UN sanctions against Iran OK’d

UN sanctions against Iran OK’d

UNITED NATIONS

The U.S. and its allies scored a long-sought victory Wednesday by pushing through new U.N. sanctions over Iran’s nuclear program, punishments Tehran dismissed as “annoying flies, like a used tissue.”

The sanctions target Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard, ballistic missiles and nuclear-related investments. Oil exports, the lifeblood of Iran’s economy, are not affected because targeting them would have cost the U.S. essential support from Russia and China.

President Barack Obama said the sanctions are the toughest Iran has ever faced. They required several months of difficult negotiations by the five veto- wielding permanent U.N. Security Council members — the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France — and nonmember Germany. This is the fourth round of sanctions aimed at getting Iran into serious discussions on its nuclear ambitions.

Polygamist’s charges dismissed in Ariz.

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz

A Mohave County judge on Wednesday dismissed all Arizona charges against polygamist leader Warren Jeffs.

Judge Steven Conn granted a prosecutor’s motion to dismiss the four charges of sexual misconduct with a minor with prejudice, meaning they cannot be refiled on the same set of facts.

Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith said the two alleged victims in the cases no longer want to proceed with prosecution in Arizona.

Israel lifts ban on some foods for Gaza

jerusalem

Israel took a first step Wednesday to temper the uproar caused by its deadly high-seas raid on a blockade-busting flotilla by allowing in potato chips, cookies, spices and other previously banned food items into the Gaza Strip.

But the things Gazans need most — cement, steel and other materials to rebuild their war-ravaged territory — are still mostly banned, and critics denounced the move as insignificant. President Barack Obama called for a new approach on the blockade.

Instead of easing international criticism of Israel after the May 31 raid that killed nine pro-Palestinian activists, Wednesday’s decision appeared to focus even more attention on its 3-year-old blockade of impoverished Gaza and the seemingly arbitrary decision-making about which goods are allowed in.

Delta explains kids’ flight mix-up

MINNEAPOLIS

Delta Air Lines blamed a paperwork mix-up for sending two children to the wrong cities as they flew under the airline’s unaccompanied-minors program.

Delta said the children were connecting through Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on Tuesday when they were put on the wrong connecting flights because of a “paperwork swap.”

Delta spokesman Paul Skrbec on Wednesday said a boy ended up in Cleveland instead of Boston, and a girl was sent to Boston instead of Cleveland. He would not release information about the children, citing passenger privacy.

Police: Man had 7 kids with daughter

RIO DE JANEIRO

A man in a remote fishing village in Brazil kept his daughter imprisoned for 12 years, raped her repeatedly and had seven children with her, police said Wednesday.

The man also is accused of abusing a young girl he had with his daughter.

Police allege that Jose Agostinho Pereira, 54, kept his daughter, now 28, under virtual house arrest in a two-room, thatched-roof hut near a tiny fishing village in northeastern Brazil.

Associated Press