LATEST NEWS OF JUNE 2009

IRAN OFFICIALS DECLARE AHMADINEJAD VICTORIOUS OVER OPPOSITION LEADER MIR HOSSEIN MOUSAVI

     TEHRAN, IRAN--  Iranian officials have declared the hotly disputed presidential election to be correct after a partial recount.  State television reports that Guardian Council Secretary Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati presented Minister of the Interior Sadegh Mahsouli a letter Monday saying the council has approved the election after a recount of 10 percent of the ballots. Requests for a new election and allegations of voting irregularities have been rejected.

    Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi claims he, not incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is the rightful winner of the June 12 election, and has called for a new election.  Iran began recounting some of the votes cast in an apparent attempt to placate opposition protesters, and the government dismissed the idea of downgrading relations with Britain despite accusing that country of stirring up unrest.

    As the partial recount got under way, hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad asked Iran's cleric-controlled judiciary to investigate the killing of Neda Agha Soltan, the young woman who became an icon of Iran's opposition after gruesome video capturing her bleeding to death on a Tehran street was circulated worldwide.  The regime's standoff with the West over its crackdown on demonstrators sharply escalated Sunday. Britain denounced the detention of nine local employees of its embassy in Tehran, and the European Union condemned what it called Iranian "harassment and intimidation." Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi told a news conference broadcast on state television Monday that five of the Iranian embassy staffers had been released and the remaining four were being interrogated.

NEW HONDURAN PRESIDENT, ROBERTO MICHELETTI, SAID HIS ARMY READY FOR ANY EXTERNAL THREATS

        TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS--Newly-appointed Honduran President Roberto Micheletti said on Sunday the country's armed forces are ready to cope with any external threats.

    In response to criticism by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Micheletti said the military had done what they should to defend the dignity of the country's constitution, brushing aside allegation that the army had staged a military coup.  The Honduran government has been fully prepared to respond to all possible threats from "any forces or groups," he added.

       Hundreds of troops stormed the presidential residency in Honduras' capital Tegucigalpa in the early hours on Sunday. Zelaya was taken onto a plane and exiled to Costa Rica.  Honduras' congress named speaker Roberto Micheletti as the interim president, who announced a curfew.

ARGENTINA'S FIRST COUPLE SUFFERED A STUNNING DEFEAT IN SUNDAY'S ELECTIONS

       BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA--Argentina's first couple suffered a stunning setback in an election seen as a referendum on their political dynasty, losing control of both houses of Congress. The loss in Sunday's election weakened President Cristina Fernandez's government two years before she leaves office by diminishing her ability to push legislation through Congress and damaging the reputation of her Peronist party as it seeks direction ahead of 2011's presidential race. Fernandez's husband, former President Nestor Kirchner, lost a bid for a seat from Buenos Aires province. The setbacks could kick off a power struggle within the party, which Kirchner has headed since 2007.

     Kirchner conceded defeat early Monday after trailing Francisco De Narvaez by 32.2 percent to 34.5 percent with 91 percent of the ballots counted. "We have lost by a small margin, we have fought with all our dignity in Buenos Aires province," Kirchner said. "In the coming days everyone will be evaluating the choices and mistakes that have taken place." De Narvaez of the Union Pro alliance, a charismatic millionaire and sitting congressman who is part of a growing anti-Fernandez faction in the president's Peronist party, was jubilant.    

     "I said one day we would change history, and that day is today," he said at his campaign headquarters. "The bad politics of old has been defeated. Allies of the first couple also lost key races in the city of Buenos Aires and Cordoba and Santa Fe provinces. With her approval ratings dropping dramatically this year amid a farmbelt crisis and economic meltdown, Fernandez arranged for congressional elections to be held four months early.  She defended it as a way to let lawmakers get a jump-start on dealing with economic difficulties, but her foes blasted it as an attempt to shore up congressional support before her numbers eroded even further. Kirchner's entry into the race in a desperate attempt to extend their power turned the election into a referendum on wife's tenure and is thought to have seen the seat as a launching pad for his own return to the presidency.

HONDURAN PRESIDENT MANUEL ZELAYA OVERTHROWN IN MILITARY COUP

     TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS--A group of at least 100 soldiers surrounded the residence of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya early Sunday morning, hauled him out of bed, took him to an air force base and put him on a plane for Costa Rica. Congress, which decided late Thursday to investigate whether the president was fit to govern on the grounds that he "failed to pay due attention to problems of national interest and did not obey legal decisions, to the detriment of the rule of law," planned to meet at noon (18:00 GMT) to complete the process.

    The head of Congress, Roberto Micheletti, will be named acting president, as Zelaya’s constitutional successor.  There is virtually no power or Internet in the Honduran capital in the wake of the coup d’etat. Electricity was gradually cut throughout the city, which is being overflown by war planes and helicopters. The few media outlets that continue to broadcast are only airing music. The Organisation of American States (OAS) has convened an emergency meeting on the situation, at its headquarters in Washington, D.C.  In a statement, OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza strongly condemned the military coup and called on the Honduran people, the countries of the Americas and the international community "to join forces against this grave disturbance of the democratic process" in the region.

    U.S. President Barack Obama said "I am deeply concerned by reports coming out of Honduras regarding the detention and expulsion of President Manuel Zelaya. As the Organisation of American States did on Friday, I call on all political and social actors in Honduras to respect democratic norms, the rule of law and the tenets of the Inter-American Democratic Charter. Any existing tensions and disputes must be resolved peacefully through dialogue free from any outside interference."

HONDURAN CONGRESS NAMES NEW PRESIDENT

        TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS--The Honduran Congress has named its leader to replace President Manuel Zelaya following his military ouster and forced exile in Costa Rica. A resolution read on the floor of Congress accuses Zelaya of "manifest irregular conduct" and "putting in present danger the state of law," a reference to his refusal to obey a Supreme Court ruling against holding a constitutional referendum.

    By a show of hands, the Congress voted on Sunday to remove Zelaya, and appointed congressional President Roberto Micheletti as the new chief executive, as is mandated by the constitution. The Supreme Court said it was supporting the military in what it called a defense of democracy, and the Honduran ambassador to the Organization of American States said the military was planning to swear in Congressional President Roberto Micheletti — who is next in line to the presidency — to replace Zelaya.

    A majority of members of Congress voted with a show of hands to accept a letter of resignation that Congressional Secretary Jose Alfredo Saavedra said was signed by Zelaya and dated Thursday. The letter said Zelaya was resigning because of "the polarized political situation" and "insuperable health problems." But Zelaya told foreign reporters the letter was "totally false." He told Telesur he would not recognize any de facto government and pledged to serve out his term, which ends in January. He said he would attend a scheduled meeting of Central American presidents in Nicaragua on Monday. He said Chavez, who is also going, would provide transportation.

THE EUROPEAN UNION CONDEMNED THE OVERTHROW OF HONDURAN PRESIDENT MANUEL ZELAYA

       CORFU, GREECE--The European Union (EU) unanimously condemned on Sunday a coup d’état perpetrated by Honduran military against the president of this Central American nation, Manuel Zelaya.

     Speaking from Greece to news agencies, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said that “the European Union will unreservedly condemn this coup d’état” and he demanded the immediate reinstatement of President Zelaya and the re-establishment of the constitutional order in the Central American country.

    International media outlets also report on statements by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who expressed his support of Zelaya and stressed that the Honduran oligarchy is behind the coup. He also urged US President Barack Obama to take a stand on the current situation.Chavez also urged the Honduran military patriots to neutralize the coup d’état and to avoid a massacre. Meanwhile, Bolivian President Evo Morales also denounced the coup and urged the international community and social movements to condemn the anti-democratic action. Reports from Tegucigalpa inform that the military surrounding the Presidential Palace in the Honduran capital have fired tear gas against demonstrators in favor of President Zelaya.

NORTH KOREA THREATENS TO SHOOT DOWN JAPANESE SPY PLANES

     TOKYO, JAPAN--North Korea threatened Saturday to shoot down any Japanese planes that enter its airspace, accusing Tokyo of spying near one of its missile launch sites. The North has designated a no-sail zone off its eastern coast from June 25 to July 10 for military drills, raising concerns that it might test-fire short- or mid-range missiles in the coming days, in violation of a U.N. resolution. North Korea's air force said Japan's E-767 surveillance aircraft conducted aerial espionage near the Musudan-ri missile site on its northeast coast Wednesday and Thursday.

    The military "will not tolerate even a bit the aerial espionage by the warmongers of the Japanese aggression forces but mercilessly shoot down any plane intruding into the territorial air of the (North) even 0.001 mm," the air force said in a statement carried by the country's official Korean Central News Agency. An official from Japan's Defense Ministry said the country's planes regularly gather information on North Korea but declined to comment on the types of planes used or the locations monitored. He spoke on condition of anonymity, citing government policy. The threat against alleged Japanese aerial espionage is rare, though the North has regularly complained of U.S. spy missions in its airspace.

    Japan is very sensitive to North Korea's missile programs, as its islands lie within easy range. In 1998, a North Korean missile flew over Japan's main island. Tokyo has since spent billions of dollars on developing a missile shield with the United States and has launched a series of spy satellites primarily to watch developments in North Korea. But in April, another rocket flew over Japan's main island, drawing a strong protest from Tokyo. Pyongyang claims it put a satellite into orbit, while the U.S. and its allies say it was really a test of the country's long-range missile technology.

HUGO CHAVEZ SAID THAT UN AND OAS "ARE USELESS TO PEOPLE THE WAY THEY ARE" 

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA--"The United Nations and the Organization of American States are useless the way they are. They are useless for our peoples and if they do not serve our people they are simply useless. We must restructure these organizations or they will die," said Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez on Wednesday.

     Following the closing session of the Sixth Extraordinary Summit of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), the Venezuelan Head of State said that if international institutions like the UN are unable to enforce resolutions and accept proposals emerging from peoples, whose voices are represented on international bodies such as ALBA, they can not continue to operate, the state-owned news agency.

     Chávez said that the UN and the Organization of American States (OAS) act the same way. He added that they serve the interests of powerful countries, which sabotage and impede the fight of people against aggressions, threats and violation of the sovereignty of nations.

CUBA CENTRAL BANK PRESIDENT, FRANCISCO SUBERON, ASKED TO BE REPLACE FOR "PERSONAL REASONS"

       HAVANA, CUBA--The head of Cuba's central bank has resigned as  Raul Castro pushes ahead with a government reorganization amid signs of a cash crunch, state television reported Thursday. Francisco Soberon, 64, has been replaced by Ernesto Medina, who heads Banco Financiero Internacional, one of Cuba's biggest banks, according to an official announcement read on the evening news. It did not say when the move had taken effect. Soberon, who led the bank for nearly 15 years, also asked to be removed from the Cuban Communist Party's policy-making Central Committee and as a parliament deputy, it said.

    The statement offered no explanation for his resignation, but recent restrictions placed on large cash withdrawals suggest a liquidity problem on the island. Soberon is known for carrying out the monetary policies of Castro's older brother, Fidel, who resigned from the presidency last year because of health problems. In recent years, he oversaw the introduction of the Cuban convertible peso, which replaced the U.S. dollar as Cuba's legal tender. The peso's value is tied to a basket of foreign currencies, including the dollar and the euro.

    Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque and Vice President Carlos Lage were removed from the Cabinet in a stunning shake up in March. At the time, state media published letters that both men had written to Raul Castro, acknowledging they had committed errors and promising to continue to serve the country. Since then, several other Cabinet members have also lost their jobs as a large scale streamlining effort fused ministries that were deemed to have similar, overlapping tasks.

IRAN PRESIDENT MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD DEMANDS AN APOLOGY FROM PRESIDENT OBAMA

     TEHRAN, IRAN.--President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad lashed out at President Obama on Thursday, warning him against "interfering" in Iranian affairs and demanding an apology for criticism of a government crackdown on demonstrators protesting alleged electoral fraud.  Despite an increasingly harsh response to the protests, opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi pledged to continue challenging official results that showed a landslide victory for Ahmadinejad in Iran's June 12 presidential election. He vowed to resist growing pressure to end his campaign and said he remains determined to prove that those who rigged the election are also responsible for the violence unleashed on opposition protesters.

     In a speech at a petrochemical plant in southern Iran, Ahmadinejad said Obama was behaving like his predecessor, George W. Bush, and suggested that talks with the United States on Iran's nuclear program would be pointless if Obama kept up his criticism. Obama, who has expressed interest in talking to the Iranian leadership about the nuclear issue, said at a news conference Tuesday that he was "appalled and outraged" by recent violence against demonstrators, and he accused the Iranian government of trying to "distract people" by blaming the unrest on the United States and other Western nations.  

     "Do you want to speak with this tone?" Ahmadinejad responded Thursday, addressing Obama. "If that is your stance, then what is left to talk about?"  He added: "I hope you avoid interfering in Iran's affairs and express your regret in a way that the Iranian nation is informed of it." He asked why Obama "has fallen into this trap and repeated the comments that Bush used to make" and told the U.S. president that such an attitude "will only make you another Bush in the eyes of the people."

PRESIDENT OBAMA IGNORES AHMADINEJAD'S DEMAND FOR AN APOLOGY

        WASHINGTON, D.C.--PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA spoke at an East Room news conference capping his third set of meetings with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, one of several European leaders who spoke out more forcefully, more quickly than Obama on the unrest in Iran that followed the disputed June 12 elections. "We will not forget," Merkel said.

     "I don't take Mr. Ahmadinejad's statements seriously about apologies, particularly given the fact that the United States has gone out of its way not to interfere with the election process in Iran," Obama responded sternly. "I would suggest that Mr. Ahmadinejad think carefully about the obligations he owes to his own people," he added. "And he might want to consider looking at the families of those who've been beaten or shot or detained. And, you know, that's where I think Mr. Ahmadinejad and others need to answer their questions." It was Obama's first direct criticism of any of Iran's leaders. Even more, it was coupled with his first specific boost for Mousavi. "Mousavi has shown to have captured the imagination or the spirit of forces within Iran that were interested in opening up," Obama said.

     The remark sought to clarify what many view as Obama's biggest misstep — saying last week in a television interview that there may not be much difference between Ahmadinejad and Mousavi. But it appeared to swing over to an outright endorsement of Mousavi, though White House press secretary Robert Gibbs denied it was meant that way. Obama also said for the first time that his offer to loosen the decades-old U.S. diplomatic freeze with Iran through direct talks is now in question. "There is no doubt that any direct dialogue or diplomacy with Iran is going to be affected by the events of the last several weeks," Obama said, without elaborating.

PRO-IRAN HACKERS DEFACE OREGON UNIVERSITY WEB SITE

       PORTLAND, OREGON--Hackers defaced the home page of the Oregon University System, posting a caustic message telling President Obama to mind his own business and stop talking about the disputed Iranian election. Attempts to access the university system's Web site were automatically redirected to another page, where readers viewed a message said to be from Iran that asserted there was no cheating in the election. That message was up for 90 minutes before university system technicians intervened Wednesday morning.

    The hackers apparently took advantage of third-party software that had not been properly updated, university system spokeswoman Diane Saunders said. Hackers frequently attack the system's computers, but technicians usually beat back their efforts, she said. "They are able to stomp on most of them," Saunders said. She said nobody's personal computers were attacked. Also, no malicious software — which could give hackers remote access to computer hard drives — was introduced. There was no immediate indication why the hackers targeted the system, which oversees Oregon's seven public universities.

     The message that was posted on the Web site, made available to The Associated Press by the university system, addressed Obama and said it was being posted from Iran. The text, in red on a black background, calls on Obama to focus on the economic crisis instead of commenting on the Iranian election. The message also makes derogatory comments about Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, who has contended the June 12 vote was rigge problems." Sympathetic or not, Sanford's confession came after a week of remarkable dishonesty and evasion.

CUBAN DICTATOR RAUL CASTRO DID NOT ATTEND ALBA SUMMIT IN MARACAY

      MARACAY, VENEZUELA--CUBAN DICTATOR RAUL CASTRO did not represent Cuba at the special summit of ALBA held today,  Wednesday 24 June, in Maracay, Venezuela. The task was performed by First Vice President José Ramón Machado Ventura, Minister-Without-Portfolio Ricardo Cabrisas and Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez, according to a Radio Habana newscast this morning. No explanation was given for the substitution.

