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World in brief
Compiled from Times wires U.S. wants 4 Cubans outThe Bush administration has ordered the expulsion of two Cuban diplomats from Washington and has moved to expel two others at the United Nations for what U.S. officials described Wednesday as serious espionage activities against the United States. State Department officials called the action against the two envoys in Washington retaliation for the case of Ana Montes, a senior Pentagon intelligence analyst who pleaded guilty earlier this year to spying for Fidel Castro's government. "Even in normal times we don't accept this kind of activity, and these are not normal times," said Otto Reich, assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs. "Cuba is very active in their espionage activities and propaganda activities, and we decided that this was an appropriate response to the Montes case." A State Department spokesman, Charles Barclay, described the move to expel the two Cuban diplomats from the United Nations as a "separate action" based on a pattern of unofficial activities "deemed harmful to the United States." Greek appeals court clears 14 plane spottersKALAMATA, Greece -- An appeals court overturned espionage-related convictions Wednesday for British and Dutch plane spotters whose case pitted military security rules against the hobby of watching aircraft. "They did not believe they were doing anything wrong and we accept their good faith," said the head judge, Giorgos Efstathiou, after two days of testimony. The three-judge panel ruled unanimously to clear the group. The defendants broke into cheers when the ruling was read. The group was arrested after attending an air show near Kalamata, about 150 miles from Athens. They had earlier observed aircraft at five other Greek military sites and visited an airplane scrap yard and war museum. Plane spotting is popular in some European countries but virtually unknown in Greece, which has a tradition of strict military security. Iran reformers pass bill on candidate selectionTEHRAN, Iran -- Iran's reformist-dominated Parliament approved a bill Wednesday that prevents hard-line groups from arbitrarily disqualifying candidates in general elections. The 290-seat legislature overwhelmingly voted to bar the hard-line Guardian Council from disqualifying candidates without "firm documented reasons," lawmaker Mohsen Torkashvand said. The bill itself has to be approved by the Guardian Council to become law. Council member Gholamhussein Elham said the bill will be rejected and sent to the Expediency Council -- another conservative body that arbitrates between Parliament and the Guardian Council- for a final decision. Putin voices sadness over raid's high death tollMOSCOW -- Meeting with survivors of last month's hostage crisis, President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that his government had no doubts about the need to storm the Moscow theater but acknowledged the death toll was high. At least 120 hostages died -- 118 of them from the opiate-based gas Russia used to incapacitate the attackers, who had threatened to blow up the building if Russia did not end its war in Chechnya. The other two were shot by the gunmen. "We had never faced a situation of such complexity before, yet no one had any doubt for even a second that the operation was necessary," Putin said during a meeting with cast members of the musical Nord-Ost, who were among some 800 people seized when Chechen rebels burst in on the performance. "We have come out of this situation at the price of a terrible tragedy, heavy, irreparable losses," Putin said. Pakistan's military delays Parliament openingISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Pakistan's military government on Wednesday postponed the opening session of the newly elected Parliament, pushing it back by a week. The opening session had been set for Friday. The government of President Pervez Musharraf said the delay was in response to requests by some political parties and for logistical reasons, the state-run news agency reported. Opposition leaders, however, said the delay was intended to give a pro-Musharraf party a better chance to form a coalition government. No party won a majority in Oct. 10 elections. An Islamic alliance said it has reached an agreement with pro-democracy parties to form a majority coalition, and they have put forward a hard-line Islamic cleric as their choice for prime minister. The decision to push back the session followed a request by a pro-Musharraf party.
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From the Times wire desk
From the AP |
