Dateline briefs

Pakistan: Assassination

PESHAWAR — A Taliban suicide bomber killed the head of a U.S.-backed paramilitary police force battling militants in northwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, one of the highest-ranking security officers ever assassinated in the country.

The bombing in Peshawar that killed Sifwat Ghayur, the head of the 25,000-strong Frontier Constabulary, was the first attack since monsoon rains triggered massive flooding over a week ago. The northwest city often targeted by the Taliban had been calm recently, but renewed violence could further strain a government already struggling with the flood relief effort.

Iran: Fireworks scare

TEHRAN — Iran's official news agency said Wednesday that an explosion near the president's convoy was just an excited fan setting off fireworks, denying earlier reports of an assassination attempt.

A fan set off a firecracker similar to those used during sports matches to express his excitement at Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to the western Iranian town of Hamedan, reported the IRNA news agency. The explosion near the president's convoy had set off a flurry of media reports, including one that it was a handmade grenade.

Haiti: Presidential race

PORT-AU-PRINCE — Another potential powerhouse emerged Wednesday in the race for Haiti's presidency as the ruling party nominated ousted ex-Prime Minister Jacques-Edouard Alexis to lead the earthquake-ravaged nation.

The backing of President Rene Preval's newly formed Unity party could push the former premier's prospects ahead of the international star power of Haitian-born, Brooklyn-raised singer Wyclef Jean.

Alexis was nominated late Tuesday at a Unity meeting, presidential Chief of Staff Fritz Longchamp told The Associated Press.

Kenya: Election

TIMBOROA — Enthusiastic voters, many wrapped in colorful traditional blankets, waited for hours Wednesday to cast ballots on a constitution that could spell a new era for Kenya — curtailing the president's enormous powers and giving citizens a bill of rights.

With memories fresh of the ethnically charged violence that left more than 1,000 people dead following the disputed 2007 election, police were deployed en masse across the country.