     Last Thursday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez said during a televised appearance that "Raúl Castro is coming" to the gathering of the Alternativa Bolivariana para las Américas (ALBA), at which Antigua & Barbuda, Ecuador, and St. Vincent & the Grenadines will be admitted to the group. ALBA, a Chávez-inspired trade bloc, is formed by Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Honduras and Dominica.

     As late as Tuesday, sources at the Venezuelan Embassy in Havana had confirmed to the Mexican news agency Notimex that Castro would attend. And Radio Nacional de Venezuela stated in its website on Tuesday that "representing Cuba will be the president of that nation, Raúl Castro, as well as Yilian Jiménez, Deputy Foreign Minister, and Germán Sánchez Otero, the Cuban Ambassador to Venezuela."  Castro's absence is puzzling to some, because this ALBA summit would have given him a good forum for important pronouncements. At the ALBA summit held in mid-April in Cumaná, Venezuela, Castro grabbed headlines with some extemporaneous comments about U.S.-Cuba relations.

THE UNITED STATES AND VENEZUELA TO RESTORE DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS

     MARACAY VENEZUELA--The United States and Venezuela will soon reinstate ambassadors expelled in a diplomatic spat last year, a sign of warmer relations between President Hugo Chavez and what he calls the U.S. "empire."  Leftist Chavez has toned down his strident criticism of U.S. foreign policy since Barack Obama took office in January, partly because the U.S. president is popular in Latin America in contrast to his predecessor George W. Bush. Venezuela is one of the United States' top crude oil suppliers.

     Obama has promised to seek to engage with countries Washington views as problematic and Chavez and U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton agreed at a summit in April to work toward reinstating the diplomats. Chavez expelled the U.S. envoy to Caracas in September and Washington responded by kicking out Venezuela's ambassador in a dispute involving charges by Venezuelan ally Bolivia that Washington was meddling in its internal affairs.

      A source at the U.S. State Department said Ambassador Patrick Duddy will return to Caracas, without giving details. His counterpart Bernardo Alvarez is expected in Washington this week. "Bernardo Alvarez returns to Washington this Friday, relations have been reestablished," said a source at Venezuela's Foreign Ministry source who asked not to be identified.  U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heide Bronke Fulton did not confirm that the diplomats were returning, but said, "Since Secretary Clinton and President Chavez spoke at the Summit of the Americas, both our governments have worked toward the goal of returning ambassadors to our respective capitals."

JAPAN RETHINKS LOAN TO PDVSA AFTER HUGO CHAVEZ'S NATIONALIZATIONS

       TOKYO, JAPAN--The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) is reviewing loans after Venezuela took over Japanese iron and chemicals assets and fell behind on payments to oil-service contractors, told Bloomberg a source linked to the situation, who declined to be identified.  With his actions, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is risking as much as USD 33.5 billion in Japanese investment. Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (Nexi) is also considering ending coverage for projects in Venezuela, the person said.

     The agency insures most Japanese holdings in Venezuela. The company has been holding internal meetings to determine its insurance coverage policy for Japanese investments in Venezuela, said Kyoichi Suzuki, the head of the agency's country risk analysis group.  Hirofumi Kawagoshi, the head of investor relations at Toyo Engineering, confirmed that Venezuela has been behind in payments for a USD 631 million contract to build a fertilizer plant. The accord was signed in 2007, he said. Planned Japanese investments in Venezuela include USD 10 billion in liquefied natural gas projects, USD 8 billion in petrochemicals and USD 1.5 billion for the refineries, Chávez said while visiting Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso in April.

      "We have grave concerns about Venezuela's nationalization of the industries and need to continue internal discussions before determining our future policy," Suzuki said.   Japanese companies may lose their appetite for investing in Venezuela without Nexi coverage because they would be fully exposed to risks, said Hidetoshi Shioda, an analyst at Mizuho Securities.  Mitsubishi has an agreement to finance upgrading the Puerto La Cruz refinery. A Mitsubishi spokesman declined to make comments.

SHAH'S SON, REZA SHAH PAHLAVIN, CALLS IRANIAN CRISIS A "MOMENTO OF TRUTH"

      WASHINGTON, D.C.--The son of the former shah of Iran called Monday for solidarity against Iran's Islamic regime, warning that the democratic movement born out of the election crisis might not succeed without international support. Reza Shah Pahlavi has lived in exile since 1979, when his father was overthrown during the Islamic Revolution.

    Pahlavi has lived in exile since 1979, when his father, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, was overthrown during the Islamic Revolution. Under the shah's regime, Iran saw nationalization of its oil and a strong movement toward modernization. Still, his secular programs and recognition of Israel cost him the support of the country's Shiite clergy, sparking clashes with the religious right and others who resented his pro-West views. The son now lives in the United States with his family, where he spends much of his time talking about the Islamic regime in Iran.

    During his remarks, he broke into tears when he spoke of "bullets piercing our beloved Neda," a woman killed Saturday by Iranian police at a protest in Tehran, whose death has become a rallying cry among demonstrators in Iran. The Iranian regime, he said, was a "sinking Titanic" that might not survive the demands for democracy and human rights reverberating through the country.  Citing anecdotes from people inside the Iranian establishment, Pahlavi said he had heard that security forces have begun to distance themselves from the regime.  "Many, many elements within the security forces, within the Revolutionary Guard, are showing discontent," Pahlavi said. "There is an amazing reflection that is happening. ... This is a movement that has blown out of proportion."

NORTH KOREAN CARGO SHIP COULD TEST NEW UN SANCTIONS

     WASHINGTON, D.C.--The Pentagon official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence, said the chief suspicion is that the north Korean ship is headed to Myanmar. The North is believed to have sold guns, artillery and other small weapons to Myanmar in the past. The Southeast Asian nation is the target of U.S. and EU arms embargoes because of its poor human rights record and failure to hand power to a democratically elected government. There are concerns it could use small arms in the counterinsurgency campaigns it conducts against ethnic minorities.

     The Kang Nam is expected to dock at Myanmar's Thilawa port, some 20 miles (30 kilometers) south of Yangon, in the next few days, said the Irrawaddy, an online magazine operated by independent exiled journalists from Myanmar, citing an unidentified port official. A shipping expert said a vessel the size of the Kang Nam would need to refuel in Singapore if it wants to travel the 4,100-mile (6,660-kilometer) distance between Nampo and Myanmar.

    In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said China will "strictly observe" and implement the resolution. He urged other nations to also heed the U.N. guidelines requiring "reasonable grounds" to request an inspection. "Under the current circumstances, we call upon all parties to refrain from acts that might escalate the tension," he said Tuesday.

VENEZUELAN DISSENTERS ASK THE GOVERNMENT TO DECLARE EMERGENCY TO TACKLE INSECURITY 

       CARACAS, VENEZUELA--The unified panel of the opposition on Monday asked the Venezuelan government to declare national emergency to fight against personal insecurity and immediately convene the National Council of Government to implement a concerted plan for improving personal security.

    The opposition parties presented on Monday a proposal that summarizes the main solutions to cope with the issue of violence and insecurity in Venezuela.  Omar Barboza, president of opposition Un Nuevo Tiempo (A New Era, UNT) party, said that they have asked the government to implement a plan to disarm the population and to guarantee destruction of the weapons and drug seized by authorities.

     The dissenters asked the authorities to prioritize prevention measures, by supporting peace courts, educational and cultural activities and prevention campaigns.

AL QAEDA THREATENS TO USE PAKISTANI NUCLEAR WEAPONS AGAINS THE UNITED STATES

      ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN--If it were in a position to do so, Al Qaeda would use Pakistan's nuclear weapons in its fight against the United States, a top leader of the group said in remarks aired Sunday. Pakistan has been battling al Qaeda's Taliban allies in the Swat Valley since April after their thrust into a district 100 km (60 miles) northwest of the capital raised fears the nuclear-armed country could slowly slip into militant hands.

    "God willing, the nuclear weapons will not fall into the hands of the Americans and the mujahideen would take them and use them against the Americans," Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, the leader of al Qaeda's in Afghanistan, said in an interview with Al Jazeera television. Abu al-Yazid was responding to a question about U.S. safeguards to seize control over Pakistan's nuclear weapons in case Islamist fighters came close to doing so. "We expect that the Pakistani army would be defeated (in Swat) ... and that would be its end everywhere, God willing." Asked about the group's plans, the Egyptian militant leader said: "The strategy of the (al Qaeda) organization in the coming period is the same as in the previous period: to hit the head of the snake, the head of tyranny -- the United States.

    "That can be achieved through continued work on the open fronts and also by opening new fronts in a manner that achieves the interests of Islam and Muslims and by increasing military operations that drain the enemy financially." The militant leader suggested that naming a new leader for the group's unit in the Arabian Peninsula, Abu Basir al-Wahayshi, could revive its campaign in Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter. "Our goals have been the Americans ... and the oil targets which they are stealing to gain power to strike the mujahideen and Muslims." "There was a setback in work there for reasons that there is no room to state now, but as of late, efforts have been united and there is unity around a single leader."

EUROPEAN LEADERS CONDEMN IRANIAN VIOLENCE

     PARIS, FRANCE--'ALARMING, DISPROPORTIONATE, UNACCEPTABLE': France and Italy go further than White House in criticising post-election crackdown. European leaders today parted company with a cautious White House in their response to events in Iran, with France and Italy speaking out against the brutal treatment of demonstrators protesting at the presidential election result.

    Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, described the situation in Iran as "extremely alarming" and denounced as "totally disproportionate" the crackdown on demonstrators, which has left eight people dead. Sarkozy, who was in Gabon for the funeral of President Omar Bongo, said: "The ruling power claims to have won the elections ... If that were true, we must ask why they find it necessary to imprison their opponents and repress them with such violence."

     The Italian foreign minister, Franco Frattini, said the violence in the street and the deaths of protesters were "unacceptable". Earlier, the Iranian foreign ministery summoned a senior Czech diplomat, representing the EU, to protest against "interventionist and insulting" EU statements about Iran's election. France, Germany and Britain have called on Iran to clarify the election results amid opposition claims of vote-rigging. The tough European reaction contrasted with the much more muted tone of Barack Obama. At a a joint press conference at the White House with the South Korean president, Lee Myung-bak, Obama – choosing his words very carefully – restated his "deep concern" about the election.

IRAN SAYS IT HAS ARRESTED 5 EUROPEAN "SPIES" 

       TEHRAN, IRAN--Iran's security forces have arrested five European spies, the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Monday. Iranian security forces identified and arrested five European spies during the Saturday unrest in Tehran, the report said. "According to the dispatched reports, two German, one British and two French spies have been arrested during the unrest in Tehran on Saturday," Fars said without elaborating the details.

    In a statement released by Iran's Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) on Monday, Western countries were warned not to support the rioters in Iran. Since the eruption of a series of political protests against the results of Iran's presidential elections, Iran has incessantly accused the Westerners of interfering in Iran's internal affairs.

    On June 13, Iran's Interior Minister Sadeq Mahsouli said incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won 62.63 percent of the total ballots on June 12, while his main rival Mir-Hossein Mousavi got 33.75 percent. After the official declaration, Mousavi protested "strongly" the "obvious violations" in Iran's presidential election. He also appealed to the Guardian Council for the cancellation of the election results. On Monday, Iran's police announced that they have arrested 457 people in the post-election violence that erupted Saturday in Tehran despite warnings against illegal gatherings.

in iran, one woman's death may have many consequences

      TEHRAN, IRAN--Iran's revolution has now run through a full cycle. A gruesomely captivating video of a young woman — laid out on a Tehran street after apparently being shot, blood pouring from her mouth and then across her face — swept Twitter, Facebook and other websites this weekend. The woman rapidly became a symbol of Iran's escalating crisis, from a political confrontation to far more ominous physical clashes. Some sites refer to her as "Neda," Farsi for the voice or the call. Tributes that incorporate startlingly upclose footage of her dying have started to spring up on YouTube.

     Although it is not yet clear who shot "Neda" (a soldier? pro-government militant? an accidental misfiring?), her death may have changed everything. For the cycles of mourning in Shiite Islam actually provide a schedule for political combat — a way to generate or revive momentum. Shiite Muslims mourn their dead on the third, seventh and 40th days after a death, and these commemorations are a pivotal part of Iran's rich history. "Neda" is already being hailed as a martyr, a second important concept in Shiism. With the reported deaths of 19 people Saturday, martyrdom also provides a potent force that could further deepen public anger at Iran's regime.

    The belief in martyrdom is central to modern politics as well as Shiite tradition dating back centuries in Iran. It too helped propel the 1979 revolution. It sustained Iran during the eight-year war with Iraq, when over 120,000 Iranians died in the bloodiest modern Middle East conflict. Most major Iranian cities have a Martyrs' Museum or a Martyrs' cemetery. The revolutionaries exploited the deep passion about martyrdom as well as the timetable of Shiite mourning in whipping up greater opposition to Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. With the deaths of "Neda" and others, they may now find the same phenomena used against them.

IRANIAN OPPOSITION LEADER MIR HOSSEIN MOUSAVI URGES MORE PROTESTS

     TEHRAN, IRAN--Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi urged supporters to continue protests over the re-election of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in a direct challenge to the Islamic Republic's leadership. Mousavi made a veiled appeal to the security forces to show restraint in handling demonstrations -- a move likely to be viewed with deep suspicion by a conservative leadership that has vowed to use force wherever necessary to quell opposition.

    "Protesting against lies and fraud (in the election) is your right," Mousavi, who came a distant second to Ahmadinejad in the poll, said in a statement on his website on Sunday. "In your protests, continue to show restraint. I am expecting armed forces to avoid irreversible damage," he added. Iranian state television said 10 people were killed and more than 100 others injured in protests in Tehran on Saturday held in defiance of a warning from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. A separate report put the number of deaths at 13.

    Mousavi said the mass arrest of his supporters "will create a rift between society and the country's armed forces." A product of the Islamic establishment himself, Mousavi said on Saturday he was not questioning the fundaments of the Islamic Republic but sought to renew it and purge it of what he called deceit and lies. The authorities have branded the protesters as "terrorists" and rioters. Tehran's police commander Azizullah Rajabzadeh warned police would "confront all gatherings and unrest with all its strength," the official IRNA news agency reported.

RIFT BETWEEN IRANIAN LEADERS SEEMS TO BE GROWING

       TEHRAN, IRAN--A statement purportedly from opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi on Sunday called on Iranians to "exercise self control" during protests in Tehran, while still supporting their right to demonstrate against the government and the results of the disputed June 12 presidential election. "The country belongs to you. The revolution and the system is your heritage," the statement attributed to Moussavi said in a statement posted on his Web site. "Protesting against lies and cheating is your right. Be hopeful about regaining your rights. Do not allow anyone who tries to make you lose hope and frighten you make you lose your temper."

    The message came a day after hospital sources said 19 people were killed in clashes between anti-government protesters and police. Unconfirmed reports put the death toll as high as 150.  See images of the clashes Saturday » "The sad news of the martyrdom of another group who protested the results of the elections has caused our society astonishment and our people mourn them," said the statement attributed to Moussavi. "Firing on people, militarization of the city's atmosphere, threats, agitations and show of force are all the illegitimate children of law breaking and we are facing all of that. It is a wonder that the perpetrators accuse others of breaking the law for expressing their opinions." 

