World Briefs

MEXICO CITY – An 11-year-old bullfighter in Mexico may have set a record by slaying six young bulls in one appearance, but you won't see his name in the Guinness World Records book.

According to Mexico's National Association of Matadors, Michel "Michelito" Lagravere set the international record at his age for bull calves killed in a two-hour bullfight watched by more than 3,500 people.

But Guinness World Records says it was not aware the event was taking place and will not recognize the result. "We do not accept records based on the killing or harming of animals," Guinness said on its Web site.

WASHINGTON – U. S. President Barack Obama will travel to Canada for talks with Prime Minister Stephen Harper on February 19, fulfilling a pledge to make the United States' northern neighbor his first trip abroad as president, the House said on Wed.

"Canada is a vitally important ally," said House spokesman Robert Gibbs. "The president is looking forward to the opportunity to speak with Prime Minister Harper and visiting our neighbor to the north."

MADRID, Spain – A Spanish judge is opening a probe of seven current or former Israeli officials over a 2002 bombing in Gaza that killed a Hamas militant and 14 other people, including nine children.

Judge Fernando Andreu says the attack by Israel against Salah Shehadeh in a densely populated civilian area might constitute a crime against humanity.

The judge is acting under a doctrine that allows prosecution in Spain of such an offense or crimes like terrorism or genocide even if they are alleged to have been committed in another country.

ZURICH, Switzerland – The world's glaciers thinned by an average of almost 29 inches (74 centimeters) in 2007, indicating that they are melting twice as fast this decade as during the 1980s and 1990s, Swiss scientists said Thursday.

The World Glacier Monitoring Service in Zurich found that some Alpine glaciers lost as much as 3 meters of ice cover, while coastal glaciers in Norway actually thickened in 2007. But 2007 was the sixth year this decade that the glaciers lost on average more than 20 inches thickness.

PARIS – Hundreds of thousands of angry and fearful French workers mounted nationwide strikes and protests Thursday to demand President Nicolas Sarkozy do far more to fight the economic crisis.

Public and private sector workers united in the protest to seek increases in salaries, greater protection for their jobs and more intensive government efforts to simulate the economy. Some schools were closed, banks were shut, and mail went undelivered.