European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 06, 1995, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes worlds wednesday september 6, 1995 afghan taken Over by rebels Peshawar Pakistan a Afghanistan s opposition Taliban overran the Western City of Herat on tuesday sending provincial government leaders fleeing toward the iranian Border a spokesman said. The Taliban Force of former islamic religious Stu dents launched an offensive in Western Afghanistan several Days ago first capturing a major government military base at Shi Dand before continuing their West Ward March toward Herat province about 60 Miles away. We entered Herat tuesday morning and arc in full control said Abdul Rahman Zahid a Taliban spokesman in Northwestern Pakistan. The . Office in Islamabad Pakistan confirmed that Herat had fallen to the Taliban but initial reports said the City was peaceful. The United nations has Sev eral humanitarian Aid offices in Herat. The Taliban Are in the City that s for sure at the moment it is peaceful but very tense said David Lockwood Security coordinator and resident representative for . Development program in Kabul Afghanistan. He is based in Islamabad. The United nations evacuated its foreign staff from Kabul More than one year ago because of the heavy fighting Between rival islamic forces there. But in Herat where there has been relative peace the United nations has several humanitarian Aid offices. . Workers in., said government  did not seem to resist when the Taliban invaders showed up. South korean Soldier cief acts 16 t h e n o rth from the associated press Seoul South Korea a South korean army Soldier has defected to North Korea through the heavily , the communist North s official radio said monday. Staff sgt. Han Hyosun 24, an assistant platoon Leader from South Korea s 25th army div crossed the Central Border monday to defect the North s Central radio said South Korea s defense ministry confirmed the defection but denied a news report that there was an Exchange of fire Between soldiers from both Side when Han crossed the  Korea s Han Yorch Shimun newspaper reported without attribution that Border troops of the rival Korea exchanged fire. No casualties were reported it said. Fire sweeps Vietnam Jerry Hanoi \  ten people arc dead and 14 miss no after fire gutted a ferry in Southern Vietnam,.a government official said monday. Police were still searching for survivors of the thursday Blaze said Trail. Xuan Nghiem chief of traffic police for Kien Giang province. Nghiem said lie did t  Many people were aboard the ship which had room for up to_100 passengers. There were no immediate reports of survivors. The ferry a s heading for the provincial capital of rach Gia 155 Miles Southwest of to Chi Minh City when the fire broke out for technical reasons  said speaking from his office in rach Gia. Floods kill 29 in Thailand Bangkok Thailand flooding caused by tropical storm Lois has killed 29 people mostly in Thailand s Rural North and Northeast and caused s55 million in damage the Interior ministry said monday. Flooding has turned roads into Rivers and parched Farmland into lakes in 54 of Thailand s 76 provinces damaging More than 20,000 Homes and 1 million. Acres of Farmland the ministry said. A tropical depression Over Thailand is gaining strength and could cause More rain meteorologists j said. In the tradition of David a devout jew prays monday at the Vestern Wall in Jerusa Lem As Israel started celebrating the 3,000th anniversary of King David s Conquest of Jerusalem. The festivities scheduled to last 17 Mouths Are being boycotted by the euro Pean Union along with palestinian leaders who say the Celebration is a provocative denunciation of their claims to the City. Some orthodox jews Are also critical saying the observances Are too secular. Lima Peru a Peru reopened its Border with Ecuador on monday a key step toward Restor ing relations Between the two South american nations after a Brief War this Yean " peruvian soldiers lowered the Chain to the Bridge that connects the peruvian Border town of Aguas Virdes to the ecuadorean town of Hua Quillas. Mer chants from both sides surged across the Bridge and hugged one another. The Border was closed when fighting erupted i january Over a disputed Jungle Region. The 33-Day War killed 80 soldiers and left More than 200. Wounded before the two countries agreed to halt hostilities feb-28v Ecuador reopened its Border in june but Peru kept its Side closed until Ecuador removed land mines it had placed along the Border including in the populated area of Hua Quillas. Martin Guerrero a Leader of merchants in Aguas Yerdes said Ali the mines had not yet been re moved. He said merchants from Aguas Virdes and Hua Quillas planned to form a commission to ask the ecuadorean armed forces to remove the remaining mines As soon a possible. Orce Spain a Spanish scientists announced monday they had found a fossilised human like molar fragment they believe is 1.8 million years old and the oldest evidence so far of a Hoir Inid presence in Lairope. The Fossil provides new information on the Arr Valur human ancestors in Europe from Africa said pal Conro legit  Gibert. Gibert led the team that discovered the tooth this summer on a dig near , in spa Thorn Spain. -,.-.   fragment was dated from analysis of the rur rounding level where it was uncovered. _ Gibert s team also discovered about 200 Stone  their dating of the Fossil would make it a million years older than what was thought to be the earliest indication of a human like presence in Europe hominid fossils discovered at a site near Ata Perca in Northern Spain by a different group of Spanish scientists. In. The journal science last month the scientists re ported they had age dated the Ata Perca fossils Back 780,000 years. That Dale sets inc specimens at a Point at least 200,000 years older than any other human like Fossil found in ivc Stern Europe outside of Spain. In 1982 in a different Sile near orce Gibert s Tea found a Bone fragment they identified As part of a 1.6 million year old hominid cranium. Some other scientist s question Emhe claim saying the fragment was in Stead from  animal.  scientific publications in recent years gibe Tjia s presented new evidence based on More biological studies using fractals to support his claim that the Fossil is hominid. A _ r Gibert who  with the palaeontology Institute in Sabadell near Barcelona presented this sum Mer s finds at a palaeontology conference that continues through thursday. V Channel vehicle usage rises 30% London a eur Tunnel pc said tuesday that it carried 30 percent More vehicles under the English Channel in August than in the previous month. During August eur Tunnel has. Become the leading Cross Channel Carrier of cars on the Calais do ver Folkestone route the company said. But that claim was disputed by a ferry  said its be shuttle trains carried 143,577 cars 2,284 motorcycles and 2,728 buses. The total was up 30 percent Over july and 47 percent higher than june traffic the company said. However to european ferries reported last week that it carried 160,078 cars on the route in August plus 3,656 motorcycles. Counting trailers arid caravans to said it carried 176,590 tourist vehicles across the Channel. Eur Tunnel offered no immediate explanation for its claim to be no. 1 in car traffic but said the Issue would be discussed at a news conference later tuesday. To said tourist traffic was up s percent compared with july. Eur Tunnel said it would begin carrying campers and trailers sept. 30