     Police have not been given permission to use firearms in confronting protesters, Tehran Police Chief Azizollah Rajabpour told Iran's semi-official Mehr news agency. Police have not used firearms on the public, he said. Allegations to the contrary are false and "spread by those who want to muddy the waters," the agency reported.  News coverage in Iran has been limited by government restrictions on international journalists. On Sunday, the BBC said Iran had expelled Jon Leyne, the British network's permanent correspondent in Tehran. And Al-Arabiya, a Dubai-based Arab satellite network, said its Tehran bureau was ordered closed. Government-funded Press TV confirmed 13 fatalities Saturday, saying the deaths resulted from police clashes with "terrorist groups" in Tehran. But the station did not say whether all the deaths took place Saturday or spanned the length of the weeklong protests. iReport.com: Share images from Iran

FATHER'S DAY, EDITORIAL, DIARIO LAS AMERICAS

       MIAMI, FLORIDA--On Father’s Day families get together for a highly spiritual celebration in which one must exalt the values of a society that wants to rule its life respecting what it means to be a father who together with that extraordinary being, which is the mother, gives life to their children.

     One must stop for a while along the way in this stressful modern life to celebrate this day that, in the United States of America, is identified as Father’s Day. Fathers who have died must be remembered with love and those who still share with their children the spiritual significance of this day must be congratulated. A prayer of gratitude must be said for both, those who have passed away and those who are still with us.

     Father’s Day must be celebrated as an expression of immense love and respect. Without it being so important, reasonable personal gifts might be given on this day, but above all, what must be done is express feelings that enhance the meaning of family. Parents are both, father and mother. A mother is that most sublime figure that determines – depending on the circumstances - the formation of the children with tender love and unbounded selflessness.  This day should not be like any other feast in the yearly calendar, because it must be surrounded by the meaning and characteristics that identify the figure of that individual known as father.  DIARIO LAS AMERICAS that, throughout its 56 years of existence, has always remarked on the importance of spiritual values greets all fathers wishing them a very happy day. May God bless them all.

CUBA IN DEEP CRISIS, COUNTRY'S FOREMOST ECONOMIST SAYS

     HAVANA, CUBA--Cuba is going through a "very deep and difficult" crisis due to the  inefficiency of its management system, the low productivity of its workers, high unemployment among young people and the effects of global recession, economist Alfredo Jam said. "We're at a truly complex moment in our history," the recipient of Cuba's  National Economics Prize said at the International Accounting, Auditing and  Finance Conference that began Monday in Havana with some 400 specialists from 12 countries in attendance.

    He said that a high proportion of Cuba's potential workforce is not working  because young people reject "jobs that give them income but no  satisfaction." Jam believes that the communist-ruled island has a reserve of workers for  vital sectors like agriculture and construction, but added that "people don't get moving." He added that "wages have to stimulate efficiency."

    Cubans earn an average of about $17 a month, but also get food and other subsidized basic products with their ration cards. Cuba needs an approach based on import substitution, expanding exports,  improving productivity and remedying deficiencies in the prevailing  management model, Jam said. He considers it very important to increase domestic food production, since  imported provisions cost around $1.6 billion a year.

MIR HOSSEIN MOUSSAVI, THE IRANIAN OPPOSITION LEADER, SAYS HE IS READY FOR "MARTYRDOM"

       TEHRAN, IRAN--The main opposition candidate in Iran, Mir Hossein Moussavi, was said to be ready for "martyrdom" Saturday as thousands of protesters clashed with police in protests that defied warnings from Iran's supreme leaders. Demonstrators were trying to march to Azadi Square, a witness said. They were stopped by the police and army guards.  This comes as demonstrators emerged on city streets to protest last week's elections in defiance of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's Friday pronouncement that protests must end.

    Meanwhile, the Facebook page of Iran's top opposition leader quoted the politician Saturday as saying he is preparing to die. Moussavi, who has led a protest against the government for the June 12 election, said he is preparing himself for "martyrdom."  In Tehran, police fired guns in the air, and Iran's Press TV also reported the use of water cannons to disperse protesters.  Watch police and protesters clash Saturday » Uniformed and plainclothes police were deployed around Revolution Square, the site of a major planned demonstration, and traffic was being turned away on a major thoroughfare leading to the square, a witness said.

    The forces confronted demonstrators who tried to avoid the thoroughfare and take side streets toward the square. Clashes erupted as forces used clubs to beat back protesters. Periodically, groups of armed police would fire rifles into the air to disperse protesters along the side streets near Revolution Square.  Watch an Iranian studies professor discuss protest tactics » Cell phone service was brought down after 5:30 p.m. in the area, witnesses said. Police told protesters they had no permit to protest. Police also said Saturday that 400 security forces had been injured during the week's heavy demonstrations, and that public property had been damaged, Press TV reported.

THE USS JOHN MCCAIN, A NAVY DESTROYER, WILL INTERCEPT NORTH KOREAN SHIP

       WASHINGTON, D.C.--The U.S. military is planning to intercept a flagged North Korean ship suspected of proliferating weapons material in violation of a U.N. Security Council resolution passed last Friday, FOX News has learned. The USS John McCain, a navy destroyer, will intercept the ship Kang Nam as soon as it leaves the vicinity off the coast of China, according to a senior U.S. defense official. The order to inderdict has not been given yet, but the ship is getting into position.

    The ship left a port in North Korea Wednesday and appears to be heading toward Singapore, according to a senior U.S. military source. The vessel, which the military has been tracking since its departure, could be carrying weaponry, missile parts or nuclear materials, a violation of U.N. Resolution 1874, which put sanctions in place against Pyongyang.  The USS McCain was involved in an incident with a Chinese sub last Friday - near Subic Bay off the Philippines.

    The Chinese sub was shadowing the destroyer when it hit the underwater sonar array that the USS McCain was towing behind it. That same navy destroyer that was being shadowed by the Chinese is now positioning itself for a possible interdiction of the North Korean vessel. This is the first suspected "proliferator" that the U.S. and its allies have tracked from North Korea since the United Nations authorized the world's navies to enforce compliance with a variety of U.N. sanctions aimed at punishing North Korea for its recent nuclear test.  The ship is currently along the coast of China and being monitored around-the-clock by air. The apparent violation raises the question of how the United States and its allies will respond, particularly since the U.N. resolution does not have a lot of teeth to it.

THE US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONDEMNS TEHRAN CRACKDOWN

     WASHINGTON, D.C.--In the strongest message yet from the U.S. government, the House voted 405-1 Friday to condemn Tehran's crackdown on demonstrators and the government's interference with Internet and cell phone communications. The resolution was initiated by Republicans as a veiled criticism of President Barack Obama, who has been reluctant to criticize Tehran's handling of disputed elections that left hard-liner President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in power.

    Rep. Mike Pence, who co-sponsored the resolution, said he disagrees with the administration that it must not meddle in Iran's affairs.  "When Ronald Reagan went before the Brandenburg Gate, he did not say Mr. (Mikhail) Gorbachev, that wall is none of our business," said Pence, R-Ind., of President Reagan's famous exhortation to the Soviet leader to "tear down that wall." White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said the administration has been clear that it condemns any violence in Iran caused by the government.

    Democrats, who are quick to voice their support for Israel anytime the Jewish state is seen as under siege, easily agreed to push through the mildly worded resolution. Rep. Howard Berman, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and co-sponsor of the resolution, said "it is not for us to decide who should run Iran, much less determine the real winner of the June 12 election. "But we must reaffirm our strong belief that the Iranian people have a fundamental right to express their views about the future of their country freely and without intimidation," added Berman, D-Calif.

HUGO CHAVEZ CONGRATULATES "HIS FRIEND" PRESIDENT OBAMA FOR CRITICIZING FOX NEWS

       CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Hugo Chávez praised his US counterpart Barack Obama for criticizing the hard-line editorial position of Fox News against Obama's government and made a comparison between the case of the US network and the "attack" by some private media against his socialist revolution.

    Obama said this week that Fox Network, a conservative channel owned by media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, is "entirely devoted to attacking my administration" and seldom runs any positive stories about Obama's administration, Reuters reported.

    "Obama decided to act and joined the fray. Let's applaud Obama," said the Venezuelan president in an unprecedented gesture. His remarks came late on Thursday, when Chávez talked about socialism in a TV program broadcasted by state-run channel Venezolana de Televisión (VTV).  A fierce critic of the "US imperialism," Chávez however showed optimism about the attitude of the new US ruler, after years of insults against former president George W. Bush.  "Obama is not talking about a revolution but I think he wants a change," Chávez said.

NORTH KOREA MAY FIRE MISSILE FORWARD HAWAII  I

       TOKYO, JAPAN--North Korea may fire a long-range ballistic missile toward Hawaii in early July, a Japanese newspaper said Thursday, amid escalating tensions between the communist country and the United States over Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs. The missile, believed to be a long-range Taepodong-2 with a range of up to 4,000 miles (6,500 kilometers), would be launched from North Korea's Dongchang-ni site on the northwestern coast, said the Yomiuri daily, Japan's top-selling newspaper. The report cited an analysis by the Japanese Defense Ministry and intelligence gathered by U.S. reconnaissance satellites.

    The Yomiuri said the Taepodong-2 could fly over Japan and toward Hawaii, but that it would not be able to hit the main islands of Hawaii, which lie about 4,500 miles (7,200 kilometers) from the Korean peninsula.  The missile launch could come between July 4 and 8, the paper said. It noted that North Korea had fired its first Taepodong-2 missile on July 4, 2006. Also, July 8 is the anniversary of the 1994 death of North Korea founder Kim Il Sung. The Yomiuri report was the latest in mounting media speculation that the communist country could launch a long-range missile soon following its underground nuclear test on May 25.

    A spokesman for the Japanese Defense Ministry declined to comment on the report. Officials from South Korea's Defense Ministry and the National Intelligence Service - the country's main spy agency - said they could not confirm it. In Washington on Tuesday, Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said it would take at least three to five years for North Korea to pose a real threat to the West Coast of the United States. North Korea is believed to have enough weaponized plutonium for at least half a dozen atomic bombs. The regime revealed last week that it is also producing enriched uranium. The two materials are key ingredients for making atomic bombs.

DEFENSE SECRETARY ROBERT GATES SAYS MISSILE DEFENSE IN PLACE TO PROTECT  HAWAII

     WASHINGTON, D.C.--Defense Secretary Robert Gates says he's positioning defenses near Hawaii just in case North Korea fires a missile across the Pacific toward the island state.

    Gates says he's sent the military's ground-based mobile missile system to Hawaii, and positioned a radar system nearby. Together the systems theoretically could detect and shoot down a North Korean missile if it came to that.

    Gates says the U.S. is watching the North's moves very closely. He says there is concern about a potential launch toward Hawaii, although he did not spell out how extensive the U.S. thinks the threat might be. A Japanese newspaper reported Thursday that North Korea might fire its most advanced ballistic missile toward Hawaii around the Fourth of July holiday.

RICARDO ALARCON SAYS U.S. COURT RULING WON'T HURT TALKS

       HAVANA, CUBA--The head of Cuba's parliament RICARDO ALARCON, says the U.S. Supreme Court's decision not to consider an appeal by five convicted Cuban spies is "a great insult," but it won't jeopardize upcoming negotiations with Washington. Alarcon also called the U.S. "an ignorant lion," criticizing the Supreme Court's refusal this week to hear an appeal by the so-called "Cuban Five," men convicted of being unregistered foreign agents by a Miami court in 2001. Their lawyers claim that anti-Castro sentiment kept them from receiving a fair trial in South Florida.

   "We share the sentiments of many who feel insulted by that decision, but I don't see why one necessarily has to affect the other," Alarcon said when asked if the high court's move could spoil negotiations. Alarcon said the men's freedom will be "at the top" of any list of priorities in talks with U.S. leaders, adding that President Barack Obama "has a moral obligation" to pardon the five if he really wants improved relations with Cuba and Latin America.

    Still, he acknowledged that Obama has a clear desire for improved U.S.-Cuban ties, and noted that "there is an obvious change in language" in Washington, even if some people are "working to try and sabotage that." Alarcon also suggested that the June 4 arrest of two new accused Cuban spies, retired State Department official Walter Kendall Myers and his wife, was intended to undermine improved relations between the neighboring nations.

IRAN ACCUSES US OF MEDDLING IN ITS INTERNAL AFFAIRS

       TEHRAN, IRAN--Iran accused the United States on Wednesday of "intolerable" meddling in its internal affairs, alleging for the first time that Washington has fueled a bitter postelection dispute. Opposition supporters marched in huge numbers through Tehran's streets for a third straight day to protest the outcome of the balloting. The Iranian government summoned the Swiss ambassador, who represents U.S. interests in Iran, to complain about American interference, state-run Press TV reported.

    A State Department spokesman said the U.S. was withholding judgment about the election and not interfering in Iranian internal affairs. President Barack Obama has reacted cautiously to opposition allegations that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stole the election, saying he shared the world's "deep concerns" but it was "not productive, given the history of U.S.-Iranian relations, to be seen as meddling."

    The two countries broke off diplomatic relations after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and Iranian hard-liners frequently accuse internal enemies of allying with the U.S. and other Western powers to overthrow the ruling system. Iran summoned the Czech, France, German and British ambassadors Tuesday, state television said.

AMERICAN COUPLE ACCUSED OF BEING CUBAN SPIES SEEK HOUSE ARREST

     WASHINGTON, D.C.--A retired AMERICAN couple accused of spying for Cuba say they're willing to put up their house and sailboat for bond if a federal judge will let them serve house arrest. Walter Kendall Myers and Gwendolyn Myers say they're also prepared to be ordered to stay away from Cuba's equivalent of an embassy if U.S. District Court Judge Reggie Walton grants their request. The couple is due back in court Wednesday to ask Walton to let them be released into the custody of Gwendolyn Myers' son.

    A federal magistrate last week sided with U.S. prosecutors and ordered the couple jailed. The couple's lawyer will argue before Walton that 'a combination of conditions can be set that will reasonably assure the Myers' appearance in this case.'' The couple was arrested June 4 and has been held without bond since pleading not guilty to charges of wire fraud, serving as illegal agents for Cuba and conspiring to deliver classified information. U.S. Magistrate Judge John Facciola last week declared the couple a flight risk, suggesting they could flee to Cuba or its Cuban Interests Section in Washington.

    But the Myerses argue through an attorney that defendants must be released prior to trial unless the court can't find a way to “reasonably assure the appearance of the person.'' The Myerses propose they be released after posting bond with their own money -- putting up their apartment, their sailboat and $250,000 in cash. They would have to surrender all travel documents and not apply for new documents. They would be released into the custody of Brad Trebilcock, Gwendolyn Myers' son, and would be held under electronic monitoring, for which they would pay. Facciola said last week that he feared the Myerses live too close to the Cuban Interests Section in Washington to be apprehended if they decide to flee there. The couple says in court documents they could be ordered to stay away from the building or serve house arrest “at least 20 miles from the Cuban Interests Section.'' They would also agree to stay at least 20 miles from their sailboat in Annapolis and to surrender ``all maps or other navigational equipment related to Cuba's navigable waters.''

HUGO CHAVEZ'S ATTORNEY GENERAL INDICTS GLOBOVISION COUNSEL

       CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Officials of the National Telecommunications Commission (Conatel) informed on Wednesday the TV private news network Globovisión that the agency began a new punitive administrative proceeding against the TV station and requested the Attorney General Office to determine if the private network has committed any offense, and has a criminal liability.

    The proceeding is based on Article 171 of the Law on Telecommunications, which provides that "anyone who uses or allows to use the telecommunication service for which it is entitled, as a means to instigate the commission of offenses," will be punished through termination of the administrative authorization or broadcast license. Ana Cristina Núñez, the legal adviser of Globovisión, said that to force the channel off the air, "the Attorney General will not only have to initiate an investigation but there must be a final decision.

     According to the average time required to have a final decision," and, based on the average time at the Attorney General Office and criminal courts to issue a ruling, several years will pass to impose the penalty established in the Law on Telecommunication. Hours later, Minister of Public Works Diosdado Cabello referred to the event. "Conatel is responsible for initiating the proceeding but the Attorney General Office and the courts will ascertain whether an offense has been committed or not. Afterwards, we will take action," he said. For his part, Alberto Federico Ravell, the director general of Globovisión, described the proceeding as an example of "judicial terrorism."

