WORLD BRIEFS

THE FALKLANDS: Referendum backs Britain

Islanders are celebrating their referendum showing that 99.8 percent want the area to remain a British Overseas Territory. Gavin Short, a member of the Legislative Assembly, said Tuesday he hopes it sends a message to Argentine President Cristina Fernandez: "We have absolutely no desire to be ruled by the government in Buenos Aires. I hope that you now might respect that." Not likely: Argentina's ambassador to London, Alicia Castro, in a radio interview in Buenos Aires, said the vote was organized by and for the British just to claim the islands for Britain. And she said the wishes of a few hundred islanders are no match for "millions and millions and millions" of people who recognize Argentine sovereignty over the islands they call the Malvinas. In Washington, the Obama administration signaled that U.S. policy would remain neutral in the dispute between Buenos Aires and London.

AFGHANISTAN: Crash of U.S. copter kills five

A helicopter crash outside Kandahar city in the south killed five U.S. service members, officials said Tuesday. The Monday night crash brought the number of U.S. troops killed that day to seven, the deadliest day for U.S. forces so far this year. Two U.S. special operations forces were gunned down hours earlier in the east in an insider attack by an Afghan policeman. The NATO military coalition said initial reports showed no enemy activity in the area of the helicopter crash. All five people aboard the UH-60 Black Hawk were killed, said Maj. Adam Wojack, a spokesman for the international military coalition.

EUROPE: Late snow blocks travelers

Frankfurt's airport was closed, trains stopped running under the English Channel, and the French army was ordered to help clear roads -- all because of a sudden dump of late snowfall on Western Europe. Less prepared for the heavy snow that regularly hits northern and eastern neighbors, France, Germany, Britain and Belgium struggled Tuesday to keep moving in frosty, blustery conditions. Travelers shivered in stranded cars, packed onto icy train platforms, or languished in airport waiting halls. Thousands of schoolchildren stayed home.