World Scene

ISRAEL

Sharon bribery case is dropped, TV says

JERUSALEM — The attorney general has decided not to indict Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on bribery charges because of a lack of evidence, Israeli television said yesterday.

The Channel Ten report said Attorney General Menachem Mazuz had closed the case and was to issue his decision formally later this week.

Israeli land developer David Appel is reported to have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to Gilad Sharon, the prime minister’s son, who was an adviser on a never-completed project to build a Greek resort.

PAKISTAN

Terror suspect linked to 9/11 mastermind

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan has arrested the nephew of the suspected mastermind of the September 11 attacks and eight other militants suspected of ambushing Karachi’s military commander, the information minister said yesterday.

Minister Sheik Rashid Ahmed said security forces had seized Musaad Aruchi, an Arab the official described as an important al Qaeda member with a $1 million bounty on his head.

The suspect was described as the nephew of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, al Qaeda’s No. 3, who was arrested near Islamabad in March last year.

TURKEY

Curfew imposed after Kurds attack

ANKARA — The Turkish military declared an overnight curfew in the southeastern city of Bingol late yesterday, after Kurdish rebels launched a rocket attack on a military officers’ club, a military official said. Troops killed two rebels in the ensuing clash.

The attack occurred hours after more than 20,000 Kurds held a demonstration for peace in Diyarbakir, the largest city in the region. Former parliament deputy Leyla Zana, who was freed from prison recently, urged autonomy-seeking Kurdish rebels to resume their unilateral truce.

Rebels ended the five-year truce, saying Turkey had not responded in kind, and intensified attacks on Turkish security forces earlier this month.

JAPAN

Scientists see floods as growing menace

TOKYO — The number of people vulnerable to floods is expected to double to 2 billion worldwide by 2050 as a result of global warming, deforestation, rising sea levels and population growth in flood-prone areas, U.N. researchers warned yesterday.

A sixth of the world’s population lives in the potential path of a worst-case flood, and most are among the planet’s poorest, United Nations University specialists said.