RICARDO ALARCON ACCUSES PRESIDENT OBAMA FOR U.S. SUPREME COURT'S REFUSAL TO REVIEW CASE OF CUBAN SPIES

       HAVANA, CUBA--The President of Cuba's Parliament, Ricardo Alarcon, on Monday (June 15) accuses President Barack Obama for  the U.S. Supreme Court's refusal to review the case of five convicted Cuban spies.  "Today is a day shame and anger. It is a day of shame for those that believe in justice in the North American system. It is a day of anger for many people in all the world that have called on the U.S. Supreme Court to do something very simple which is to revise the case of the five friends (Cuban Five)" Alarcon told Cuban Television.

    The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear an appeal by five convicted Cuban spies who argued their trial should have been moved from Miami, the heart of the Cuban American community, because of a biased jury pool.  Without comment, the justices refused to review a U.S. appeals court ruling that the five intelligence agents, who are serving long prison sentences, had failed to establish a right to change the trial venue from Miami.  Alarcon accused the U.S. Supreme Court of following orders from President Barack Obama to not hear the appeal of the five Cubans. "The judges prefer to do what President Obama asks them to do.

     The government of the United States simply asked them to not revise this case, and that is what they did and that is why this is a day of shame and anger," he said.  court justices had acted on orders from the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama without considering the merits of the case.  "The highhandedness of a corrupt and hypocritical system is evident yet again in its brutal and cruel treatment of our brothers," the Cuban parliament said in a statement.  The judge presiding over the case ruled the defendants had failed to show it would be virtually impossible to get a fair trial in Miami. He said questioning of potential jurors would allow the defendants to get a fair trial by an impartial jury.  A U.S. appeals court also rejected their claims that the trial should have been moved because of widespread opposition among Cuban Americans in Miami to the government in Havana.

RUSSIA warmly WELCOMES iRAN'S AHMADINEJAD

     MOSCOW, RUSSIA--Russia welcomed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Tuesday on his first trip abroad since his bitterly disputed re-election, a show of support for a leader facing major protests at home and questions from the West about the legitimacy of the vote count.  Ahmadinejad arrived in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg and sat down for talks at a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which comprises Russia, China and four Central Asian nations. Iran has observer status in the grouping, widely seen as a counterbalance to U.S. interest in the region.

     Ahmadinejad also talked briefly with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on the sidelines of the summit, Medvedev's spokeswoman Natalia Timakova said. She said they pledged to continue economic and humanitarian ties as well as contacts between the two nations.  Taking his turn speaking at one of the summit meetings, Ahmadinejad said that "America is enveloped in economic and political crises, and there is no hope for their resolution."  "Allies of the United States are not capable of easing these crises," he said, speaking through an interpreter.  He did not mention the Iranian election or unrest.

    A senior Russian diplomat hailed Ahmadinejad's visit as evidence of strong ties between Russia and Iran. "It's quite symbolic that the Iranian president arrived in Russia on his first foreign visit since re-election," Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said at a briefing. "We see that as a sign that the Russian-Iranian relations will advance further."  Ahmadinejad had been expected to arrive Monday and meet with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on the sidelines of the summit. He postponed the trip for one day amid persistent street protests in Iran following his re-election Friday in a vote his main opponents claim was rigged. Iran's state radio says at least seven people died in clashes in Tehran.  Ryabkov said the election was Iran's internal affair, but he endorsed Ahmadinejad as the victor.

HUGO CHAVEZ REBUTS SUPPORTERS' CRITICISM AGAINST HIS "HYPER LEADERSHIP"  

       CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Hugo Chávez broadcasted his weekly radio and television program from a farm in the city of La Fría, state of Táchira, which was previously seized from a group of alleged drug traffickers. "I believe that, in some areas, my leadership is below the level where it should be," President Hugo Chávez said to refute criticisms from leftwing intellectuals who support his revolution but have warned against the dangers that Chávez's "hyper-leadership" may pose for his project.

    "Some people say that the (revolutionary) process can be harmed by what they call my hyper-leadership. I respect their view. I do not reject their stance. But we can discuss their position. Come to discuss with the people. You must leave your (academic) rooms and come here to the city of La Fría (western state of Táchira), to the plains, to the low-income neighborhoods in Caracas. Where is my hyper-leadership? I do what I think I have to do (...) What does "hyper" mean? It means something that is oversized (...) As a result, I should limit my leadership. Well, that's what the enemy wants. Do not you think so?," the Head of State said. Further, he warned that "there are quite a few (leftwing intellectuals) who claim to be Chávez's followers, but they are Chávez's foes indeed."

    Spanish university professor Juan Carlos Monedero said in an interview with a Venezuelan newspaper that the "President was the main virtue of the revolutionary process, together with the people, and thanks to him, the Fifth Republic was born." He said, however, that this "should not become a vice, and therefore, this relevant leadership must be redesigned because the strength of Chávez has created something I call easygoing leadership."  Meanwhile, Chávez criticized the governor of the state of Táchira, César Pérez Vivas, for some statements made abroad and for seeking support to remove him from office.  "Look governor, I could charge you with high treason before courts."

U.S. SUPREME COURT WON'T REVIEW 'CUBAN FIVE' SPY CONVICTIONS

       WASHINGTON, D.C.--The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to review the convictions of five Cuban intelligence agents who say they did not receive a fair trial because of strong anti-Castro sentiment in Miami. The justices left in place the convictions of the so-called ''Cuban Five,'' despite calls from Nobel Prize winners and international legal groups to review the case. The five -- Ramón Labañino, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando González, Rene Gonzalez and Gerardo Hernandez -- were convicted on charges of acting as unregistered Cuban agents in the United States and of espionage conspiracy for attempting to penetrate U.S. military bases.

    Hernandez was also convicted of murder conspiracy in the deaths of four Miami-based pilots whose planes, part of the Brothers to the Rescue organization, were shot down by Cuban fighter jets in 1996 off the island's coast. The five have been lionized as heroes in Cuba, while exile groups say they were justly punished. Ten Nobel Prize winners and lawyers and legal groups from more than a dozen countries urged the high court to step into the case.

    The Obama administration contended that the convictions were fairly won, and that a high court review was unnecessary. A three-judge panel of the federal appeals court in Atlanta initially reversed the convictions, agreeing with the defendants that the trial should have been moved from Miami. But the full 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the convictions. Hernandez is serving a life sentence, while Gonzalez is serving a prison term of 15 years. The appeals court ordered new sentences for the other three men, including two who originally were given life in prison.

IRAN'S SUPREME LEADER ORDERS INVESTIGATION INTO CLAIMS OF VOTE FRAUD

     TEHRAN, IRAN--Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks after casting ballot in the presidential election at a polling station in Tehran June 12, 2009. Iran held presidential election on June 12. Referring to the defeated reformist presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi's appeal letter for the irregularities and the cancellation of the election result, Khamenei said that "the Guardian Council has been emphasized to carry out investigation into this letter carefully."

    In a meeting with Mousavi on Sunday evening, Khamenei also told the former prime minister to pursue his appeal against the election result in a legal way, the report said.  "You are different from those people (rioter protestors on the streets) and you are advised to keep manners and calmness," Khamenei said. On Saturday afternoon, Iran's Interior Minister Sadeq Mahsouli announced that the incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won 62.63 percent of the total votes during Friday's vote, while former Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi got 33.75 percent in Iran's presidential competition.

    Mousavi has appealed for Iran's Guardians Council to cancel the country's June 12 presidential "Today, I wrote a letter to the Guardian Council asking them to cancel the result of the recent (presidential) election," Mousavi said in the statement.  Iran's Supreme Leader has urged supporters of both the winner and the defeated candidates to avoid provocative behavior.

CUBA SAYS ECONOMIC CRISIS SLOWS OUTPUT, CLOSES FACTORIES

       HAVANA, CUBA--Cuban factories are closing down and production is being cut at other workplaces as the international financial crisis weighs on the import-dependent Caribbean island, the official media said on Sunday. A growing shortage of foreign exchange has forced the Communist-run country to drastically cut imports and local budgets, impose power quotas on state-run companies, restructure debt and put off payments to foreign suppliers. The state-run Juventud Rebelde newspaper, the only national Sunday publication, said a tire factory had shut down since February due to a lack of rubber imports while an aluminum packaging plant cut output for similar reasons.

    The newspaper said the plants were examples of a wider problem "in other sectors of the Cuban state company sector," which encompasses 90 percent of economic activity. Other workplaces were having difficulty obtaining spare parts, the newspaper said, and still others were being forced to scale back output after a recent government measure mandating a 12 percent reduction in power consumption. Cuba, like other Caribbean countries, has been hit hard by the global financial crisis, which has slashed revenue from key exports, dried up credit and reduced foreign investment. It is under longstanding U.S. economic sanctions and is recovering from three hurricanes that struck last year, causing an estimated $10 billion in damages.

     Workers at lobster processing plants, cigar rolling factories and other establishments have reported layoffs for months, but Sunday's Juventud Rebelde report was the first official admission of growing problems in the productive sector. "The waves of the present international financial and economic crisis are slowly gaining force and the rough waters are reaching the pockets of companies and workers around the world," the newspaper said. "We can't harbor the illusion that we can escape just because our country has a social system that defends justice for all," it said. Economy and Planning Minister Marino Murillo recently said Cuba's growth forecast for 2009 was reduced from 6 percent to less than 2.5 percent. Some local economists believe this year's growth will be 1 percent or less, similar to forecasts for the region overall.

DEFEATED IRANIAN CANDIDATE MIR HOSSEIN MOUSAVI REJECTS ELECTION RESULTS

       TEHRAN, IRAN--Defeated candidate Mir hossein Mousavi demanded on Sunday that Iran's presidential election be annulled and urged more protests, while tens of thousands of people hailed the victory of the hardline Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Mousavi's supporters again took to the streets after violence on Saturday, clashing with police in protests that have underscored political rifts exposed by Friday's disputed vote. In a statement on his website, Mousavi said he had formally asked the Guardian Council, a legislative body, to cancel the election result. "I urge you, Iranian nation, to continue your nationwide protests in a peaceful and legal way," he added.

    Mousavi's supporters handed out leaflets calling for a rally in Tehran on Monday afternoon. After dusk some took to the rooftops across the city calling out "Allah Akbar" (God is great), an echo of tactics by protesters in the 1979 Islamic revolution. The unrest that has rocked Tehran and other cities since results were declared on Saturday is the sharpest expression of discontent against the Islamic Republic's leadership for years.

     The election result has disconcerted Western powers trying to induce the world's fifth biggest oil exporter to curb its nuclear program. U.S. President Barack Obama had urged Iran's leadership "to unclench its fist" for a new start in ties. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden cast doubt on the election result but said Washington was reserving its position for now. "It sure looks like the way they're suppressing speech, the way they're suppressing crowds, the way in which people are being treated, that there's some real doubt," he told NBC's "Meet the Press" when asked if Ahmadinejad had won the vote.

US REJECTS VICTORY CLAIM BY IRAN'S AHMADINEJAD

     TEHRAN, IRAN--The U.S. on Saturday refused to accept hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's claim of a landslide re-election victory in Iran and said it was looking into allegations of election fraud. Any hopes by the Obama administration of gaining a result similar to Lebanon's recent election, won by a Western-backed moderate coalition, appeared to be in jeopardy. "We are monitoring the situation as it unfolds in Iran, but we, like the rest of the world, are waiting and watching to see what the Iranian people decide," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said at a news conference with Canada's foreign affairs minister, Lawrence Cannon.

     Minutes after Clinton spoke, the White House released a two-sentence statement praising "the vigorous debate and enthusiasm that this election generated, particularly among young Iranians," but expressing concern about "reports of irregularities." Despite the challenge from reformist Mir Hossein Mousavi to incumbent Ahmadinejad, many officials and experts thought a Mousavi victory would result in only incremental shifts toward the U.S.

    Because real power in Tehran is still wielded by religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, some say an Ahmadinejad re-election may make it easier to build an international consensus against Iran. Administration officials remained silent out of concern that any comments might influence the results. But they were privately hoping for a victory by the more moderate Mousavi. Neither Clinton nor the White House mentioned Ahmadinejad or his chief rival Mousavi, by name, or acknowledged the incumbent's victory declaration. Iranian authorities reported that Ahmadinejad was re-elected with 62.6 percent of the vote.

100 MEMBERS OF IRAN OPPOSITION ARRESTED

       TEHRAN, IRAN--Up to 100 prominent members of the Iranian opposition have been arrested in the capital, Tehran. The arrests were made in the wake of protests over the outcome of the presidential election. The group is called the Islamic Iran Participation Front and is close to the defeated presidential candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi.  Since election night the group had been alleging the poll was rigged.  But the regime is not budging.

    President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called them free and healthy; Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned that the state will deal with those who oppose the result.  Thousands of people clashed with police on Saturday after the disputed election victory of Mr Ahmadinejad sparked the biggest protests in Tehran since the 1979 Islamic revolution. Baton-wielding riot police firing tear gas clashed with protesters who pelted security forces with stones and set rubbish bins and police vehicles ablaze.

    The Ayatollah told Iranians to respect Mr Ahmadinejad's victory in an election that Mr Mousavi described as a "dangerous charade".  Among those arrested on Saturday night (local time) is Mohammad Reza Khatami, the brother of former president Mohammad Khatami. A judiciary spokesman said the group had not been arrested, but had been summoned and "warned not to increase tension". They were later released, he said. Mr Mousavi has called on his supporters to stay calm and show restraint after official results showed he had secured less than 34 per cent of the vote, despite some expectations he would win enough to go through to a second-round runoff.

DEFEATED IRANIAN CANDIDATE MIR HOSSEIN MOUSAVI REJECTS ELECTION RESULTS

       TEHRAN, IRAN--Defeated candidate Mir hossein Mousavi demanded on Sunday that Iran's presidential election be annulled and urged more protests, while tens of thousands of people hailed the victory of the hardline Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Mousavi's supporters again took to the streets after violence on Saturday, clashing with police in protests that have underscored political rifts exposed by Friday's disputed vote. In a statement on his website, Mousavi said he had formally asked the Guardian Council, a legislative body, to cancel the election result. "I urge you, Iranian nation, to continue your nationwide protests in a peaceful and legal way," he added.

    Mousavi's supporters handed out leaflets calling for a rally in Tehran on Monday afternoon. After dusk some took to the rooftops across the city calling out "Allah Akbar" (God is great), an echo of tactics by protesters in the 1979 Islamic revolution. The unrest that has rocked Tehran and other cities since results were declared on Saturday is the sharpest expression of discontent against the Islamic Republic's leadership for years.

     The election result has disconcerted Western powers trying to induce the world's fifth biggest oil exporter to curb its nuclear program. U.S. President Barack Obama had urged Iran's leadership "to unclench its fist" for a new start in ties. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden cast doubt on the election result but said Washington was reserving its position for now. "It sure looks like the way they're suppressing speech, the way they're suppressing crowds, the way in which people are being treated, that there's some real doubt," he told NBC's "Meet the Press" when asked if Ahmadinejad had won the vote.

US REJECTS VICTORY CLAIM BY IRAN'S AHMADINEJAD

     TEHRAN, IRAN--The U.S. on Saturday refused to accept hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's claim of a landslide re-election victory in Iran and said it was looking into allegations of election fraud. Any hopes by the Obama administration of gaining a result similar to Lebanon's recent election, won by a Western-backed moderate coalition, appeared to be in jeopardy. "We are monitoring the situation as it unfolds in Iran, but we, like the rest of the world, are waiting and watching to see what the Iranian people decide," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said at a news conference with Canada's foreign affairs minister, Lawrence Cannon.

     Minutes after Clinton spoke, the White House released a two-sentence statement praising "the vigorous debate and enthusiasm that this election generated, particularly among young Iranians," but expressing concern about "reports of irregularities." Despite the challenge from reformist Mir Hossein Mousavi to incumbent Ahmadinejad, many officials and experts thought a Mousavi victory would result in only incremental shifts toward the U.S.

    Because real power in Tehran is still wielded by religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, some say an Ahmadinejad re-election may make it easier to build an international consensus against Iran. Administration officials remained silent out of concern that any comments might influence the results. But they were privately hoping for a victory by the more moderate Mousavi. Neither Clinton nor the White House mentioned Ahmadinejad or his chief rival Mousavi, by name, or acknowledged the incumbent's victory declaration. Iranian authorities reported that Ahmadinejad was re-elected with 62.6 percent of the vote.

