Talks with Iran would exclude U.S.
European diplomats are considering a meeting with Iran on the sidelines of the upcoming U.N. General Assembly meeting in hopes of de-escalating the standoff over Tehran’s nuclear program – but the United States won’t be getting an invitation.
The Bush administration, which is pushing for U.N. sanctions against Iran, has said it will join European-led negotiations with Iran only if it stops its uranium enrichment work first.
That has led European negotiators to work on having a meeting – without America – in which Iran could say it is temporarily suspending enrichment activities because new negotiations had indeed begun. A U.S. official confirmed that European diplomats were contemplating the meeting.
Nassau, Bahamas
Smith hires expert for autopsy on son
A pathologist who consulted in the death investigations of Elvis Presley and JonBenet Ramsey said Saturday Anna Nicole Smith had hired him to perform a repeat autopsy on her son.
Daniel Wayne Smith, 20, died Sept. 10 in a hospital room where the reality TV star and former Playboy model was recuperating from giving birth three days earlier. Investigators have said they did not find evidence of drugs in the room or obvious signs of a crime.
The Bahamas coroner’s office, which labeled the death “suspicious” because the cause was unclear, performed an autopsy Tuesday and ordered further analysis.
Cyril Wecht, a forensic pathologist from Pittsburgh famous for his expertise on celebrity death investigations, told the Associated Press by phone that he had been hired to examine the remains of Daniel Smith.
Mexico City
Mexican drug lord extradited to U.S.
Mexico extradited drug kingpin Francisco Rafael Arellano Felix to the United States on Saturday, making him the first major Mexican drug lord to be sent north to face drug charges.
The extradition was a victory for U.S. officials who have been pushing Mexico to send them more drug lords.
The former head of the Arellano Felix drug clan was handed over in the Texas border town of Matamoros after serving a 10-year sentence in Mexico. He will be taken to California to face trial on charges stemming from a 1980 case in which he allegedly sold cocaine to an undercover police officer in the United States.