WORLD BRIEFS

AZERBAIJAN: Iran accused in plot arrests

The National Security Ministry said Tuesday it had busted a suspected terrorist group working for Iran's secret services, the second such claim this year as tensions rise between the two neighbors. A statement carried by state television said the ministry had arrested an unspecified number of people suspected of preparing terror attacks against foreign citizens at Iran's behest. They had acquired a large number of weapons and explosives, the ministry said. Last month, Azerbaijan announced the arrest of two local residents accused of plotting to kill two teachers at a Jewish school in Baku on Iranian orders. Iran, in turn, has accused Azerbaijan of turning a blind eye to Israeli intelligence operations on its soil.

ZIMBABWE: Mugabe OKd to run again

A clause in the planned new constitution blocking President Robert Mugabe from running in the next election has been removed, allowing the 88-year-old leader to bid to extend his 32 years in power. Mugabe and his Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front party had rejected the initial draft. Zanu-PF and the Movement for Democratic Change of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai must agree on a draft before it can be put to a referendum ahead of elections. "That mischievous clause has been removed from the draft constitution," Paul Mangwana, co-chairman of the Constitution Select Committee and a member of Mugabe's party, said. "Scientifically it has not been proven that the older you become, the unwiser you become."

YEMEN

Electing a new president

Yemenis flocked to the polls across their battered nation Tuesday to vote in a U.S.-backed, single-candidate election meant to install a new leader to replace the outgoing autocrat. Vice President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi is set to be declared president in the coming days, which will make his predecessor, Ali Abdullah Saleh, the fourth leader to be pushed from power in the Arab Spring uprisings that erupted early last year.