HONDURAS: The Organization of American States has voted unanimously to suspend
Honduras for failing to reinstate President Manuel Zelaya who was
ousted by the military nearly a week ago. OAS delegations met late into the night in Washington Saturday before
taking the vote. It is the first time the OAS has suspended a member
since Cuba was excluded from the group in 1962.
Mr. Zelaya spoke to the gathering, which included Argentine President
Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo.
Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, is expected in Washington Sunday.
IRAN: A group of leading Iranian clerics has criticized the results of the country's disputed presidential election.
In a statement released Sunday, clerics from the Association of
Researchers and Teachers of Qom said Iran's official electoral
watchdog, the Guardian Council, failed to adequately investigate claims
of vote rigging by the opposition. The pro-reform group questioned whether the Council's validation is
enough to legitimize the vote. Last week, the 12-member Council upheld
the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi has criticized the
outcome. In a 24-page report posted to his Web site Saturday, Mr.
Mousavi accuses supporters of Mr. Ahmadinejad of handing out cash to
voters in the run-up to the June 12 vote.
US-OBAMA: U.S. President Barack Obama leaves Washington late Sunday for a summit in Moscow with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev.
The two leaders will meet Monday and are expected to sign a declaration
setting up the framework for the renewal of the Strategic Arms
Reduction Treaty, which expires in December. They are also set to sign a deal allowing the United States to
transport military supplies across Russian territory by air to U.S.-led
forces in Afghanistan. Previously, Moscow allowed the United States to
transport only non-lethal supplies by rail. The two countries have been at odds over last year's war between Russia
and Georgia, and U.S. plans to install missile defense facilities in
the Czech Republic and Poland.
THAILAND POL: Thai police say they have summoned dozens of "Yellow Shirt" protest
leaders to face charges over last year's blockade of Bangkok's two
airports. Police said Saturday that they issued summonses to leading members of
the People's Alliance for Democracy, including Foreign Minister Kasit
Piromya, a former member of the party. Kasit is charged over the siege of the main Suvarnabhumi international
airport in November and December, which left hundreds of thousands of
travelers stranded and caused major economic damage. Kasit says he is innocent, and is ready to face the charges.
Others are charged either in relation to the same siege, the blockade
of Bangkok's domestic Don Mueang airport - which took place at the same
time - or both.
PHILIPPINES BLAST: Officials in the southern Philippines say a bomb exploded outside a
Roman Catholic church Sunday, killing five people and wounding at least
32 others. Police said the bomb exploded in Cotabato city during an early morning Mass at the Immaculate Conception cathedral.
There has been no claim of responsibility for the attack, but army
spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Ponce blamed separatist Moro
Islamic Liberation Front rebels for the blast. Rogue members of the MILF have been fighting the army since last
August, when the government ended peace talks with the MILF after a
deal to expand an existing Muslim autonomous region on the southern
island of Mindanao was rejected by the Supreme Court.
