Allies to hold talks next week with Iran

London With U.S. support, three European nations will meet early next week with Iran in a fresh effort to curb its nuclear activities, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Tuesday.

He declined to predict the outcome at a joint news conference with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who blessed the diplomatic effort as “well-worth pursuing.”

If the talks fail, the United States and the allies have agreed to take their concerns to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s board in Vienna and probably then to the U.N. Security Council. In the Security Council, the United States is virtually certain to push for economic and political sanctions against Iran, but the outcome is uncertain.

Dozens are missing after ferry capsizes

Manikganj, Bangladesh A ferry capsized Tuesday in a river in central Bangladesh, and rescuers were searching for more than 100 people still missing while trying to find the sunken boat, police said.

The body of a child was pulled from the river, the only confirmed death from the ferry. The boat was carrying nearly 150 people when it capsized amid strong currents and gusty winds as it neared a terminal on the Jamuna River, 25 miles northwest of the capital, Dhaka.

At least 30 people swam ashore, police said. The water was about 40 feet deep. The accident came after another ferry sank in southern Bangladesh on Sunday with a wedding party aboard, killing at least 76 people. The bride and groom were among 26 people still missing.

Police station attacked after protester killed

Ogale, Nigeria Hundreds of youths stormed a police station and set fire to cars in southeastern Nigeria on Tuesday after a protester was fatally shot by a police rifle, officials said.

The youths began protesting Tuesday over demands that a local oil refinery and petrochemical plant employ more people from the area.

They set fire to part of a police station in the Niger delta village of Ogale and burned an SUV in its courtyard. One protester was killed when he tried to grab a rifle from a police officer and the gun accidentally went off, police said.

Police fired tear gas to disperse the other protesters, who were demonstrating outside the oil plants.

Discontent is high among people in the Niger delta over unemployment and continued poverty despite booming oil production in their area.

Human rights meeting in China gets canceled

Beijing China called off a global conference on human rights and democracy this week, apparently because it was too close to the June 4 anniversary of Beijing’s 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations, a participant said Tuesday. The three-day conference was to begin Thursday in Beijing, but speakers were told to “assume that it’s been canceled” pending official notice, a conference speaker said.

It would be the second time in six months that China has called off an international conference on a sensitive issue, after scrapping a meeting in December on labor standards with foreign union officials.

The government has reached out to foreign scholars on topics including political reform, but leaders keep a tight rein on political events. Sensitivities tend to be highest around June 4 and other major anniversaries.