A brief look at what is happening in the world this morning
Weah among front-runners in Liberia poll
MONROVIA - Former finance minister Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and soccer star George Weah have emerged as early front- runners in Liberia's first post-war elections, officials said, citing initial results.
There was an enthusiastic turnout in the presidential and parliamentary polls on Tuesday, aimed at restoring stability after the civil war that ended two years ago.
First results showed Johnson-Sirleaf (66), a Harvard-trained economist, and Weah (39), a former AC Milan striker, leading the field of 22 presidential candidates. Reuters
500 Balinese storm Indonesian jail
KEROBOKAN, Indonesia - Protesters stormed an Indonesian jail where many bombers behind the 2002 Bali nightclub blasts are being held, just hours after sombre ceremonies took place to mark the third anniversary of the atrocity.
Frustration boiled over at Kerobokan prison, where 500 Balinese demanded the immediate execution of three militants on death row for the bombings that killed 202 people destroyed part of the outer wall and knocked down a steel door into the jail. Reuters
Sarkozy to sue French tabloid
PARIS - France's interior minister and would-be president, Nicolas Sarkozy, and his new partner, a political journalist on the conservative daily Le Figaro, say they plan to sue French news media who had revealed the woman's identity.
Marking a further break with the media's traditional discretion concerning the private lives of political figures, the tabloid France Soir named the minister's girlfriend on Tuesday. The national news agency AFP picked up the story. Guardian service
Zimbabwe poll to be boycotted
HARARE - Zimbabwe's main opposition party says it will boycott elections next month for a new senate which critics say is intended to bolster President Robert Mugabe and his ruling party's grip on power. Reuters
Trial over abuse of G8 prisoners
ROME - Forty-five police, prison guards and medical staff have gone on trial accused of beating and abusing protesters detained after outbreaks of violence during a summit of major world leaders in Genoa in 2001. It is one of two high- profile cases into alleged police brutality taking place this week. Reuters
Kurdish rebels kill five soldiers
TUNCELI - Kurdish rebels have killed five Turkish soldiers after troops tracked down a group of guerrillas in a steep valley during a large operation yesterday in the east of Turkey, a military official said. Reuters
Old noodles bowl scientists over
LONDON - Italians are known for them and theories suggest they may have originated in the Middle East but scientists say the world's oldest known noodles, dating back 4,000 years, were made in China. Houyuan Lu of the Chinese Academy of Science in Beijing and his colleagues found the ancient noodles preserved in an overturned, sealed bowl at an archaeological site near the Yellow River in north- western China. Reuters
Romania may not have bird flu
BRUSSELS - Bird flu does not so far appear to have hit Romania, according to results released yesterday by the European Commission, raising hopes that the highly contagious disease has not yet reached Europe.
But the EU said it planned to extend until next April its ban on imports of live birds and feathers from Turkey, where an outbreak of avian influenza was discovered at the weekend. Reuters