Cambodia, Thailand: Troops to pull back from temple / Afghanistan: Canadian soldiers kill 2 children / Australia: Asylum seekers won't be jailed / Mideast: Israel backs away from date for deal

Officials agreed to pull back about 800 Cambodian and 400 Thai troops stationed in and around a pagoda about 980 feet west of the temple complex. It is unclear, however, where the troops will be sent or when the move will take place.

The dispute over 1.8 square miles of land near the temple escalated this month when UNESCO approved Cambodia's application to have the complex named a World Heritage Site.

AFGHANISTAN

Canadian soldiers kill 2 children

Canadian soldiers opened fire on a speeding car they feared was about to attack their convoy, killing a 2-year-old boy and his 4-year-old sister, officials said.

NATO and the Canadian military said in statements that the troops near Kandahar opened fire Sunday after the driver ignored repeated signals to keep back. Militants regularly use civilian cars loaded with explosives in suicide missions against Afghan and foreign troops.

In Ottawa, Canadian Defense Minister Peter MacKay said the deaths of the two children were a "horrible circumstance."

Meanwhile, British officials said one of their soldiers was killed while patrolling in the Marjah area west of Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province.

AUSTRALIA

Asylum seekers won't be jailed

Australia said it would abandon a controversial policy of jailing all asylum seekers. Immigration Minister Chris Evans, whose center-left Labor government last year swept aside conservative rivals who had been in power for a decade, said detention in often remote immigration jails would now be used only as a last resort.

"A person who poses no danger to the community will be able to remain in the community while their visa status is resolved," Evans said.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's predecessor, John Howard, established the detention policy in late 2001, after special forces soldiers blocked 439 mostly Afghan refugees from landing in Australia.

MIDDLE EAST

Israel backs away from date for deal

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert backed away from a target date -- announced with great fanfare at a U.S.-hosted Mideast peace conference in November -- for reaching a deal with the Palestinians by the end of this year.

"There is no practical chance of reaching a comprehensive understanding on Jerusalem" during 2008, Olmert told a closed-door meeting of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, according to an official at the gathering.

At the same time, Olmert said Arab neighborhoods in East Jerusalem pose a danger to Israelis, hinting that Israel might want to cede control of those areas.

UNITED NATIONS

Human rights chief confirmed

A judge from South Africa was confirmed as the new U.N. human rights chief. Navanethem Pillay will oversee a Geneva-based office with nearly 1,000 employees and a budget approaching $150 million.

Starting in September, she will replace Louise Arbour, a former Supreme Court judge in Canada who had served since 2004.

IRAN

Ahmadinejad sees a shift with West

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he sees "common ground" with the West over his country's disputed nuclear program, and "new behavior" from the United States that could merit a positive response.

Ahmadinejad told NBC News he believes U.S. policy "has been to confront the Iranian people" for 50 years. But he said he now sees "new behavior" and is unsure whether it's based on "mutual respect, cooperation and justice."

"If the approach changes, we will be facing a new situation and the response by the Iranian people will be a positive one," Ahmadinejad said.

The State Department downplayed Ahmadinejad's comments Monday, with spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos saying, "Deeds, not words, are what we are looking for."

From Times Wire Reports