100 MEMBERS OF IRAN OPPOSITION ARRESTED

       TEHRAN, IRAN--Up to 100 prominent members of the Iranian opposition have been arrested in the capital, Tehran. The arrests were made in the wake of protests over the outcome of the presidential election. The group is called the Islamic Iran Participation Front and is close to the defeated presidential candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi.  Since election night the group had been alleging the poll was rigged.  But the regime is not budging.

    President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called them free and healthy; Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned that the state will deal with those who oppose the result.  Thousands of people clashed with police on Saturday after the disputed election victory of Mr Ahmadinejad sparked the biggest protests in Tehran since the 1979 Islamic revolution. Baton-wielding riot police firing tear gas clashed with protesters who pelted security forces with stones and set rubbish bins and police vehicles ablaze.

    The Ayatollah told Iranians to respect Mr Ahmadinejad's victory in an election that Mr Mousavi described as a "dangerous charade".  Among those arrested on Saturday night (local time) is Mohammad Reza Khatami, the brother of former president Mohammad Khatami. A judiciary spokesman said the group had not been arrested, but had been summoned and "warned not to increase tension". They were later released, he said. Mr Mousavi has called on his supporters to stay calm and show restraint after official results showed he had secured less than 34 per cent of the vote, despite some expectations he would win enough to go through to a second-round runoff.

NORTH KOREA THREATENS MILITARY ACTION IF U.S. IMPOSES BLOCKADE 

       SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA--North Korea vowed Saturday to step up its atomic bomb-making program and threatened war if its ships are stopped as part of new U.N. sanctions aimed at punishing the nation for its latest nuclear test. North Korea's Foreign Ministry also acknowledged for the first time that the country has a uranium enrichment program, and insisted it will never abandon its nuclear ambitions. Uranium and plutonium can be used to make atomic bombs. The threats, in a statement issued through the official Korean Central News Agency, came a day after the Security Council approved new sanctions aimed at depriving the North of the financing used to build its rogue nuclear program.

     The resolution also authorized searches of North Korean ships suspected of transporting illicit ballistic missile and nuclear materials. The sanctions are "yet another vile product of the U.S.-led offensive of international pressure aimed at undermining ... disarming DPRK and suffocating its economy," the North Korean statement said. Pyongyang blamed Washington for the nuclear tensions, saying it was "compelled to go nuclear in the face of the U.S. hostile policy and its nuclear threats." Washington says it has no intention of attacking the North and said its concern is that North Korea is trying to sell its nuclear technology to other nations.

    Saturday's threats made clear North Korea's refusal to back down from international calls to give up its nuclear ambitions in the wake of its April rocket launch and underground nuclear test last month. The statement also raised concerns of a military skirmish. "An attempted blockade of any kind by the U.S. and its followers will be regarded as an act of war and met with a decisive military response," the North said. As a precaution, South Korea has dispatched hundreds more marines to two islands near a western maritime border with North Korea that was the scene of deadly naval clashes in 1999 and 2002, officials said Friday. North Korea's acknowledgment that it has a uranium-enrichment program appears to confirm that it has a second source of bomb-making materials in addition to plutonium.

CLASHES ERUPT IN IRAN AFTER AHMADINEJAD DECLARED WINNER OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

     TEHRAN, IRAN--Supporters of the main election challenger to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad clashed with police and set up barricades of burning tires Saturday as authorities claimed the hard-line president was re-elected in a landslide. The rival candidate said the vote was tainted by widespread fraud and his followers responded with the most serious unrest in the capital in a decade. Several hundred demonstrators — many wearing the trademark green colors of pro-reform candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi's campaign — chanted "the government lied to the people" and gathered near the Interior Ministry as the final count from Friday's presidential election was announced.

    It gave 62.6 percent of the vote to Ahmadinejad and 33.75 to Mousavi — a former prime minister who has become the hero of a youth-driven movement seeking greater liberties and a gentler face for Iran abroad. Mousavi rejected the result as rigged and urged his supporters to resist a government of "lies and dictatorship." "I'm warning that I won't surrender to this manipulation," said a statement on Mousavi's Web site. "The outcome of what we've seen from the performance of officials ... is nothing but shaking the pillars of the Islamic Republic of Iran's sacred system and governance of lies and dictatorship," it added.

    Mousavi warned "people won't respect those who take power through fraud." The headline on one of his Web sites read: "I won't give in to this dangerous manipulation." The clashes in central Tehran were the more serious disturbances in the capital since student-led protests in 1999. They showed the potential for the showdown to spill over into further violence and challenges to the Islamic establishment.  Mousavi appealed directly to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to intervene and stop what he said were violations of the law. Khamenei, who is not elected, holds ultimate political authority in Iran and controls all major policy decisions. But Khamenei closed the door on any chance he could use his limitless powers to intervene in the election dispute. He urged the nation to unite behind Ahmadinejad in a message on state TV, calling the result a "divine assessment."

U.S. CANCELLED AID TO NICARAGUA

       MANAGUA, NICARAGUA--The United States' decision to pull the plug on millions in aid to Nicaragua amid a municipal-elections dispute has heightened tensions between the two countries. Complaints of fraud in the Nov. 9 elections, in which President Daniel Ortega's Sandinistas are accused of stealing more than 40 mayors' offices, triggered Wednesday's aid cut-off. In response, Sandinista officials accused the United States of being ''manipulative,'' ''anti-ethical'' and “invasive of Nicaraguan internal political affairs.''

     The Sandinista government is also accusing the United States of trying to blackmail it over an additional $40 million in bilateral aid, which would be suspended next month. In broad terms, Ortega's response to the United States shows he still has ''a huge amount of emotional baggage,'' said Rodney Bent, executive director of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a George W. Bush-era initiative that provides development aid.

    The MCC's board of directors, chaired by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, cut some $62 million of the $175 million pledged to Nicaragua in 2006. The roughly $111 million that has already been contracted for road projects and agricultural assistance will be honored, the MCC said. Prior to that, the MCC considered the program in Nicaragua one of its best in the world. ''This decision is made with deep disappointment, as our partnership with Nicaragua has yielded tremendous progress over the past years in reducing poverty through innovative economic growth projects,'' Bent said in a statement from Washington.

HUGO CHAVEZ SAYS HIS GOVERNMENT MAY SHUTTER GLOBOVISION CHANNEL

       CARACAS, VENEZUELA--HUGO Chavez threatened to close down an opposition-sided news network, saying the defiant Globovision channel's days on the airwaves will be numbered if its directors don't stand down. The socialist leader has threatened Globovision before, demanding sanctions against the channel for its alleged violation of broadcast regulations. Chavez told a crowd of his supporters on Thursday that he "doesn't care" if such a decision were to draw international criticism.

     Chavez recently called for sanctions against Globovision, and within a week Venezuela's tax agency slapped the network with a $2.3 million fine, prosecutors charged its president in a probe into alleged fraud and lawmakers began investigating the channel for purportedly joining an anti-government conspiracy. Broadcast regulators also are investigating Globovision for inciting "panic and anxiety" during its coverage of a minor earthquake last month, when station director Alberto Federico Ravell criticized state television for failing to quickly inform its viewers about the severity of the quake.

      Chavez accused Globovision on Thursday of "poisoning people" and "sowing hate" among Venezuelans. He denied that he's trying to silence critics, telling supporters they "should not allow themselves to be manipulated" by detractors who "accuse the government of persecuting journalists." Globovision - a Caracas-based all-news network - has been the only anti-Chavez channel on the open airwaves since 2007, when Chavez refused to renew the broadcast license of another opposition-sided channel, Radio Caracas Television. That network moved to cable.

CUBA ACCUSES HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH OF BEING IN US PAY

     GENEVA, SWITZERLAND--Cuba's U.N. ambassador in Geneva says Human Rights Watch and other groups are "mercenaries" paid by the U.S. government.

      Juan Antonio Fernandez Palacios, A fervent admirer of FIDEL CASTRO, says groups criticizing Cuba in the U.N. Human Rights Council perform a "clown act." The groups had accused Cuba of trying to silence critics. HRW spokesman Philippe Dam said, "Human Rights Watch receives zero percent of its funding from public money, and 100 percent from private money. This is evidence that we are fully independent of any government, and that Cuba's remarks are totally unfounded."

    The New York-based group says Cuba violates the right to fair trial, free expression and political association. Several Cuban and Chinese groups praised Cuba's human rights achievements Wednesday.

CRUDE OIL LEADS CUBAN EXPORTS

       HAVANA, CUBA--Oil exports are now Cuba's second leading export, overtaking pharmaceuticals, and produced $880 million in revenues in 2008, according to a Foreign Trade Ministry report. A table in the report, parts of which were seen by Reuters this week, said nickel accounted for 39 percent of exports, oil for 22 percent and pharmaceuticals 9 percent, followed by sugar and tobacco products each at 6 percent and other products 18 percent. The government reported exports, excluding tourism and other services, were $4 billion in 2008, but has yet to publish any details.

    Cuba consumes a minimum of 150,000 barrels per day in petroleum products, of which up to 92,000 bpd comes from regional energy giant Venezuela. The rest is pumped from the northwest coast along with natural gas for power generation. Cuba has exported small amounts of the heavy crude it produces, but this would not account for the big jump in 2008 exports, local and foreign analysts said. The analysts said a likely explanation would be exports from a joint venture refinery with Venezuela opened in December 2007, which processed 65,000 bpd in 2008 for local consumption and export to area countries.

     Venezuela's state-run Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) reported on Tuesday it delivered 115,000 bpd of crude and refined products to Cuba in 2008, of which 93,300 bpd were sold to Cuban state-run oil monopoly Cubapetroleo, or Cupet, and 27,500 bpd was PDVSA's equity share delivered to the refinery in Cienfuegos. "Based on published data, the revenues seem to represent Cubapetroleo's equity share of the Cienfuegos Cupet-PDVSA joint venture refinery exports," said Jorge Pinon, former president of Amoco Oil Latinoamerica and researcher at the University of Miami's Center for Hemispheric Policy.

newest spy case could hamper u.s.-cuba talks

       WASHINGTON, D.C.--Cuba watchers say the latest case of espionage could crimp the Obama administration's efforts to renew talks with the government in Havana. The arrests last week of former State Department employee Walter Kendall Myers and his wife, Gwendolyn Steingraber Myers, came as the Cuban government agreed to an overture by the U.S. State Department to resume long-suspended discussions on migration and direct mail between the two countries.

    But with some critics of the regime opposed to renewing the talks until Cuba has shown some democratic change, analysts suggest momentum could slow.  Sen. Mel Martinez said Tuesday he might send a letter to President Barack Obama asking for a briefing on ``this issue, as well as counterintelligence efforts in regards to Cuba.''

    ''This is a very disturbing, recurring theme,'' the Florida Republican said. ``This is a government that very aggressively goes after intelligence information in our country and I think it affects our broader relationship with Cuba.'' Martinez suggested the administration should postpone the talks between diplomats, saying ``we don't know how those talks could have been compromised by what has been disclosed to the Cubans. I think it would be foolish for us to be in negotiations with one arm tied behind our back.'' The U.S. State Department has said it wants to reopen the talks -- suspended by the Bush administration in 2004 -- to 'reaffirm both sides' commitment to safe, legal and orderly migration.''

MONSIGNOR ROBERTO LUCKERT SAYS CHAVEZ SEEKS TO CORNER THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Roberto Luckert, the Archbishop of the city of Coro, northwestern Venezuela, accused the government of President Hugo Chávez of trying to corner the Catholic Church.

    "The government wants to restrict our activities, threaten us, drive us into a corner, but we must remember that the Catholic Church dates back to more than 2,000 years. We will have to overcome Chávez and his team," said the prelate.

     Luckert, who is the second Vice President of the Venezuelan Bishops' Conference (CEV), president of the Committee on Justice and Peace, and President of Caracas' Caritas International Commission, said that Pope Benedict XVI supports and encourages Venezuelan prelates in their work as evangelizers and missionaries. He said that the Pope shares their concerns.  Besides the "very tragic" economic crisis hitting Venezuela, Luckert said that the real problem is that "democracy is in danger."

U.N. DECLARES A SWINE FLU PANDEMIC

       GENEVA, SWITZERLAND--The World Health Organization declared a swine flu pandemic Thursday -- the first global flu epidemic in 41 years -- as infections in the United States, Europe, Australia, South America and elsewhere climbed to nearly 30,000 cases. The long-awaited pandemic announcement is scientific confirmation that a new flu virus has emerged and is quickly circling the globe. WHO will now ask drugmakers to speed up production of a swine flu vaccine. The declaration will also prompt governments to devote more money toward efforts to contain the virus.

     WHO chief Dr. Margaret Chan made the announcement Thursday after the U.N. agency held an emergency meeting with flu experts. Chan said she was moving the world to phase 6 -- the agency's highest alert level -- which means a pandemic, or global epidemic, is under way.  ''The world is moving into the early days of its first influenza pandemic in the 21st century,'' Chan told reporters. ``The [swine flu] virus is now unstoppable.''

     On Thursday, WHO said 74 countries had reported 28,774 cases of swine flu, including 144 deaths. Chan described the virus as ''moderate.'' According to WHO's pandemic criteria, a global outbreak has begun when a new flu virus begins spreading in two world regions. The agency has stressed that most cases are mild and require no treatment, but the fear is that a rash of new infections could overwhelm hospitals and health authorities -- especially in poorer countries. Still, about half of the people who have died from swine flu were previously young and healthy -- people who are not usually susceptible to flu. Swine flu is also crowding out regular flu viruses. Both features are typical of pandemic flu viruses. The last pandemic -- the Hong Kong flu of 1968 -- killed about one million people. Ordinary flu kills about 250,000 to 500,000 people each year.

u.n. security council agrees on tougher n. korea sanctions

       UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK--The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council have agreed on a resolution that would expand and tighten sanctions on North Korea, two senior Western diplomats at the United Nations said Wednesday. The permanent members -- China, France, Russia, Britain and the United States -- reached the agreement in consultation with Japan and South Korea.

     The council began discussions late Wednesday morning. A vote is possible Thursday or Friday, according to several diplomats, including French Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert. The agreement comes amid rising tension with North Korea, which recently conducted a nuclear test, fired test rockets, and threatened U.S. and South Korean ships near its territorial waters. The nuclear test and the firing of six short-range rockets same in late May.

     Pyongyang's actions violated U.N. resolutions. Late last month, two Defense Department officials said U.S. satellite imagery spotted "vehicle activity" at a North Korean ballistic missile facility. The officials said the images showed vehicles used to transport Taepodong-2 missiles, but no missile parts. The Taepodong-2 is a long-range missile that was tested earlier this year by North Korea. That test, in April, showed a significant improvement in range from North Korea's initial long-range missile test in 2006. Washington officials have said the United States' goal is for North Korea to return to nuclear negotiations with the United States, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia, known as the "six-party talks."

AMERICAN COUPLE ACCUSED OF BEING CUBAN SPIES TO REMAIN IN JAIL

     WASHINGTON, D.C.--Former State Department employee Walter Kendall Myers and his wife, Gwendolyn Myers, accused last week of being Cuban spies, will be held in custody until their trial because prosecutors consider the couple ''a serious flight risk,'' a U.S. magistrate in Washington decided Wednesday. The magistrate sided with federal prosecutors who argued during the detention hearing that the Myerses are accomplished sailors who own a ''seaworthy'' vessel. Prosecutors said that if the couple fled to Cuba, the court -- and the U.S. government -- would have no authority to get them back.

     Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon Michael Harvey also noted that the Myerses could seek refuge in the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, D.C., which he said was less than three miles from their apartment.  Harvey said the couple has the means to leave as well, noting that Walter Kendall Myers has an inheritance and $500,000 in investments. The couple attended the hearing in blue jail uniforms, listening intently as Harvey said they could pose a ''real and present danger . . . to the United States.'' He added that Fidel Castro had expressed praise for them in a weekend column and that the Myerses ''would be greeted as heroes -- they would not be coming back'' if they made it to Cuba.

