World in brief: Ahmadinejad invites delegates

TEHRAN, Iran – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday invited representatives from a group of six world powers, including the United States, to Tehran, but he said negotiations over his country’s right to a nuclear program would be off the table.

“We will never negotiate on the Iranian nation’s obvious rights,” he said, adding that Iran would not halt its uranium enrichment efforts. Ahmadinejad said Iran had prepared a proposal for breaking the deadlock on its nuclear program.

The statement came as the head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog announced that his agency was locked in a “stalemate” with Iran.

Woman jailed for wearing pants

KHARTOUM, Sudan – A Sudanese woman was convicted Monday of public indecency for wearing pants at an outdoor cafe and jailed for one month when she refused to pay a fine.

Lubna Hussein, a journalist and former United Nations staffer based in Khartoum, could have received 40 lashes with a plastic whip under Sudan’s criminal code, which is based largely on Islamic Shariah law.

Instead, a judge ordered Hussein – who stood before the court in the same pair of pants she wore when arrested – to pay a $200 fine. Hussein said she would refuse to pay, and she was taken to a women’s prison to serve a one-month sentence.

“If I paid, it would mean I’d lost the battle,” Hussein said. “I would rather serve my time in jail.”