h A-boating we will go

h A-boating we will go
STRATFORD, Conn. -- A family leaves the Dock marina in Stratford, Conn., for an afternoon on the Housatonic River and Long Island Sound. They were out enjoying the weather Sunday. The holiday weekend marks the unofficial end of summer and the boating season.
Fire at housing projectleaves 15 dead near Paris
L'HAY-LES-ROSES, France -- Firefighters treating survivors at a housing project fire that killed 15 people Sunday were pelted with stones by youths complaining of a tardy response, in what the mayor called a "night of horror." Police said it appeared local youths were to blame for the pre-dawn fire in the 19-story project south of Paris -- the third deadly blaze in the Paris area in the past nine days. The dead included three children. Arson was suspected in the two earlier fires as well. Residents screamed and leaped from windows in the fire that Mayor Patrick Seve said began around 1 a.m. in the town of L'Hay-les-Roses, near Orly airport. As dozens of firefighters rushed to the scene, youths, apparently angry about what they considered a slow response from rescue teams, threw rocks at them, the mayor said. Rescue squads had responded in about 15 minutes.
U.N. urges some staffto leave Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan -- The United Nations has encouraged some nonessential staff to leave Afghanistan amid security concerns ahead of Sept. 18 elections, and the government warned aid workers Sunday that they are likely targets after a string of assaults on foreigners. The insurgents, meanwhile, launched a fresh spate of guerrilla-style strikes this weekend, sparking fierce battles that killed a district police chief, seven officers, an election candidate and three others, officials said. More than 1,100 people have been killed in the past six months, and U.S. military commanders believe the violence may worsen as rebels step up attacks with legislative elections just two weeks away, the next key step toward democracy after a quarter-century of fighting. U.N. spokesman Adrian Edwards told The Associated Press that some of the world body's agencies had urged some employees to take vacation during the elections because of fears of violence, though he noted that the official U.N. alert level had not changed.
Museum visitor vandalizesLichtenstein painting
VIENNA, Austria -- A visitor to an art museum in western Austria pulled a pocket knife from her purse and repeatedly slashed a painting by U.S. pop artist Roy Lichtenstein, a police spokesman said Sunday. The woman, a 35-year-old German from Munich, was visiting the Kunsthaus Bregenz exhibition "Roy Lichtenstein -- Classic of the New" on Saturday afternoon when she slashed the painting "Nude in Mirror," police spokesman Thomas Prodinger said. She made four cuts, each measuring almost 12 inches, Prodinger said. The painting, owned by The Rush Family Collection in New York, had been insured for $6 million, he said. Lichtenstein died in 1997 at age 73. A museum visitor and an employee held the woman until police arrived. The woman, whose identity was not released, had been examined by a court psychiatrist and faces a charge of causing grave property damage, Prodinger said.
Fire kills 5 children
CARSON, Calif. -- Fire roared through a two-story apartment Sunday morning, killing five children who were found in upstairs bedrooms, authorities said. Three girls and a boy, ages 6 to 8, were pronounced dead at the scene, and a 10-year-old girl died at a hospital, said Los Angeles County fire Inspector Ron Haralson. All the adults in the apartment, about 20 miles south of Los Angeles, escaped unharmed, he said. It was not immediately clear how the fire started. Haralson said it was reported at 8:21 a.m. and was put out in less than 15 minutes.
Associated Press