Iran blames the West for inciting mass protests
Iran has accused Europe and the United States of fomenting mass protests in a bid to force a new election.
Iranian state TV reported on Wednesday that Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said the government is studying whether to downgrade ties with Britain. This comes after the two countries expelled 2 of each other's diplomats earlier this week.
The media also quote Interior Minister Sadeq Mahsouli as saying Britain, the US and Israel are behind the recent unrest in Tehran.
Meanwhile, security authorities disclosed they have arrested several foreigners on charges of spreading propaganda that undermines Iran's state interest.
Supporters of defeated candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi staged a protest in Tehran on Wednesday.
Witnesses say riot police forcibly contained the demonstrators with tear gas.
As Iranian authorities have barred journalists from reporting on the unrest, the size of the rally, as well as whether anyone was injured, remains unknown.
Reformists had been planning to stage a rally on Thursday to mourn those killed in the clashes, but canceled following the severe crackdown.
Russia adopts resolution on disputed islands
The Russian parliament has denounced the passage of a revised bill by the Japanese Lower House on Japan's sovereignty over disputed islands.
In a statement adopted on Wednesday, Russia's lower house, the State Duma, criticized the move as showing Japan's rejection of any concessions on the territorial issue.
It said Japan should withdraw the revision if it hopes to create an environment conducive to resolving the territorial issue.
Earlier this month, Japan's Lower House passed revisions to a bill on efforts to resolve the territorial issue involving Russian-held 4 islands off Hokkaido in northern Japan.
The revisions stipulate that the islands of Habomai, Shikotan, Kunashiri and Etorofu are Japanese territories.
The territorial issue is expected to be high on the agenda when Japanese and Russian leaders meet in Italy next month.
US renews sanctions against North Korea
The United States has renewed sanctions against North Korea for one year, saying the nation's nuclear program poses a threat to US national security.
President Barack Obama notified Congress on Wednesday of his decision to renew the sanctions.
The existing measures expire on Friday.
Under the sanctions, assets held by the authorities and people of North Korea are frozen, and US citizens are prohibited from owning or operating North Korean-flagged vessels.
Obama said the current presence and risk of proliferation of weapons-usable nuclear material on the Korean Peninsula continues to be a threat to US national security.
The US also has other sanctions in place against North Korea on the grounds that the country has conducted nuclear tests and test-launched ballistic missiles.
S.Korea sells aid materials for N.Korea at auction
The South Korean government has put up for auction aid materials it had planned to send to North Korea.
South Korea, under a 2007 agreement at the six-party talks on the North's nuclear program, promised to provide the North with aid in return for the country's disabling of its nuclear facilities. South Korea planned to send to North Korea 3,000 tons of structural steel.
But South Korea says it decided to auction off the steel saying it's not proper to send such aid to the North now because of the country's nuclear test last month and the high storage costs of the materials.
South Korea has yet to provide to North Korea about a quarter of the 200,000 tons of fuel oil it had promised.
The United States, China and Russia have already provided their shares of the economic aid, while Japan has been refusing to give any until progress is made on the issue of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea.
North Korea watchers say South Korea's latest move could invite a fierce reaction from the North.
North Korea has threatened to withdraw from the six-party talks on its nuclear program.
France urges Israel to freeze settlement activity
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to immediately freeze all of its settlement activities in the occupied territories.
The two leaders held their first summit talks on Wednesday at the presidential palace in Paris.
In the talks, Sarkozy praised the prime minister's conditional endorsement of a separate Palestinian state, made for the first time earlier this month.
He called the move an important step that would allow the co-existence of two separate states.
Sarkozy called for an immediate total freeze of settlement activity to regain trust of the Palestinians.
最終更新：2009年06月26日 08:15
