World Briefing

Fire shuts down Chunnel

A major fire on a freight train damaged the undersea Channel Tunnel, halting rail traffic between Britain and continental Europe.

Eurotunnel, the management company, said there would be no freight or passenger travel today, and it was not known when services would resume.

The blaze turned one of the two main tunnel shafts into an inferno. No one was killed, but six people fell ill after inhaling fumes and were taken to a hospital in Calais, France.

French Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said it might take several weeks to repair the tunnel dedicated to freight, but the parallel tunnel reserved for passenger trains was not touched by the flames.

CHILE

Blanket ban on whale hunting

Chile is making its entire Pacific Ocean territorial waters a whale sanctuary. The Senate unanimously passed a bill submitted by President Michelle Bachelet that bans whale hunting off Chile's 3,400-mile coast.

Chile has not hunted whales since the 1970s. But Bachelet says the nation wants to send a clear sign of its will to protect whales in its waters.

THAILAND

Party stands by prime minister

Thailand's biggest party endorsed its leader to resume the prime ministership when the issue is referred today to parliament, despite his ouster by a court this week.

Opponents of Samak Sundaravej said that returning him to office -- or selecting one of his supporters -- would intensify protests by the People's Alliance for Democracy, whose members have been camped out in the prime ministerial office complex for more than two weeks. Some analysts warned that Samak's reelection could bring instability, economic chaos and even a military coup.

FRANCE

Ex-U.N. worker convicted of rape

A former mechanic with a U.N. peacekeeping mission was convicted of raping African teenagers during his posting in the Central African Republic and Congo.

A Paris court sentenced Didier Bourguet, 44, to nine years in prison for about 20 rapes committed between 1998 and 2004, when he worked as a civilian United Nations employee.

State prosecutor Pierre Kramer lashed out at the defense team for arguing that the girls, ages 12 through 18, had consented.

A U.N. finding in 2005 that peacekeepers in Congo had sex with women and girls, often in exchange for food or a little money, led to a new code of conduct.

ISRAEL

Olmert to quit after primary

Ehud Olmert pledged to immediately resign as Israel's prime minister once his party chooses his successor as leader next week, shooting down speculation that he would try to hold on to his office.

Olmert, who is battling a corruption investigation, announced in July that he would resign after his Kadima party chooses a new leader in Wednesday's primary.

But some thought he was vague about the timing of his exit.

From Times Wire Reports