FRENCH President Nicolas Sarkozy, right, paced the elegant marble hallways of one of the world's greatest monuments to love yesterday as he visited the 17th-century Taj Mahal in India with a group of top advisers.
INDIAEarlier this week, French officials indicated that Sarkozy would be going to the Taj Mahal, and speculation grew that his girlfriend Carla Bruni would go with him. But as the 52-year-old leader faced increasing criticism at
home for the openness of the relationship, Bruni, 40, reportedly said she would not go to India because they were not "yet" married.
IRANNEW UN sanctions against Iran would require countries to ban the entry of individuals involved in the Iranian nuclear programme – a step up from a previous call for vigilance over their travel.
The latest round of penalties would also ban trade in equipment and technology that can be used in both civilian and military nuclear programmes. The new resolution would also call on countries to inspect cargo heading to or from Iran "provided there are reasonable grounds to believe" prohibited goods are being transported.
The five veto-wielding members of the council – the US, Britain, France, China and Russia – along with Germany, agreed this week on the basic terms of the resolution.
AFGHANISTANGUNMEN kidnapped a burqa-clad American aid worker and her driver while they were travelling through southern Afghanistan early yesterday, a provincial governor said.
The pair were stopped by gunmen outside the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, said Governor Asadullah Khalid, who blamed the kidnapping on the "enemy of Islam and the enemy of Afghanistan".
Khalid said the 49-year-old American had been wearing a burqa when she was taken.
She worked for the aid agency Asian Rural Life Development Foundation, he said.
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