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U.S. bans its arms sales to Venezuela

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is banning arms sales from the United States to Venezuela, America's fifth-largest foreign source for oil, because of what it says is a lack of support by President Hugo Chavez's government for counterterror activities.

Military sales to Venezuela are relatively small, comprising mainly spare parts for warplanes. The U.S. action signaled Monday further deterioration in U.S. relations with Venezuela. Still, Chavez shrugged it off and said he did not plan to retaliate.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Monday the United States was worried about Venezuela's close relations with Iran and Cuba, both of which are on the department's list of state sponsors of terror. He said the United States is also concerned about Venezuela's ties with leftist guerrilla groups in Colombia.

EU floats incentives on Iran's nuclear program

BRUSSELS - The European Union will support an Iranian nuclear program that cannot be put to military use and will boost political and economic cooperation if Tehran accepts international oversight, a top official said Monday.

EU foreign ministers meeting Monday considered a package of enhanced incentives to induce Tehran to stop uranium enrichment, which many experts see as a first step toward producing nuclear weapons.

Tehran has repeatedly asserted that its nuclear program, which includes uranium enrichment, is aimed only at generating power. But the United States, Israel and the EU fear it is a cover for the development of nuclear weapons.

"We are prepared to work on a cooperation package and support Iran's development of a proliferation-proof civilian nuclear program," Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, said after the meeting.

She said the EU's new plan would contain three elements - economic assistance, political cooperation, and support for the civilian nuclear program.

The foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels came just a day after hard-line Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rejected any incentive package that would require Tehran to stop enriching uranium.

After Monday's talks in Brussels, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said Iran had to put a "complete stop" to uranium enrichment activities.

"But ... if they want to construct a nuclear energy power plant, they would have, in cooperation with the European Union and other members of the international community, the best and most sophisticated technology," he said. "If they reject that, it would mean that what they want is something different."

Elsewhere ...

Sudan: The African Union agreed Monday to transfer its peacekeeping force in Sudan's Darfur region to the United Nations by the end of September. But Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam Akol appeared to backtrack Monday on earlier indications from the Khartoum government that it would allow a U.N. force after a peace treaty with rebels was agreed. At least 180,000 people have been killed and some 2-million displaced by Darfur's three-year civil war.

Vietnam: Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, 72, said today that he has asked to retire and he has nominated Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung as his successor.

Northern Ireland: Catholics and Protestants revived Northern Ireland's Legislature after a break of more than three years on Monday.

[Last modified May 16, 2006, 06:59:34]