MIDDLE EAST

PALESTINIAN ELECTION COMMISSION CLOSES AFTER ATTACKS

RAMALLAH, West Bank – The Palestinian Arab central election commission shut its doors yesterday in protest after masked gunmen burst into its West Bank and Gaza offices, firing in the air and hauling off computers. Palestinian Arab leader Mahmoud Abbas ordered his security forces to protect election workers, but officials privately conceded that violence could endanger the January 25 parliamentary election. A poll released yesterday showed that nearly a third of the Palestinian Arab people have no faith in any of the possible leaders.

– Associated Press

EAST ASIA

WTO MEETING OPENS AS PROTESTERS SCUFFLE WITH POLICE

HONG KONG – Protesters clashed with police as a World Trade Organization meeting opened, and delegates said divisions between rich and poor countries over agricultural trade make breakthroughs in the global talks unlikely. The WTO’s director-general, Pascal Lamy, opened the six-day meeting by urging the nearly 6,000 delegates from the Geneva-based body’s member countries to be “bold, open-minded and prepared to take some risks.”

– Associated Press

ACTIVISTS CALL FOR INQUIRY INTO DEADLY POLICE SHOOTING IN CHINA

SHENZHEN, China – A group of Chinese activists and academics called yesterday for an inquiry into the deadly police shooting of villagers protesting the seizure of land for a power plant. The letter from the activists, posted on a Web site abroad, urged the government to publish the names of those killed in a coastal village in Guangdong province northeast of Hong Kong, Dongzhou, and to compensate their families.

– Associated Press

SOUTHEAST ASIA

DEATH FROM BIRD FLU CONFIRMED IN INDONESIA

JAKARTA, Indonesia – Indonesia confirmed its ninth human death from bird flu yesterday and Japan said it will kill 90,000 more chickens after an outbreak at a farm north of Tokyo.

– Associated Press

WESTERN EUROPE

FIREFIGHTERS EXTINGUISH ALL TANK FIRES IN OIL DEPOT BLAZE

HEMEL HEMPSTEAD, England – One of the biggest blazes in Europe since World War II was reduced to a few small fires yesterday. Firefighters announced that the last of 20 oil tanks ignited has been extinguished after a three-day battle that used millions of gallons of foam and water. More than a dozen nearby industrial buildings face demolition after the blaze.

– Associated Press

INVESTIGATOR SAYS CIA SHIPPED PRISONERS TO NORTH AFRICA

PARIS – A Swiss senator looking into claims the CIA operated secret prisons in Europe, Dick Marty, said an investigation unearthed “clues” that Poland and Romania were implicated – perhaps unwittingly. Both countries have denied any involvement, and Mr. Marty said he believes no prisoners are now being held by America in Europe. The CIA declined to comment.

– Associated Press

NORTH AFRICA

MASS GRAVE EXHUMED WITH REMAINS OF 100 PEOPLE

RABAT, Morocco – Authorities have exhumed the remains of about 100 people from a mass grave in Morocco and reburied them individually in a nearby lot. A rights activist whose brother has been missing since 1972, Abdelkarim El Manouzi, and other critics said the exhumation may have damaged evidence for possible prosecution of perpetrators as well as for DNA tests to identify victims of riots June 20, 1981, sparked by food price increases.

– Associated Press

SOUTH AMERICA

COLOMBIA JOINS SEARCH FOR U.S. NAVY HELICOPTER

BOGOTA, Colombia – An American Navy helicopter crashed in the Pacific Ocean with three aboard yesterday, and the Colombian navy joined a search for the missing crewmembers, American and Colombian officials said. The helicopter was within visual range of the USS DeWert when it went down.

– Associated Press