiti on public property.

Emilio Alfaro of Nuevo Leon state's Human Rights Commission said Thursday the youths have filed a complaint alleging that police in Guadelupe slapped, kicked and painted them with spray cans after detaining them for vandalism.

Pakistan: Cooperation vowed

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan insisted it would help India to bring those behind the Mumbai terrorist attacks to justice, saying Thursday it had shut down extremist Web sites and suspected militant training camps, and detained 71 people in a deepening probe.

Still, a top Pakistani official said authorities needed to further investigate information about the attacks provided by archrival India before it could be used to prosecute suspects in court.

Philippines: Manhunt

MANILA — U.S.-backed soldiers with night-vision goggles combed dense southern Philippine jungles on Thursday in pursuit of kidnappers who dragged three Red Cross workers from their vehicle at gunpoint, in the country's most high-profile foreign kidnapping in eight years.

An army general said they hoped to rescue the workers from Italy, Switzerland and the Philippines before they're handed over to Muslim militants notorious for holding hostages for ransom.

The gunmen on motorcycles intercepted a vehicle carrying the three representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross on their way to Jolo airport on the southern island where al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf militants are known to hide.

Russia: Natural gas crisis