GENEVA — Glaciers in Antarctica are melting faster and across a much wider area than previously thought, a development that threatens to raise sea levels worldwide and force millions of people to flee low-lying areas, scientists said yesterday.

Researchers once believed that the melting was limited to the Antarctic Peninsula, a narrow tongue of land pointing toward South America. But satellite data and automated weather stations now indicate it is more widespread. By the end of the century, the melting could cause sea levels to climb by 3 to 5 feet, levels substantially higher than predicted by a major scientific group just two years ago.

PAKISTAN COURT BARS CANDIDACY

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — America's key ally in the fight against al-Qaida and the Taliban plunged deeper into turmoil yesterday after its Supreme Court disqualified opposition leader Nawaz Sharif from running for parliament.

The ruling threatens to trigger a new political crisis that could paralyze the government and push Pakistan to the brink of collapse. Sharif accused President Asif Ali Zardari of exerting pressure on the court to issue the ruling to neutralize a political threat. Zardari did not immediately respond to the allegations.

MUTINY GROWS IN BANGLADESH

DHAKA, Bangladesh — A deadly mutiny over pay that began with border guards in the Bangladesh capital apparently spread today, with shootings reported at several guard posts around the country, police and witnesses said.

Mutineers fired shots at a border guard post in the southern town of Tekhnaf, police said. The violence comes a day after border guards mutinied at the agency's headquarters in Dhaka to demand better pay, but agreed later to surrender after the government said it would discuss their grievances.

FIRST POOCH'S BREED PICKED

WASHINGTON — The Obamas are getting a dog in April and are looking for a rescued Portuguese water dog.

"Temperamentally they're supposed to be pretty good," Michelle Obama said of the breed, in People magazine.