IRAN: Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi says he is being pressured to withdraw his election challenge. In a statement posted on his official Web site Thursday, the defeated presidential candidate also said his access to supporters has been highly restricted. Mr. Mousavi, who lost to incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has alleged massive fraud in the June 12 vote. But Iran's supreme leader and the Guardian Council say the election will not be reversed.
US - IRAN: The Obama administration has withdrawn invitations to Iranian diplomats
to celebrate U.S. Independence Day at American embassies.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says the invitations to the July 4
celebrations were rescinded due to Iran's violent response to
post-election protests.
On Wednesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton directed U.S.
diplomats and State Department employees overseas to withdraw her
earlier invitations to Iranian diplomats.
NOKOR: North Korean state media have condemned the U.S. pledge to provide
nuclear defense to South Korea, saying the move bolsters Pyongyang's
reasons for having atomic bombs.
A report in Thursday's Rodong Sinmun newspaper warns that the United
States and South Korea are risking what it called a potential "fire
shower" of nuclear retaliation.
The report says that a new war could break out at any time. It also
says Pyongyang would never give up its nuclear deterrent as long as the
U.S. continued what it called its hostile policy.
CHINA - DISSIDENT: The United States is criticizing the arrest of Chinese dissident Liu
Xiaobo for alleged activities aimed at subverting the country's
socialist system.
Richard Buangan, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, says
Washington is "deeply disturbed" over reports of Liu's arrest. He
called on Beijing to release Liu, and respect the rights of Chinese
"who peacefully express their desire for internationally recognized
freedoms."
The Chinese government immediately rejected calls for Liu's release on
Thursday.
IRAQ: Iraqi officials say an explosion tore through a bus station in Baghdad Thursday, killing two people and wounding at least 26 others. It is the latest violence to hit Iraq just days before U.S. forces withdraw from urban areas. The blast in the south of the capital follows Wednesday's bombing that killed 72 people at a market in Baghdad's mostly Shi'ite district of Sadr City. Officials say the attacker hid the bomb under a cart of vegetables loaded on a motorcycle. More than 160 people were wounded in the blast.
NIGERIA - RUSSIA: Nigerian militants say they have attacked a Shell oil pipeline in the
Niger Delta one day after Russia and Nigeria signed a major oil and gas
deal.
Nigeria's most prominent rebel group, the Movement for the Emancipation
of the Niger Delta (MEND), told reporters it attacked the Bille-Krakama
pipeline, operated by Royal Dutch Shell. MEND says it is fighting for a
better distribution of oil wealth in the
Niger Delta, but the government and oil companies have called the group
criminals.
US - KYRGYZSTAN: Kyrgyzstan's parliament has approved a deal to let the United States
keep open a key air base, four months after it voted to evict U.S.
troops from the base.
Seventy-five members of the 90-seat parliament voted in favor of the
agreement Thursday, with none voting against it. The deal allows U.S.
forces to continue using the (central Asian nation's) Manas air base for operations in Afghanistan.
The U.S. and Kyrgyzstan reached an agreement this week, and a Kyrgyz parliamentary committee approved the deal on Tuesday.
THAILAND - CHINA: Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is on a four-day visit to
China aimed at boosting trade, investment and tourism between the two
countries.
Mr. Abhisit met Wednesday with his Chinese counterpart, Wen Jiabao, at
Beijing's Great Hall of the People in the Chinese capital, Beijing.
The Thai News Agency said the two leaders witnessed the signing of a
bilateral agreement on trade and economic cooperation, as well as a
customs protocol for Thai fruit exports to China.
Listen to our World News for details.
