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PARIS — A former French prime minister was ordered Tuesday to stand trial over a political smear campaign against Nicolas Sarkozy before he became France's president, a French judicial official said.

Investigating judges honored a prosecutor's request by ordering the conservative Dominique de Villepin to stand trial in criminal court on charges of "complicity in slanderous denunciations," the official said on condition of anonymity.

Villepin has vigorously denied the charges. He could face up to five years in prison if convicted. Four other suspected accomplices were also ordered to stand trial.

The judicial investigation hinged on the role Villepin allegedly had in spreading allegations in 2004 that then-government minister Sarkozy and other top figures had secret bank accounts for laundering bribes.

HAVANA — China's president was signing dozens of trade and investment deals with communist ally Cuba on Tuesday, part of a Latin America trip on which Chinese businessmen have been snapping up all manner of raw materials.

Taking the long view at a time of financial crisis, China is investing heavily in commodity-producing countries, and Cuba is no exception. The deals agreed to by President Hu Jintao included purchases of Cuban nickel and sugar, along with pledges to send food and building materials to help the Caribbean nation recover from three major hurricanes.

MOGADISHU — A major Norwegian shipping group on Tuesday ordered its more than 90 tankers to sail around Africa rather than use the Suez Canal after Somali pirates seized a Saudi supertanker carrying $100 million in crude.

The U.S. and other naval forces decided against intervening in the seizure of the supertanker. The pirates captured an Iranian cargo ship Tuesday, the seventh vessel seized in 12 days.

Odfjell SE said it made the decision to divert its ships after pirates seized the Saudi Arabian supertanker MV Sirius Star Saturday hundreds of miles off the coast of Kenya, the most brazen attack yet by Somalian pirates. The Gulf of Aden, off Somalia, connects to the Red Sea, which in turn is linked to the Mediterranean by the Suez Canal. The route is thousands of miles and many days shorter than going around the Cape of Good Hope off the southern tip of Africa.

"This will incur significant extra cost, but we expect our customers' support and contribution," said Terje Storeng, Odfjell's president and chief executive.

BELFAST — Northern Ireland's long-feuding Protestant and Catholic leaders ended a five-month deadlock Tuesday by agreeing to form a Justice Department that will oversee the police and courts.

Catholics have long rejected British control of law enforcement and justice in Northern Ireland. Handing joint control to British Protestants and Irish Catholics is meant to ensure that a power-sharing deal between the two sides will not unravel, undoing the central objective of a decade-old peace agreement.

GAZA CITY — Israeli tanks pushed into the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, drawing mortar fire from Palestinian militants and intensifying violence that has chipped away at a tenuous cease-fire.

Israel and Gaza's ruling Islamic militant Hamas movement have been trading fire for two weeks after nearly five months of relative quiet. The violence comes as the Egyptian-negotiated truce that began June 19 is due to expire next month, and both sides might be trying to dictate more favorable terms in anticipation of the agreement's renewal.

Backed by a bulldozer and military jeep, the tanks rumbled about a quarter-mile into the tiny seaside strip, residents and Gaza security officials said. Residents said they leveled lands along the border east of the city of Rafah.

The Israelis described the activity as "a routine operation to uncover explosive devices."

LONDON — Michael Jackson might be too sick to travel to London to testify in a suit claiming he owes an Arab sheik $7 million, the pop star's attorney said Tuesday.

Jackson is seeking to give his testimony by video link from the United States.

"It would be unwise for him to travel, given what's he's got now," lawyer Robert Englehart said, declining to elaborate "for the obvious reasons."