No agreement on sanctions

No agreement on sanctions

NEW YORK — Diplomats from six key powers focused on possible new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program at a meeting Saturday but reached no agreement.

Robert Cooper, the European Union’s political director who chaired the meeting, said the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany concluded “that Iran has failed to follow up” on an agreement in principle in October that Tehran exchange uranium for nuclear fuel.

He said the six nations remain committed to a “dual track” approach to Iran to try to defuse global fears over its nuclear program — diplomatic and political engagement on the one hand and possible new sanctions if Tehran refuses to rein in its nuclear ambitions.

Deserter who fled to Canada is released early

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — A U.S. soldier who fled to Canada to avoid being deployed to Iraq has been released from a military prison after serving his sentence for desertion.

The Toronto-based War Resisters Support Campaign says Cliff Cornell was released Saturday from the prison at Camp Lejeune, N.C. He had pleaded guilty to desertion and was sentenced to a year in prison in April 2009, but was released early.

The solider from Mountain Home, Ark., went to Canada in January 2005, a month before his unit was scheduled to deploy to Iraq.

Cornell said he feared for his own life and couldn’t stomach the thought of killing. He returned to the U.S. when Canada denied him asylum as a war objector.

Pope prepares for visit to Rome synagogue

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI, on the eve of his controversy- generating visit to a Rome synagogue, said Saturday that the end of Nazi tyranny in his German homeland made him happy and allowed him to resume studies for the priesthood.

His visit to Rome’s main synagogue scheduled for today has divided Jewish groups because of Benedict’s praise of wartime pontiff Pius XII.

Some Jewish leaders were angered by Benedict’s recent move to advance Pius down the path toward possible sainthood. Critics contend that Pius didn’t speak out enough to save Jews during the Holocaust, but the Vatican insists that he used quiet diplomacy to save lives.

One person dies when packed boat overturns

SAN DIEGO — One person died and five others were injured Saturday when a small boat packed with suspected illegal immigrants overturned off the San Diego coast, authorities said.

As many as 23 people were believed to be on the 30-foot boat when it made a crash landing around 4:30 a.m. in the surf at Torrey Pines State Park, said Maurice Luque, a spokesman for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.

Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman Jackie Dizdul said one person died on the way to a hospital. Five more people were hospitalized, and at least one person was in critical condition.

First lady turns 46

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has treated first lady Michelle Obama to a surprise birthday party at a tony Washington restaurant known for its commitment to organically grown food.

Surprising the birthday girl Saturday night at Restaurant Nora in Washington’s Dupont Circle neighborhood were her mother, Marian Robinson, and friends, including Attorney General Eric Holder, White House Adviser Valerie Jarrett and Jocelyn Frye, who is a domestic-policy adviser to both the president and first lady.

Michelle Obama turns 46 today, but her husband is expected to be in Massachusetts campaigning for Martha Coakley, who is in a tough fight with Scott Brown to replace the late Sen. Edward Kennedy and retain the Democratic party’s 60-vote majority in the U.S. Senate.

France moves to ban Afghan-style burqas

LYON, France — France, which regards itself as the cradle of human rights, is moving to impose legal restrictions on Muslim women who wear Afghan-style burqas or other full-face veils.

The restrictions, likely to apply to many public places, come in response to resentment in France and other European countries over the growing visibility of Muslims — immigrants or locally born — on a continent with ancient Christian roots. The tensions have long run through European societies but increasingly are coming to the surface as the number of Muslims grows and symbols of their faith, including mosques, are seen as a challenge to European traditions.

Combined dispatches