WORLD BRIEFS

HAITI: Orphans? Parents deny it

Desperate parents in the struggling village of Callebas, perched above earthquake-flattened Port-au-Prince, said they gave their children away willingly, trusting the American missionaries who promised to take them to a better life. What they told The Associated Press on Wednesday contradicts claims by the Baptist group's leader that the children came from orphanages or were handed over by distant relatives. The 10 Baptists were arrested last week trying to take 33 children into the Dominican Republic without the required documents, and accused of child trafficking. They are to appear today before a prosecutor.

SWITZERLAND: Haven for Uighur brothers

The Swiss government rebuffed Chinese protests Wednesday and agreed to give sanctuary to two brothers of the Muslim Uighur minority who had been cleared for release from Guantánamo, but feared persecution at home. Arkin Mahnut, 45, and his brother Bahtiar, 32, are held in Camp Iguana. One of them had been offered sanctuary elsewhere but refused to leave without the other, who has reportedly developed a mental illness during his eight years in U.S. detention.

AFGHANISTAN: Major offensive to start

U.S. troops and their Afghan and NATO allies are planning their biggest offensive since the war's start, targeting Marjah, a town in volatile Helmand province known as a Taliban stronghold, officers said Wednesday. It is to be the first major offensive since President Barack Obama ordered 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan.

NEW ZEALAND: Paying her way in college

A teenager who says she auctioned her virginity online for $32,000 to raise tuition money did not break any laws but it might be risky for her to follow through on the deal, police warned Wednesday in Wellington. The anonymous 19-year-old offered her virginity to the highest bidder on the Web site www.ineed.co.nz under the name "Unigirl". She said more than 1,200 people had made bids.