World Scene

CUBA

Castro pulls dollars out of circulation

HAVANA — Cuba announced yesterday that U.S. dollars soon will no longer be accepted at stores or other businesses on the communist island, in a move that will radically change the way business has been done over the past decade.

The measure called for all such transactions to be done in a local currency known as convertible Cuban pesos, starting Nov. 8.

The government of President Fidel Castro introduced the ban in the wake of stepped-up measures by the Bush administration to punish banks that ship dollars to Cuba, which has been under a U.S. trade and financial embargo for more than 40 years.

ISRAEL

Arafat has surgery at headquarters

RAMALLAH — Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat underwent minor exploratory surgery in his West Bank headquarters yesterday and is in stable condition, a senior official said.

Doctors who carried out the surgery found no major life-threatening condition, officials said after the procedure. Mr. Arafat had complained of stomach pains.

NIGERIA

Sudan, Darfur rebels begin peace talks

ABUJA — Darfur peace talks kicked off four days late in Nigeria yesterday amid mounting international concerns of a resurgence of fighting in the remote Sudanese region.

Each side accused the other of breaking a cease-fire as talks began after a delay caused by a transport mix-up that left rebel negotiators stranded for up to four days.

SOUTH AFRICA

Mugabe foe meets Mbeki

PRETORIA — Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who recently was acquitted of plotting to kill President Robert Mugabe, yesterday held talks with South African leader Thabo Mbeki, who has been trying to resolve a political crisis in the neighboring country.

Mr. Tsvangirai, who is making his first foreign trip in nearly three years, is visiting Mauritius, South Africa and Botswana. He had been unable to leave Zimbabwe since 2002, when he was accused of plotting to assassinate Mr. Mugabe.

TUNISIA

President re-elected; opposition protests

TUNIS — Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali has won re-election for a fourth term by an overwhelming margin in a vote denounced as “surreal” and an insult to democracy by several opposition leaders.

According to final figures announced by the Interior Ministry, Mr. Ben Ali garnered 94.48 percent of the vote.

FRANCE

Government rejects oil-for-food charges

PARIS — Charges that French companies and government officials illicitly reaped financial benefits from the United Nations’ Iraq oil-for-food program are “inaccurate” and unsubstantiated, France said yesterday in a sharp response to a new U.S. government report.

The report, which said French companies and individuals participated in a secret oil voucher program that helped Saddam Hussein circumvent U.N. sanctions, lacks proof to back up the charges, the Foreign Ministry said.

Saddam’s regime skimmed an estimated $10 billion from the humanitarian program, relying on bribes and kickbacks to foreign sympathizers to flout the sanctions.