Arctic temperatures well above normal

Washington

Temperatures in the Arctic last fall hit an all-time high — more than 9 degrees Fahrenheit above normal — and remain almost as high this year, an international team of scientists reported Thursday.

Arctic temperatures naturally peak in October and November, after sea ice shrinks during the summer. The shrinkage lets more of the sun's rays heat the ocean rather than be reflected back into space.

As a result, the ocean is warming and causing global sea levels to rise even faster than predicted, according to the Arctic Report Card, the product of 46 scientists from 10 countries.

Summer 2007 set a record low for sea ice in the Arctic, threatening reindeer, walruses and polar bears and opening shipping lanes above the Arctic Circle, the report said. This summer's ice melt was only slightly smaller.

Kabul, Afghanistan

Policeman attacks American soldiers

An Afghan policeman hurled a grenade and opened fire on a U.S. military foot patrol in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, killing an American soldier and raising fears that insurgents have infiltrated the police. It was the second attack by a policeman on U.S. soldiers in eastern Afghanistan in less than a month.

The patrol was returning to a base in Bermel district of Paktika province when they were attacked by the policeman, who was standing on a tower, the military said. The soldiers returned fire, killing the officer.

Madrid, Spain

Judge investigating Franco-era crimes

The crusading investigative judge Baltasar Garzon opened Spain's first criminal investigation into Franco-era executions and repression with an order Thursday to open 19 mass graves, including one believed to contain the remains of the poet Federico Garcia Lorca.

Garzon, who has focused on terrorism cases in recent years, is often praised for his failed attempt to prosecute Gen. Augusto Pinochet, the Chilean dictator, in 1998 for crimes against humanity. But his order Thursday raised an immediate controversy within Spain itself.

Silence and a so-called pact of forgetting about past atrocities were the pillars of the peaceful transition to democracy after the nearly 40-year dictatorship of Franco, who died in 1975.

Jerusalem

Israeli troops kill Palestinian man

Israeli troops shot and killed a Palestinian man during a clash in the West Bank before dawn Thursday, the third such fatality in three days. The Israeli army said all three had been holding firebombs or preparing to hurl them when they were shot.

But a senior Palestinian official in Ramallah, Saeb Erekat, condemned Israel's military actions as "absolutely unacceptable and uncalled for" and said they were undermining Palestinian efforts to preserve the peace process.

Dublin, Ireland

Waterford Crystal to fire most workers

Waterford Crystal, a glittering icon of Ireland, announced Thursday it will lay off most of its Irish work force and move its factory production overseas after losing a six-year battle to boost sales, cut costs and control debts.

"We regret the necessity of ending large-scale manufacturing in Waterford, but we reaffirm our commitment to the city," said Chief Executive John Foley, referring to the company's 61-year-old base in the southeast Irish city.

It didn't say where the work was going, but the company has contracted much of its production to Slovenia.

The company said about 125 employees in Waterford will remain once 280 specialist workers, chiefly involved in the blowing and hand-cutting of lead crystal, are laid off in coming months.

Seattle Times news services