BUSH HAS WORD FOR IRAN REGARDING NUCLEAR ACTIVITY

Bush has word for Iranregarding nuclear activity
KINGS POINT, N.Y. -- President Bush, above, gets a hug from Gabriel Whitney of Nashua, N.H., who just graduated from the Merchant Marine Academy here. Bush told Iran on Monday in his commencement speech at the academy that nations worldwide won't back down from their demand that Tehran suspend uranium enrichment. "Iran's leaders have a clear choice. We hope they will accept our offer and voluntarily suspend these activities so we can work out an agreement that will bring Iran real benefits," Bush said a day before leaving for Vienna, Austria, where he will talk with European Union officials who are leading efforts to resolve the nuclear dispute. Bush discussed Iran with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday during an 18-minute phone call Putin placed to Bush.
Rice warns North Koreaof missile consequences
WASHINGTON -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned North Korea on Monday it will face consequences if it test-fires a missile thought to be powerful enough to reach the West Coast of the United States. "It would be a very serious matter and, indeed, a provocative act should North Korea decide to launch that missile," Rice said amid indications that the North Koreans could launch an intercontinental ballistic missile at any moment. The senior U.S. diplomat said the United States would talk to other nations about action should the North go ahead, and "I can assure everyone that it would be taken with utmost seriousness." The United States, Japan, Australia, South Korea and other countries have urged North Korea to abandon any missile firing, but there was no sign of backing down.
Japan says it will pullits troops from Iraq
TOKYO -- Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi announced his plan today to withdraw troops from Iraq at a ruling party meeting, a party official said, moving to end Japan's largest military mission since World War II. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of party protocol, said Koizumi told a meeting of the Liberal Democratic Party that he would make a public announcement of the pullout later in the day. "We've finished this chapter," Kyodo News agency quoted Koizumi as telling party executives. Japan has about 600 troops in the city of Samawah in southern Iraq.
Heart association urgeslimit on trans fats
The American Heart Association has become the first big health group to urge a specific limit on trans fats in the diet -- less than 1 percent of total calories -- in new guidelines released Monday. Also for the first time, the organization's dietary guidelines include lifestyle recommendations, including an emphasis on getting exercise and not smoking. A panel of specialists in nutrition and heart disease reviewed more than 90 studies to update the dietary advice the association released in 2000. The guidelines are for healthy Americans ages 2 and older. Rather than slavishly counting calories and grams of fat, people should try something simpler: getting in the habit of cooking with healthier oils, and balancing calories consumed with calories burned through exercise, said Alice Lichtenstein, a Tufts University nutrition expert who chaired the guidelines panel. Trans fats, or trans fatty acids such as partially hydrogenated oils, are in many cookies, crackers, breads, cakes, French fries and other fried foods. They contribute to heart disease risk by raising LDL, or the bad cholesterol.
Associated Press