World datelines

Afghanistan: Casualties

KABUL — Civilian deaths in the escalating Afghan war soared by 24 percent during the first half of 2009 compared with the same period last year, the United Nations said Friday, blaming most of the casualties on Taliban attacks launched with little regard for civilian lives.

The U.N. Assistance Mission to Afghanistan also pointed to stepped-up military operations by the United States and its allies, especially airstrikes, for the steady increase in Afghan civilian casualties over the past two years.

Argentina: Swine flu

BUENOS AIRES — Argentina has the most swine flu deaths outside the United States, but the virus is still killing fewer people than normal seasonal flu — good news for a world waiting to see how it evolves in the southern winter.

And despite fears that the virus will mutate and turn more deadly, genetic sequencing shows this influenza remains virtually identical to what is circulating in the U.S. and Mexico, making it more likely that a single vaccine can work around the world.

Belgium: Air sensors

BRUSSELS — European air safety regulators told world airlines on Friday they will have to replace hundreds of air speed sensors of the type that may have contributed to the Air France Airbus A330 crash in the Atlantic Ocean in June.

The announcement came after Airbus recommended that airlines flying its planes exchange some of the speed sensors manufactured by Thales Corp. for another model.

Investigators have focused on the possibility that the external monitors on the A330, known as pitot tubes, iced over and gave false speed readings to the Air France plane's computers as it ran into a turbulent thunderstorm. Each modern jet airliner carries at least three of the L-shaped metal pitot tubes that jut from the forward fuselage.

Germany: Attack foiled

BERLIN — An 82-year-old man who planned a shooting rampage at a meeting of Jehovah's Witnesses was deterred because his submachine gun jammed, police said Friday. He was overpowered and arrested.

The man entered the group's meeting hall in the western city of Bielefeld on Thursday evening, wielding the weapon, police said in a statement.