    The magistrate asked the federal lawyers whether the government would be adding espionage to the charges. Harvey said the investigation is continuing. He said investigators have access to computer files, ``and that we may well be looking at additional charges against the Myerses.'' During the hearing, Walter Kendall Myers, wearing glasses, stroked his mustache with an index finger. He sat with his hands folded across his chest for most of the argument. His wife sat next to him, fingers laced in front of her on the table, sitting up straight. Green said the Myerses have four children between them. Gwendolyn Myers' son, Brad, was in the front row for the hearing.

IPI CONCERNED ABOUT THE WORSENING PRESS CLIMATE IN VENEZUELA

       HELSINKI,FINLAND--The International Press Institute (IPI) denounced on Tuesday the deterioration of freedom of the press in Venezuela, particularly "harassment" by the government of President Hugo Chávez of private TV network Globovisión.  IPI members called on Venezuelan authorities "to cease their threats against the media, to drop charges against outspoken journalists and to scrap laws designed to impede free speech." For the Institute, "independent and largely pro-opposition media have long been subjected to extreme pressure from President Hugo Chavez's administration," escalating in 2009.

    In the resolution adopted at the World Congress and 58th General Assembly held in Helsinki, the IPI requested Venezuela to respect the principles of freedom of expression outlined in Article 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. IPI members condemned "the ever more frequent harassment of television network Globovisión and its employees," "the country's last independent broadcaster."  They complained about "government threats to close the station" and the "heavy-handed raid on the property of the company's chairman, Guillermo Zuloaga."

     The IPI also accused Chávez's administration of singling out "individual journalists for their reporting, including investigative reporter and popular columnist Nelson Bocaranda, who faces criminal defamation charges for reports that criticise politicians." The IPI, created in 1950 and headquartered in Vienna, is a global network of editors, media executives and leading journalists from 120 countries. Their purposes include furtherance of press freedom, the promotion of the free flow of news and information, and the improvement of the practices of journalism.

NORTH KOREA WARNS OF 'MERCILESS' NUCLEAR OFFENSIVE

       SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA--North Korea said Tuesday it would use nuclear weapons in a "merciless offensive" if provoked — its latest bellicose rhetoric apparently aimed at deterring any international punishment for its recent atomic test blast. Pyongyang raised tensions a notch by reviving its rhetoric in a commentary in the state-run Minju Joson newspaper Tuesday. "Our nuclear deterrent will be a strong defensive means ... as well as a merciless offensive means to deal a just retaliatory strike to those who touch the country's dignity and sovereignty even a bit," said the commentary, carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

    It appeared to be the first time that North Korea referred to its nuclear arsenal as "offensive" in nature. Pyongyang has long claimed that its nuclear weapons program is a deterrent and only for self-defense against what it calls U.S. attempts to invade it. The tough talk came as South Korea and the U.S. lead an effort at the U.N. Security Council to have the North punished for its nuclear test with tough sanctions. Seoul's Yonhap news agency reported Tuesday that South Korea had doubled the number of naval ships around the disputed sea border with the North amid concern the communist neighbor could provoke an armed clash there — the scene of skirmishes in 1999 and 2002.

    The Joint Chiefs of Staff declined to confirm the report, but said the North has not shown any unusual military moves. The tensions emanating from Pyongyang are beginning to hit nascent business ties with the South: a Seoul-based fur manufacturer became the first South Korean company to announce Monday it was pulling out of an industrial complex in the North's border town of Kaesong. The complex, which opened in 2004, is a key symbol of rapprochement between the two Koreas but the goodwill is evaporating quickly in the wake of North Korea's nuclear test on May 25 and subsequent missile tests.

CUBA REDUCES PRODUCTS AVAILABLE TO CUBANS IN MONTHLY RATIONS

     HAVANA, CUBA--Cuba reduced the rations of beans, peas and salt it sells to the population on Monday (June 8) as the Communist run island.  The amount of beans and peas Cubans receive monthly on the rationing cards decreased in June from 850 grams to 567 and the quarter quota of one  kilo of salt was cut in half. "I noticed it today when I purchase this (referring to salt), I noticed that it was a very little amount and I asked him and he told me that they had reduced the amount," Havana resident Angelina Cabrera told Reuters after she finished her purchases in a market.
 
   Cuba imports around 80 percent of the food it sells at subsidized prices through the rationing books. Cubans receive a monthly quota of subsidized food that includes rice, eggs, oil and sugar among other products.  The government has recognized that the quotas are not sufficient and according to academic reports, the quotas last for two weeks.  "I think they are going to reduce the beans by two ounces, in addition to rice, they give flour but I have not purchased my groceries yet either," another Havana resident, Cristina Rubio, said.

    Like other Caribbean countries, Cuba has suffered the effects of the global financial crisis which has caused a reduction in export revenues and exhausted credits.  According to foreign businesses, Cuba is suffering from a reduction in liquid assets that is affecting its ability to pay debts thus threatening to effect its import capacity. One Cuban woman said the measures were reasonable and Cubans would be able to forge ahead. "It is a reasonable measure (referring to the rationing) because we are confronting different situations in the country and in the entire world and we should confront it like another task from the Revolution," said Victoria Chirino, another Havana resident.  In June, the government implemented drastic measures to reduce its consumption of electricity and has warned there could be blackouts down the line.

SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY CLINTON ORDERS REVIEW OF STATE DEPARTMENT SECURITY AFTER ARRESTS

       WASHINGTON, D.C.--Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Monday she has ordered a review of security and vetting procedures that let a State Department employee suspected of spying for Cuba slip through the cracks. Ex-State Department employee Kendall Myers and his wife were arrested last week, suspected of spying for Cuba. Clinton told reporters she directed State Department security personnel to review "every possible security program we have, every form of vetting and clearance that we employ in the State Department, to determine what more we can do to guard against this kind of outrageous violation of the oaths that people take to serve our country here in the State Department."

    "We are concerned by the announcement of the arrests and the charges against these two individuals, one of whom, as you know, was a former State Department employee, along with his wife," Clinton said. The couple appeared briefly Friday in Washington before a federal magistrate, who ordered them held without bond pending a detention hearing Wednesday. Judge John Facciolo agreed with prosecutors that the couple might try to flee the country if not held. The State Department isn't clear at this stage on what information the Myerses may have passed to their Cuban handlers, according to a senior State Department official, who told CNN such information would come out of a full damage assessment.

     "We were confident" at the time of Kendall Myers' retirement, the official said, that he had been passing information to Cuban intelligence. Diplomatic security officials "let it go for a while" to see what information might emerge.  Promising full State Department cooperation with the ongoing investigation and eventual prosecution, Clinton said it was equally important "that we look forward to make sure that we try to prevent something like this from ever happening again." Conviction on the wire fraud charge would carry a sentence of up to 20 years, illegally acting as an agent of a foreign government would carry a sentence of up to 10 years, and the conspiracy charge would carry a sentence of up to five years.

cuba SAYS NO THANKS TO REJOINING OAS

       HAVANA, CUBA--In a statement published in the Cuban government newspaper Granma, Cuba called the OAS a graveless cadaver, and thanked ally nations for their efforts to correct a ``historic and illegal error.''  ''Ever since the triumph of the revolution, the Organization of American States has taken an active part in support of Washington's policy of hostility toward Cuba. It made official the economic blockade, arranged for the embargo of arms and strategic products and stipulated the obligation that its member countries should break diplomatic relations with our revolutionary state,'' the statement read. “. . It is an organization with a role and trajectory that Cuba repudiates.'' Cuba was suspended from the OAS in 1962 because of its alliance with the Soviet Union and China.

    But as more leftists were elected to run Latin American nations, the voices clamoring for Cuba to be readmitted grew louder. Those pressures swelled last week at the group's general assembly meeting in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, where the sanction was officially lifted. At Washington's behest, the official resolution readmitting Cuba to the OAS says the next step should be Cuba's, and that the hemisphere's last communist country should abide by the group's ''purposes, practices and principles.'' The wording was an effort to stem critics who argue that Cuba's human rights record and one-party rule should prohibit it from joining the OAS, which promotes democracy.

    Several members of Congress have threatened to pull the organization's funding. Cuba ''has the right and the authority to say no to the idea of joining an organization where the United States still exercises an oppressive control,'' the Cuban statement said. ``. . . [The OAS] has remained silent in the face of the most horrendous crimes, shares the interests of imperialism, conspires against and subverts genuine governments, legitimately created with demonstrated popular support.''

NORTH KOREA SENTENCES TEO U.S. JOURNALISTS TO 12 YEARS IN PRISON

     SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA--North Korea convicted two American journalists and sentenced them Monday to 12 years of hard labor, intensifying the reclusive nation's confrontation with the United States. Washington said it would "engage in all possible channels" to win the release of Laura Ling and Euna Lee, reporters for former Vice President Al Gore's San Francisco-based Current TV media venture. There are fears Pyongyang is using the women as bargaining chips as the U.N. debates a new resolution to punish the country for its defiant May 25 atomic test and as North Korea seeks to draw Washington into direct negotiations.

    The journalists were found guilty of committing a "grave crime" against North Korea and of illegally entering the country, state-run media said. The Central Court in Pyongyang sentenced each to 12 years of "reform through labor" in a North Korean prison after a five-day trial, the Korean Central News Agency said in a terse, two-line report that provided no further details. A Korean-language version said they were convicted of "hostility toward the Korean people."

    The ruling, nearly three months after their arrest, comes amid soaring tensions fueled by North Korea's nuclear test last month and signs it is preparing for a long-range missile test. On Monday, North Korea warned fishing boats to stay away from the east coast, Japan's coast guard said, raising concerns more missile tests are being planned. Verdicts issued by North Korea's highest court are final and cannot be appealed, said Choi Eun-suk, a North Korean law expert at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies at South Korea's Kyungnam University. He said North Korea's penal code calls for transferring them to prison within 10 days.

POPE BENEDICT XVI: GOAL OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN VENEZUELA IS TO PROMOTE SOCIAL STABILITY

       THE VATICAN--Benedict XVI said on Monday that the "only interest" of the Roman Catholic Church in Venezuela is to spread "the most genuine" Christian values "in order to promote the search of common good, peaceful coexistence and social stability."

     The Pope's remarks came in a speech addressed to the Venezuelan bishops who are in the Vatican for their "Ad limina apostolorum" five-yearly visit. The group of Venezuelan bishops is led by the Cardinal and Archbishop of Caracas, Jorge Liberato Urosa Savino, and the Archbishop of Maracaibo and President of the Venezuelan Episcopal Conference, Ubaldo Ramón Santana Sequera.  The Bishop of Rome said that the challenges faced by the Venezuelan bishops are increasingly usual and difficult. He said that in recent times, they have increased due to the severe global economic crisis.

     However, Benedict XVI said that the current moment also offers "numerous and real" reasons for hope. "You have an exciting evangelization task ahead and you have begun the 'Mission for Venezuela,' in line with the Continental Mission promoted in the city of Aparecida (Brazil)," the Pope said.  "I appreciate your efforts to radiate the light of the Gospel on the most relevant developments affecting your country, with the only interest of spreading the most genuine Christian values in order to promote the search of common good, peaceful coexistence and social stability," the Pope said.  Benedict XVI expressed to the Venezuelan bishops his solidarity, reassuring them that they can "always" count on his support, care and spiritual closeness.

cuban dictator fidel castro calls cuban spy arrests "ridiculous"

       HAVANA, CUBA--Cuban dictator Fidel Castro called the case of two Americans accused of spying for Cuba "strange" Saturday and questioned whether the timing of their arrests was politically motivated. In an essay read by a newscaster on state television, the former Cuban leader noted that the retired Washington couple were taken into custody just 24 hours after the Organization of American States voted to lift a decades-old suspension of Cuba's membership in that group. Though the U.S. ultimately supported the OAS vote Wednesday, the administration of President Barack Obama initially wanted to see more democratic reforms on the communist island before Cuba was readmitted.

     Castro called the OAS vote "a defeat for United States diplomacy." Walter Kendall Myers and his wife, Gwendolyn, were arrested Thursday in Washington after a three-year investigation that began before Myers' retirement from the State Department in 2007. The U.S. government says they had been spying for Havana for 30 years, recruited by Cuba after a 1978 trip there. Myers received his orders by Morse code, and he and his wife usually hand-delivered intelligence, sometimes by exchanging carts in a grocery store, according to court documents. "Doesn't the story of Cuban spying seem really ridiculous to everyone?" Castro asked, without commenting on its validity.

     Myers had been under suspicion since 1995 and FBI investigation since 2006. If the couple had been watched that long, "why were they not arrested before?" Castro asked. Court documents say the two were such valued spies, they once had a four-hour meeting with Castro, whom Myers described as one of the great modern political leaders. "I met during this time with thousands of Americans for various reasons, individually or in groups, on occasion with gatherings of several hundred of them," said the 82-year-old, who ceded power to his brother Raul when he fell ill nearly three years ago and has not been seen in public since. "Perhaps influencing the case was not only the tremendous reverse suffered (by the U.S.), but also the news that contacts are being made between the governments of the United States and Cuba on issues of common interest," he added. Cuba agreed to resume talks with the Obama administration on legal immigration of Cubans to the United States and direct mail services after an overture from the U.S. last month.

secretary of state hillary clinton said u.s. will consider putting north korea back on terror list

     WASHINGTON, D.C.--Obama administration will consider putting North Korea back on the list of state sponsors of terrorism, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Sunday. Clinton, appearing on ABC's "This Week," called North Korea's latest actions "very provocative and belligerent." The communist regime performed a nuclear test last month and has conducted a series of short-range missile tests.

    The actions have triggered condemnation from the international community, but little concrete action. Asked about a request from a group of senators for the administration to consider re-designating North Korea a terrorism sponsor, Clinton said, "Well, we're going to look at it."  "There's a process for it," she said. "Obviously we would want to see recent evidence of their support for international terrorism."

    North Korea was taken off the list in October, as the regime appeared to make concessions on its nuclear program. Clinton said Sunday North Korea is undermining that agreement.  "We take it very seriously," she said. "I mean, obviously they were taken off of the list for a purpose and that purpose is being thwarted by their actions."  Clinton said she's also looking for additional sanctions against the country in the United Nations, and potentially an arms embargo or other measures. She called for a "very strong resolution with teeth that will have consequences for the North Korean regime."

SHOOTOUT KILLS 16 IN MEXICO'S ACAPULCO RESORT

       ACAPULCO, MEXICO--Mexican soldiers fought a two-hour battle with heavily armed men holed up at a house in an Acapulco hotel zone, killing 15 of the gunmen as Mexican tourist cowered in their rooms nearby. One soldier was killed and the wounded included three soldiers and three bystanders. Several Mexican tourists were evacuated from small hotels in a faded neighborhood once frequented by Hollywood stars.

    When soldiers arrived at the house on a tip, the gunmen opened fire and hurled some 50 grenades, according to an Army colonel, who wore a ski mask to protect his identity as he led reporters on a tour of the scene Sunday. He spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons. Several gunmen tried to flee, but crashed their car into a military Hummer that was blocking the gate. At one point, more armed men with grenades arrived by car to reinforce the gunmen in the house, but they died in the shooting, the colonel said.

    Soldiers found four Guerrero state police officers handcuffed inside the garage of the house, the colonel said. The officers, who were still bound and sitting the floor when reporters arrived, said they'd been held captive by the gunmen, the colonel said. Soldiers did not know the police were inside when the shootout began late Friday night, and the colonel said their claims would be investigated. "We found them like this, handcuffed, and they say they were kidnapped. So if they were kidnapped, as they say, then we rescued them," he said.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA JOINS WWII VETS FOR D-DAY TRIBUTES

       COLLESVILLE-SUR-MER, FRANCE--World leaders joined military veterans in northwest France on Saturday to pay respects to those who lost their lives 65 years ago in the D-Day landings of World War II. President Barack Obama, French leader Nicolas Sarkozy, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Canadian PM Stephen Harper and Britain's Prince Charles are among those to attending a ceremony in a coastal cemetery that is the final resting place of many who lost their lives in the decisive operation.

