CARIBBEAN

PREVAL ON TRACK TO BE HAITI’S NEXT PRESIDENT

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – A former president seen as a champion of the poor, Rene Preval, appeared headed toward victory yesterday as the first partial returns put him in the lead in Haiti’s presidential election. Mr. Preval won 61.5% of 282,327 valid votes counted so far, Haiti’s electoral council said. It refused to say what percentage of the total votes cast these figures represented. According to the United Nations, a majority of Haiti’s 3.5 million eligible voters cast ballots.

– Associated Press

MIDDLE EAST

EGYPTIAN DIPLOMAT KIDNAPPED IN GAZA

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Masked gunmen kidnapped an Egyptian diplomat, Hussam Almousaly, in a brazen daylight attack yesterday that underscored the spiraling lawlessness in the Gaza Strip, and showed that no one – not even an official from one of the Palestinian Arabs’ most important allies – is immune from the violence.

The abduction came amid a flare-up in violence between Gaza terrorists and Israel. Israeli troops shot and killed three terrorists during attacks yesterday, bringing to 14 the number of Gaza militants killed in violence with Israel over the past week.

– Associated Press

PALESTINIAN ATTORNEY GENERAL SEIZES ASSETS IN CORRUPTION PROBE

RAMALLAH, West Bank – Palestinian Arab prosecutors have frozen bank accounts and seized assets in a corruption probe of dozens of government officials suspected of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars in public funds. Among the suspects, 25 are in custody and at least six have fled to Arab countries, including four to Jordan, Attorney General Ahmed al-Meghani told the Associated Press. Among the suspects is a deputy minister who allegedly misappropriated more than $100,000, according to documents shown to the AP. Mr. al-Meghani has refused to release the names of suspects.

– Associated Press

BOMB HITS ISTANBUL INTERNET CAFE

ISTANBUL, Turkey – A bomb tore through an Internet cafe frequented by police yesterday in Istanbul, wounding at least 17 people. Istanbul prosecutor Aykut Engin, who inspected the scene of the blast, said seven police officers and 10 civilians were hurt, including a badly injured child. The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons Organization, a hard-line group believed linked to the main Kurdish guerrilla group, the Kurdistan Workers Party, claimed responsibility for the bombing, the Netherlands-based Firat News Agency said on its Web site.

– Associated Press

SHARON UNDERGOES CT SCAN

JERUSALEM – Prime Minister Sharon underwent a CT scan that showed he remained in serious but stable condition yesterday, a statement from Hadassah Hospital said, in the first announcement on the comatose leader’s state since he had a feeding tube inserted in his stomach earlier this month. The statement from the hospital said Mr. Sharon’s condition had not changed and called the CT scan “routine.”

– Associated Press

NORTH AFRICA

TOMB FOUND IN VALLEY OF THE KINGS

CAIRO, Egypt – The first tomb to be discovered in the Valley of the Kings since King Tut’s in 1922 contains five sarcophagi with mummies, breaking the nearly century-long belief that there’s nothing more to find in the valley where some of Egypt’s greatest pharaohs were buried. The tomb’s spare appearance suggests it was not dug for a pharaoh, an American archaeologist, Kent Weeks, who was not involved in the University of Memphis team’s find but has seen photographs of the site, said. “It could be the tomb of a king’s wife or son, or of a priest or court official,” he told the Associated Press yesterday.

– Associated Press

WESTERN EUROPE

NATO DETERMINED TO EXPAND AFGHAN MISSION DESPITE VIOLENCE

TAORMINA, Sicily – NATO is determined to expand its peacekeeping mission into southern Afghanistan despite violence over caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad that targeted Western troops there this week, the head of the alliance said yesterday. Protests over the publication of the cartoons in European newspapers forced NATO defense ministers to shift the focus of their two-day meeting in this Mediterranean resort – delaying discussion of plans to modernize the alliance until Friday. The cartoon controversy also will loom large over the NATO defense ministers’ first ever meeting Friday with their counterparts from Israel and six Arab nations.

– Associated Press

PERFUMERS SCENT AN END TO A FRAGRANT ABUSE

PARIS – A scent is a work of art just like a painting or a symphony, a French court has ruled in a case seen as a major victory in the battle against copycat fragrances. After decades of failed attempts to copyright perfume, cosmetics giant L’Oreal persuaded the court that its perfumes were entitled to the French droits d’auteur that protect their creators from imitation for 70 years. The company filed for charges against a Dubai-based perfume firm, Bellure, after it discovered that the company was selling copies of 13 of its perfumes.

– The Daily Telegraph

EASTERN EUROPE

FINANCE MINISTERS TO CONVENE IN MOSCOW AS RUSSIA TAKES G-8 CHAIR

MOSCOW – A resurgent Russia opens its chairmanship of the Group of Eight nations this weekend with finance ministers from the world’s wealthiest nations convening for talks that will focus on oil and energy security. Russia, whose economy has been rejuvenated by high oil prices, nevertheless said that diversifying energy sources was a key issue. The finance ministers are also slated to discuss the effect of soaring oil prices on global economic growth.

– Associated Press