    More than 150,000 allied troops, about half of them Americans, took part in D-Day, a massive offensive on June 6, 1944, that overwhelmed German forces on the beaches of Normandy and proved a turning point in driving back Nazi forces in occupied France. Allied forces secured the beaches at a cost of about 10,000 casualties in what was the first step in a campaign that would, in a matter of weeks, liberate Paris, which had been under Nazi occupation for more than four years.

    Obama, who has been touring Egypt and Europe on a trip focused on modern conflicts in the Middle East, is to make a speech at the Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, overlooking one of the main D-Day landing points for U.S. troops. Watch Obama arrive in France  Earlier in the day, the U.S. president and his French counterpart gave a news conference making comments on efforts to bring about peace in the Middle East and halt Iran's apparent nuclear ambitions. Among Veterans attending Saturday's remembrance ceremonies will be 86-year-old former British soldier Jim Tuckwell, who sai the events will help those present to remember fallen comrades lost in the heat of battle.

HUGO CHAVEZ HAILS OAS DECISION ON CUBA AS A "GREAT VICTORY"

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Hugo Chávez termed "great victory" the resolution of the Organization of American States (OAS) which abrogated a decision in 1962 to remove Cuba from the hemispheric organization.  The head of state praised the "great victory of the Bolivarian diplomacy," meaning the OAS resolution on behalf of Cuba. However, he clarified that it was a triumph "not only of Venezuela, but of all the member states of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA)," he emphatically said.

     Chávez said that he kept in touch with the presidents of Nicaragua and Honduras, Daniel Ortega and Manuel Zelaya, respectively, and also phoned former Cuban ruler Fidel Castro "twice or three times."  In addition, Chávez said that should the OAS fail to lift the sanction on Cuba, Venezuela would have pulled out of the organization in solidarity with the Caribbean island.

     "We told it, if the issue (of the annulment of the exclusion of Cuba from the OAS) would have not been discussed… Venezuela would stand up and walk out of here," said the head of state.  The Venezuelan ruler noted that the decision taken at the OAS stood for a "redress" towards Cuba and a "defeat" for the United States, which thought that the resolution would bind Cuba to democratic principles.  "Cuba does not need to promise anything," said Chávez. "There is the need to create an organization of Latin American and Caribbean states," except for the United States, he added.

CARLOS PASCUAL NOMINATED AS U.S. AMBASSADOR TO MEXICO

       WASHINGTON, D.C.--President BARACK Obama nominated Carlos Pascual, a Cuban-born U.S. diplomat, as ambassador to Mexico, the State Department said Thursday. Reports have circulated for more than two months that Pascual, director of foreign policy studies at the Brookings Institution in Washington, would be named to the important post. Pascual's name surfaced during Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's visit to Mexico in March, and generated no controversy.

    Pascual, an expert in "failed states," would take over one of the United States' biggest embassies and confront a list of complex bilateral issues, including trade and energy, border issues and the battle against drug cartels. His nomination requires Senate approval.  Pascual's 23 years in government included positions with the National Security Council and U.S. Agency for International Development. He was ambassador to Ukraine from 2000 until 2003 and later was coordinator for reconstruction and stabilization in the State Department, dealing with societies destabilized by civil strife and conflict.

    President Felipe Calderon has vigorously fended off characterizations that his nation is at risk of failing as a result of the drug-related violence that has left more than 10,000 people dead since December 2006, when he assumed office and promptly launched a crackdown on organized crime. Obama has promised to help that fight by tightening border enforcement and curbing the smuggling of U.S.-bought weapons into Mexico.

AMERICAN COUPLE INDICTED ON CHARGES OF SPYING FOR CUBA from the state department

       WASHINGTON, D.C.--A 72-year-old former State Department employee and his 71-year-old wife have been arrested and charged with illegally aiding the government of Cuba for nearly 30 years, the Department of Justice announced Friday. Walter Kendall Myers retired from the State Department in October 2007.  Walter Kendall Myers and his wife, Gwendolyn Myers, were charged with conspiracy to act as illegal agents of the Cuban government, providing classified information to that government, and wire fraud, according to court documents unsealed in Washington.

     The couple appeared briefly Friday before a federal magistrate in Washington, who ordered them held without bail pending a detention hearing Wednesday. Judge John Facciolo agreed with prosecutors that the couple might try to flee the country if not held. They were arrested late Thursday, the Justice Department said. The State Department isn't clear at this stage on what information the Myerses may have passed to their Cuban handlers, according to a senior State Department official, who said that such information would come out of a full damage assessment. "We were confident" at the time of Kendall Myers' retirement, the official said, that he had been passing information to Cuban intelligence. Diplomatic security officials "let it go for a while" to see what information might emerge.

     The official said Myers was an "upper-level civil service employee." He was a European analyst at the Bureau of Intelligence and Research and "had come up in the ranks," the official said. The official also said it was unclear whether Myers acted for financial reasons, but a law enforcement official said the couple's primary motive was not money. The couple were "true believers" in the Cuban system, the official said. Myers retired from the State Department on October 31, 2007. He had viewed more than 200 classified reports on Cuba in his final months, even though he was at the time an analyst working on European issues, the court document said.

CUBA CENTRAL BANK HEAD REPLACEd IN GOVERNMENT'S SHUFFLE

     HAVANA, CUBA.--The head of Cuba's central bank has resigned as President Raul Castro pushes ahead with a government reorganization amid signs of a cash crunch, state television reported Thursday. Francisco Soberon, 64, has been replaced by Ernesto Medina, who heads Banco Financiero Internacional, one of Cuba's biggest banks, according to an official announcement read on the evening news. It did not say when the move had taken effect. Soberon, who led the bank for nearly 15 years, also asked to be removed from the Cuban Communist Party's policy-making Central Committee and as a parliament deputy, it said.

     The statement offered no explanation for his resignation, but recent restrictions placed on large cash withdrawals suggest a liquidity problem on the island. Soberon is known for carrying out the monetary policies of Castro's older brother, Fidel, who resigned from the presidency last year because of health problems. In recent years, he oversaw the introduction of the Cuban convertible peso, which replaced the U.S. dollar as Cuba's legal tender. The peso's value is tied to a basket of foreign currencies, including the dollar and the euro.

     Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque and Vice President Carlos Lage were removed from the Cabinet in a stunning shake up in March. At the time, state media published letters that both men had written to Raul Castro, acknowledging they had committed errors and promising to continue to serve the country. Since then, several other Cabinet members have also lost their jobs as a large scale streamlining effort fused ministries that were deemed to have similar, overlapping tasks.

SEVEN CUBAN BALSEROS HEADED FOR U.S.; HOWEVER, THEY LANDED  IN FRONT OF THE U.S. MISSION BUILDING IN CUBA

       LA HABANA, CUBA--Seven Cubans who set out for the United States in a rickety plastic foam boat wound up instead in front of the U.S. mission to Cuba on Thursday. The would-be migrants drew gawkers -- as well as the attention of Cuba's coast guard -- because their journey ended along the rocks lining Havana's heavily traveled Malecón seafront boulevard near the U.S. Interests Section. Coast guard craft surrounded the disabled little boat around midday, so the seven men jumped in the water and clambered out over the rocks, to be picked up by police.

    ''Our tiller broke and we had to turn back,'' Margoi Diaz, 33, told The Associated Press as he sat in a military vehicle on the Malecón. Plastic foam boats sold in Havana are used primarily for fishing in Havana Bay. They are usually shunned by people trying to reach the United States because they are fragile and cannot safely hold more than two or three people. A police officer at the scene said the men were being taken home, not to jail, because they had not committed any crime.

    Cuba has agreed with the United States that most would-be migrants stopped at sea by either nation will be returned to Cuba, which promised not to prosecute them. The seaborne attempt itself was not unusual, even if the landing point was. The Interests Section says that 13,800 Cubans tried

CUBA SAYS NO TO OAS MEMBERSHIP RESOLUTION IMPOSED BY ITS LA LEFTIST ALLIES

       HAVANA, CUBA--Cuba is declining to rejoin the Organization of American States, but calls the group's decision to lift a 47-year suspension against it a "major victory." Cuban National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcon told journalists in Havana Thursday the organization's decision to lift the 1962 suspension does not alter what Cuba thought yesterday or the day before.  Before the OAS decision, Cuba said it had no interest in resuming its membership. 

    The OAS said Cuba's re-entry would be the result of a "process of dialogue" under the group's "practices, proposals and principles" - an indirect reference to human-rights protections and democracy.  The 34-member group made its decision on the second and final day of its General Assembly in Honduras.  Cuba was suspended because of its communist government and Soviet bloc ties.  Former Cuban President Fidel Castro said in an essay published Wednesday that the OAS was an accomplice to crimes committed against his country.

    On Tuesday, before leaving Honduras to join President Barack Obama in Cairo, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on the assembled OAS members to restore Cuba's membership rights only if political prisoners are released and basic human rights are improved.  Clinton said Wednesday that she was pleased with the compromise measure, saying the OAS members showed flexibility and openness and reached a decision that focuses on the future instead of the past.  She said Cuba can return to the OAS in the future if it decides that its participation meets the purposes and principles of the organization, including democracy and human rights.

FURIOUS MEMBERS OF CONGRESS THREATENED TO CUT OFF FUNDING FOR OAS

     WASHINGTON, D.C.--Furious members of Congress on Wednesday threatened to cut off funding for the Organization of American States after top diplomats gathered here for its annual assembly repealed Cuba's suspension from the hemispheric group, ending a decades-old remnant of the Cold War. ''The OAS is a putrid embarrassment,'' declared U.S. Reps. Mario and Lincoln Diaz-Balart, both Miami Republicans, in a joint statement. The lifting of Cuba's 1962 suspension was the result of weeks of back-room brokering, plus an hours-long private meeting in San Pedro Sula with foreign ministers, including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.  It ended Wednesday with the OAS' leftist bloc accepting a paragraph that refers to Cuba abiding by ''practices, purposes and principles of the OAS,'' words that Cuba's allies had just the night before flat-out rejected, sources close to the negotiations said. In the end, representatives on both sides gathered here declared victory, although Cuba's rejoining the organization will not be automatic.

    Cuban-American members of Congress blasted the move as a betrayal. ''Far from strengthening the OAS, today's resolution flies in the face of the organization's founding charter,'' Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, also a Miami Republican, said. ``No U.S. taxpayer funds should go towards supporting this sham of an organization that once prided itself on its historic commitment to democracy and human rights.'' Retracting Cuba's suspension does not mean the hemisphere's last communist country automatically rejoins an organization that prides itself in being the region's leading promoter of human rights and democracy. The resolution lifting Cuba's suspension says Cuba has to take the next step by initiating dialogue with the OAS and its participation would be ''in conformity with the practices, purposes and principles of the OAS,'' a key paragraph that Washington lobbied to include.

     Senior White House advisor Daniel Restrepo told The Miami Herald that the next move is Cuba's. ''The OAS is a very uncomfortable place for Cuba because it's an instrument that stands up for words like democracy and human rights,'' he said. ``That's an uncomfortable environment for this Cuban government. So the onus is on them. Do they want to be really part of a system that defends and promotes those values, or does it not want to do that?'' One of the Senate's only two Cuban Americans decried that language, with New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez calling it ''weak'' and ``absurdly vague.'' Menendez said the agreement ''allows for loose interpretation of what should be a clear set of fundamental democratic principles and standards regarding human rights.'' He warned Wednesday that Congress would now debate ``how much we are willing to support the OAS as an institution.'' The OAS gets about 60 percent of its funding from the United States.

GLOBOVISION PRESIDENT INVESTIGATED BY HUGO CHAVEZ'S PROSECUTOR  

       CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Venezuelan prosecutors said that they're opening a new investigation into the president of a television station opposed to President Hugo Chávez. rosecutors said in a statement that they're investigating Globovisión president Guillermo Zuloaga for a suspected ''environmental crime'' related to stuffed wild animals found on his estate.

     They said the investigation was opened at the request of pro-Chávez lawmakers.  Vnezuelan prosecutors have also summoned Zuloaga to face charges on Thursday for unspecified crimes related to 24 Toyota vehicles allegedly found on his property during a recent police raid. They say authorities have uncovered ''presumed irregularities'' at two Toyota dealerships Zuloaga jointly owns.

     Zuloaga said he had stored the cars there for safekeeping because one of his dealerships had been robbed, and suggested the government was using the investigation to intimidate him. lobovisión is the only anti-Chávez television station on the open airwaves. ast month, broadcast regulators began investigating Globovisión for purportedly inciting ''panic and anxiety'' by criticizing the government for its slow response to a moderate earthquake

OAS MEMBER STATES AGREE TO LIFT SUSPENSIONS OF CUBA, WITH CONDITIONS

       SAN PEDRO SULA, HONDURAS--Cuba's 47-year suspension from the Organization of American States will be lifted, thanks to an agreement reached Wednesday by foreign ministers assembled in Honduras, diplomats here announced. ''The cold war has ended today in San Pedro Sula,'' Honduran President Manuel Zelaya said. The United States-- which had been pressuring the OAS for weeks to condition Cuba's readmission to the hemispheric group on democratic principles and commitment to human rights -- characterized the agreement as good news, saying it does in fact contain important clauses.

     Ecuador's foreign minister, Fander Falconí, told reporters there are no such conditions. ''This is a new proposal, it has no conditions -- of any kind,'' Falconí said. ``That suspension was made in the Cold War, in the language of the Cold War. What we have done here is fix a historic error.'' Cuba was suspended from the OAS in 1962. More and more Latin American nations had pushed for Cuba to be readmitted to the organization. The U.S. State Department pointed to crucial language within the resolution: ``...that Cuba's participation in the OAS would be the result of a dialogue initiated at the government of Cuba's request and in conformity with the practices, purposes and principles of the OAS.''

      In 2001, the OAS passed the Inter-American Democratic Charter, which calls for member nations to embrace democracy. ''The historic action taken today eliminates a distraction from the past and allows us to focus on the realties of today,'' said State Department spokeswoman Sara A. Mangiaracina, ``and continue with the president's efforts to support the desire of the Cuban people to determine Cuba's future consistent with our core principles.'' University of Miami Cuba expert Andy Gomez, who was at the OAS conference this week, said the 1962 suspension may have been lifted, but to rejoin the organization, Cuba would have to agree to sign the organization's democratic charter. ''This is meaningless,'' Gomez said. ``This does not mean they are back in.''

OSAMA BIN LADEN THREATENS PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA IN NEW TAPE

     CAIRO, EGYPT--Osama bin Laden threatened Americans in a new audio tape Wednesday, saying President Barack Obama inflamed hatred toward the U.S. by ordering Pakistan to crack down on militants in Swat Valley and block Islamic law there. Bin Laden claimed U.S. pressure led to a campaign of "killing, fighting, bombing and destruction" that prompted the exodus of a million Muslims from Swat Valley in northwest Pakistan.

     The message was broadcast for the first time on pan-Arab Al-Jazeera Television around the same time Obama touched down in Saudi Arabia at the start of a Mideast visit. He is trying repair relations with the Muslim world frayed under the previous Bush administration.  "Elderly people, children and women fled their homes and lived in tents as refugees after they have lived in dignity in their homes," bin Laden said. "Let the American people be ready to reap what the White House leaders have sown," he added. "Obama and his administration have sown new seeds to increase hatred and revenge on America," bin Laden said. "The number of these seeds is equal to the number of displaced people from Swat Valley." Pakistan's military offensive to expel the Taliban from Swat Valley was launched in late April after the militants abandoned a peace deal with the government that gave them control of the region. Bin Laden focused entirely on Pakistan, claiming President Asif Ali Zardari was paid by the White House to start the crackdown.

     But Richard Holbrooke, U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, promptly dismissed suggestions that anyone but al-Qaida and the Taliban are responsible for the refugee crisis in Pakistan, saying such an idea was "ludicrous." "This entire problem began with al-Qaida and its associates and everybody in the world knows that. It's silly indeed to respond to such a ludicrous charge," Holbrooke said during a joint news conference with Zardari.

AGAIN, HUGO CHAVEZ ACCUSES CIA OF CONSPIRING TO KILL HIM

       CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Hugo Chavez on Tuesday alleged that U.S. intelligence agencies were behind a purported assassination plot that prevented him from visiting El Salvador. Chavez had planned to attend the inauguration of leftist President Mauricio Funes in the Central American nation on Monday, but said he canceled his trip due to the alleged plot. "I don't doubt that the intelligence organizations of the United States are behind this," Chavez said, accusing them of plotting with Cuban militant Luis Posada Carriles to murder him.  He said Venezuelan intelligence services have "very precise information" that they were planning to launch rockets at the Cubana de Aviacion plane he was going to travel in.

    Officials at the U.S. Embassy in Caracas couldn't immediately be reached for comment. The U.S. State Department has denied similar accusations by Chavez in the past. Venezuela has asked the U.S. to extradite Posada, a former CIA operative and opponent of former Cuban president Fidel Castro who is accused of plotting the 1976 bombing of a Cuban plane off Barbados that killed 73 people on board. The 81-year-old Posada is accused of plotting the bombing while living in Venezuela but denies involvement. Chavez has previously accused the U.S. of plotting to overthrow him or invade Venezuela, but Tuesday was the first time he has made such accusations since warmly greeting President Barack Obama at an April summit in Trinidad and Tobago.

     "I'm not accusing Obama," he said. "I think Obama has good intentions, but beyond Obama there's an empire - the CIA and all its tentacles: Terrorists and paramilitaries." Chavez also repeated a demand for the U.S. to turn over Posada to stand trial in Venezuela, saying: "Send us that murderer." Posadas was arrested on immigration-fraud charges in Miami in 2005, and held at an immigration jail in El Paso, Texas. An immigration judge in El Paso ordered that Posada should be deported in 2005, but said the ailing militant could not be sent to Cuba or Venezuela because of fears he could be tortured. Posada has been freed on bond, living with his family in Florida, since 2007.

US INVITING IRANIAN DIPLOMATS TO JULY 4 PARTIES

       WASHINGTON, D.C.--In a new overture to Iran, the Obama administration has authorized U.S. embassies around the world to invite Iranian officials to Independence Day parties they host on or around July 4th. A State Department cable sent to all U.S. embassies and consulates late last week said that U.S. diplomats could ask their Iranian counterparts to attend the festivities, which generally feature speeches about American values, fireworks, and, of course, hot dogs and hamburgers.

    The notice said the posts "may invite representatives from the government of Iran" to the events, a State Department official said Tuesday, quoting from the document. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an internal communication.  "This is very much in line with our policy of trying to engage the Iranian government," department spokesman Robert Wood told reporters in Washington. American embassies overseas, like those of other countries on their national holidays, traditionally throw parties to celebrate the Independence Day holiday. Generally those invited include officials from the host government, diplomats from friendly countries and American expatriates.

    In the past, the United States has excluded a short list of pariah nations such as Myanmar and North Korea from such invitation lists. U.S. policy has in the past generally discouraged even informal contact with them at social events, something encouraged by the new directive. Although the Obama administration has said it would like to build ties to other nations shunned by previous presidents, including Cuba, the instructions sent on Friday concern only Iran. It was not immediately clear how many embassies and consulates would actually invite Iranian diplomats to the July 4 parties or whether any Iranians would accept the invitations.

OAS ASKED TO DELVE INTO ATTACKS AGAINST JEWS IN VENEZUELA

     SAN PEDRO SULA, HONDURAS--The Jewish community rejected on Monday at the Organization of American States (OAS) the fact that attacks on its members living in Latin America and particularly in Venezuela are increasingly common.  "In recent months, we have witnessed attacks against citizens who form part of the Jewish communities in the hemisphere, who have been harassed solely for being Jewish," said Sergio Widder, Latin America director of Buenos Aires-based Simon Wiesenthal Center.

    "Using the pretext of a tragic conflict that is foreign to the region, these attacks are increasingly common. For example, in January this year, a plan of action against Venezuelan-Jewish citizens was posted on a website that promoted the confiscation of their properties; few days later, a criminal gang ransacked a synagogue in Caracas, destroyed ritual artifacts and painted anti-Semitic slogans," Widder said.

     The spokesman of the Simon Wiesenthal Center added that "there was no solid response from the Venezuelan authorities. On the contrary, there was a tolerant attitude, which encourages further aggressions."  The motto of the OAS meeting to be held on Tuesday and Wednesday in San Pedro Sula is non-violence.  Widder stressed that the Simon Wiesenthal Center asked the Secretary-General of the Organization of the American States, José Miguel Insulza, to send a mission to Caracas to investigate anti-Semitism in Venezuela. Then, the mission will disclose the findings and recommendations.  Insulza's reaction was not known immediately.

HUGO CHAVEZ'S MARATHON TV SHOW CUT SHORT

       CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Hugo Chavez had promised a four-day marathon edition of his widely watched weekly television talkshow, but unspecified technical problems threw the plans awry this weekend. In a three-line statement, the information ministry said Sunday's "Alo Presidente" program had been canceled for technical reasons. Saturday's show was called off without explanation.

   To mark its 10 years on air, Chavez last week announced an extended edition of the program he frequently uses to criticize the United States and announce major policies like nationalizations in South America's top oil exporter. He planned to do one or two hours-long broadcasts a day. The leftist began on Thursday, speaking for about eight hours in two installments and threatening to punish a critical private TV station.

    He also chatted to teens about sex education, talked about problems with his weight and called his friend and mentor, Cuba's former leader Fidel Castro, "Our father who art in Havana." The next day he challenged a group of right-wing intellectuals, including Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa, to debate ideas on Saturday's show, but the broadcast never materialized. A member of the president's press team said they had waited on the show's set until late afternoon without learning why it had been pulled. Chavez was expected to transmit Sunday's show in the company of Bolivian President Evo Morales, before he travels to El Salvador for the inauguration of its new left-wing president, Mauricio Funes.

MAURICIO FUNES, EL SALVADOR'S 1ST LEFTIST PRESIDENT, TAKES POWER

       SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR--A journalist from a party of former Marxist guerrillas became El Salvador's first leftist president Monday, promising to remain friendly with the United States while immediately restoring ties with Cuba. Mauricio Funes brought to power the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front that fought for 12 years to overthrow U.S.-backed governments until laying down their arms in 1992. But he sought to ease fears of radicalism by comparing himself to U.S. President Barack Obama as well as Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a leftist who has maintained warm ties with leaders across the political spectrum.

    "We turned to the strong examples of Obama and Lula as proof that progressive leaders — instead of being a threat — can be a new, safe alternative for their people," Funes said in his inaugural address. Members of his party applauded wildly and shouted the traditional chant of the left in Latin America: "The people united will never be defeated!" Plucked from outside the party ranks, the bespectacled television journalist won the March 15 elections by helping the movement shed a radical image that alienated many Salvadorans scarred by civil war.

     During a bitter electoral campaign, critics branded Funes a communist and compared him to Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega, leaders who delight in denouncing the United States. Funes avoided meeting Chavez during the campaign, though he said he would maintain respectful relations with him. Both Chavez and Ortega canceled plans to attend the inauguration at the last minute and did not state why. Obama sent Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to represent the United States at the inauguration, which she called a testament to the strength of democracy in the Americas. Funes singled her out in his inaugural speech as a "woman who honors America and radiates the brilliance of the feminine gender throughout the world." After the inauguration, Clinton said the United States wants to improve relations in Latin America.

NORTH KOREA PREPARES TO FIRE A LONG-RANGE MISSILE

     SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA--North Korea has transported its most advanced missile, believed to be capable of reaching Alaska, to a site where it could be ready for launch in a week or two, news reports said Monday. The reclusive communist country was also reportedly strengthening its defenses and conducting amphibious assault exercises along its western shore, near disputed waters where deadly naval clashes with South Korea have occurred in the past. With the launch, Pyongyang could also thumb its nose at U.N. Security Council attempts to rein it in after last week's nuclear test and a series of short-range missile launches.

    South Korean media have speculated that the North wants to time the launch for around June 16, when South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has a summit in Washington with President Barack Obama. South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the missile had been sent by train to the newly completed missile facility of Dongchang-ni, about 40 miles from the Chinese border. Yonhap, quoting government sources, said the missile could be ready to launch in a week or two. South Korean defense and intelligence officials refused to comment.

    U.S Defense Secretary Robert Gates, speaking at a news conference in the Philippines, said North Korea appears to be working on a long-range missile, but it's not clear yet what they plan to do with it. Lee, hosting a conference of Southeast Asian leaders, warned the North against any provocation. "If North Korea turns its back on dialogue and peace and dares to carry out military threats and provocations, the Republic of Korea will never tolerate that," Lee said in his regular radio address.On Monday, the North again said it is being provoked by South Korea and the United States, saying the number of spy planes operating in its airspace has risen dramatically. "The U.S. imperialists and the South Korean puppets perpetrated at least 200 cases of aerial espionage against the DPRK in May, or 30 cases more than those in the same month of last year," it said in a report in its official Korean Central News Agency.

TALIBAN MILITANTS KIDNAPPED 400 STUDENTS IN PAKISTAN

       ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN--Taliban militants in north-west Pakistan kidnapped up to 400 students from a military-run college, along with teachers and relatives, as they were travelling in mini-buses on Monday. The abduction took place while the Pakistani army pressed on with an offensive against the Taliban in the Swat valley in another part of the north-west. Taliban fighters with hand grenades seized the students' convoy heading home for the summer holiday from the North Waziristan ethnic Pashtun region on the Afghan border to the town of Bannu, 240 kilometres south-west of Islamabad.

    "The driver of one of the vehicles managed to escape and students reported to us that their colleagues have been kidnapped by Taliban," said Razaq Khan, a police official in Bakka Kheil village in North West Frontier Province. "The students reported that one Taliban carrying a hand grenade boarded each of the buses and took them away. We don't know where they have gone," he said. Bannu police chief Iqbal Marwat said up to 400 people in 28 vehicles were seized. Sixty-seven escaped, he said.

    Militant violence has grown in nuclear-armed Pakistan since mid-2007, with attacks on security forces, and on government and Western targets. The violence has alarmed the United States, which needs Pakistani action to help defeat Al Qaeda and get to grips with the Taliban insurgency in neighbouring Afghanistan. There are several Taliban and Al Qaeda-linked groups based in North Waziristan in a loose alliance with Taliban in Swat. The army has not launched an offensive in North Waziristan. Militants have captured many members of the Pakistani security forces in the past few years but the kidnapping of civilians is relatively rare. Mirza Mohammad Jihadi, an adviser to the prime minister on the tribal areas, said efforts were in progress to secure their release.

CUBA AGREES TO RESUME TALKS WITH THE UNITED STATES OVER IMMIGRATION

       WASHINGTON, D.C.--Cuba has agreed to resume talks with the Obama administration on legal immigration of Cubans to the United States and direct mail service between the two countries, a State Department official said Sunday. The communist government notified the U.S. on Saturday that it had accepted an administration overture made May 22 to restart the immigration talks, suspended by President George W. Bush after the last meeting in 2003. Cuba also expressed a willingness to cooperate with the U.S. on fighting terrorism and drug trafficking, and on hurricane disaster preparedness.

     The official, who spoke to reporters just before Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton left on a trip to El Salvador and Honduras, said the Cuban response was a positive development and "clear signal" that the administration and the Havana government are willing to engage.  The State Department said earlier this month it had proposed restarting the discussions to "reaffirm both sides' commitment to safe, legal and orderly migration, to review trends in illegal Cuban migration to the United States and to improve operational relations with Cuba on migration issues."

     The latest development comes ahead of Clinton's participation at a meeting Tuesday in Honduras where Cuba's possible readmission to the Organization of American States is expected to be discussed.  U.S. officials say they are ready to support lifting the resolution that suspended Cuba from the 34-country group. But they insist on linking the island's readmission to democratic reforms under a charter the organization adopted in 2001.  Before the U.S.-Cuban talks were suspended in 2003, the twice-yearly meetings in alternating countries had been the highest level contacts between the two countries, which have no diplomatic relations. Cuban officials were angered when the Bush administration decided to scuttle the talks on grounds they were not crucial for monitoring agreements aimed at preventing a mass exodus from the island.

ISRAEL BEGAN THE BIGGEST CIVIL DEFENSE DRILL IN ITS HISTORY

     JERUSALEM, ISRAEL--Israel began the biggest civil defense drill in its history on Sunday, putting soldiers, emergency crews and civilians through rehearsals for the possibility of war at a time of rising tensions with Iran. The five-day drill, code-named Turning Point III, will include simulated rocket and missile attacks on Israeli cities, including preparations for a nonconventional strike. Air-raid sirens are to sound across the country on Tuesday and for the first time, all Israeli civilians will be required to practice taking cover in shelters when the sirens go off. It's the third consecutive year that Israel is holding the exercise, a direct result of its inconclusive 2006 war against Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon.

     During the conflict, the Iranian-backed Hezbollah fired nearly 4,000 rockets into Israel, and civil defense authorities, bomb shelters and air raid alarms were found to be unprepared. Iran's development of long-range missiles, along with international concerns that Iran is developing nuclear weapons, have added to Israeli jitters. While the international community has been seeking a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear issue, Israel has not ruled out military action. sraeli leaders played down any connection between those tensions and this week's exercise, and officials have been at pains to allay fears among Arab neighbors, such as Lebanon and Syria, that it could be a cover for a military strike.

      Speaking at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the drill as "routine" and said it was not connected to any specific event or to any intelligence warning. "We are required to defend Israel, its cities, various installations, from the possibility of attacks by missiles, rockets or other weapons," he said. "I think the fact that Israel is preparing more from exercise to exercise and is capable of better protecting its citizens decreases the chance that we'll have to use these tools." During the exercise, police, fire and ambulance services, hospitals, military rescue units and local authorities will practice dealing with various attack scenarios, including by missiles carrying non-conventional warheads, the national emergency service said in a statement.

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE ROBERT GATES SAID THAT PRESIDENT OBAMA WILL NOT ALLOW NUCLEAR-ARMED NORTH KOREA

       MIAMI, FLORIDA--The United States warned it would not accept a nuclear-armed North Korea and reaffirmed Washington's commitment to protecting Asian allies from any attack by Pyongyang. US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, in Singapore for a high-level security forum, said the Stalinist state posed no immediate threat to the United States but that its behaviour could spark a regional arms race. "Our goal is complete and verifiable denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, and we will not accept North Korea as a nuclear state," Gates said. "North Korea's nuclear programme and actions constitute a threat to regional peace and security. We unequivocally reaffirm our commitment to the defence of our allies in the region," he added.

     Tensions have been running high since Kim Jong-Il's regime tested a nuclear bomb Monday for the second time and renounced the armistice that ended the Korean War in 1953. Speaking after North Korea fired another short-range missile Friday and amid reports Pyongyang is preparing for a long-range missile test, Gates said Washington "will not stand idly by as North Korea builds the capability to wreak destruction on any target in Asia -- or on us." The communist North has warned it could launch an attack on the South, which hosts US military forces, and vowed to respond strongly to any fresh sanctions imposed by the United Nations.

     North Korea's latest moves triggered alarm in Asia ahead of the annual meeting of defence ministers and military officials in Singapore known as the Shangri La Dialogue. "If they continue on the path they are on, I think the consequences for stability in the region are significant," Gates told the gathering. "I think it poses the potential for some kind of an arms race here in this region," he said, although he said the likelihood of Japanese moving to acquire nuclear capability was "at this point remote." Meanwhile, a top Chinese military official at the security forum appealed for calm over North Korea's moves. China, the United States and the two Koreas, along with Japan and Russia, made up the six-nation talks that agreed in 2007 to provide aid and security guarantees to North Korea in return for denuclearisation. Pyongyang stormed out of the accord last month in protest after the UN Security Council unanimously condemned its long-range missile launch.