In brief: Zelaya says talks have led nowhere

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya said late Thursday that his first talks with the interim government that kicked him out of the country in June were a failure.

An official with the administration of interim President Roberto Micheletti took “an extremely hard” stand when the two met Wednesday night, Zelaya told TV Channel 36.

Zelaya told Channel 36 that the government’s positions are “totally outside of any possibility of agreement.”

Zelaya also again insisted that any agreement with the interim government must include his reinstatement as president.

Zelaya also met Thursday with the four leading candidates competing in the presidential election this fall and said that he plans to meet with business and social leaders this week.

Shark sanctuary planned in Palau

The tiny Pacific nation of Palau is creating the world’s first shark sanctuary, a biological hotspot to protect great hammerheads, leopard sharks, oceanic whitetip sharks and more than 130 other species fighting extinction in the Pacific Ocean.

But with one boat to patrol 240,000 square miles of Palau’s newly protected waters, enforcement could be difficult.

Palau’s president acknowledges the difficulty of patrolling ocean waters nearly the size of Texas or France with a single boat. But he hopes others will respect Palauan territorial waters – and that the shark haven inspires more such conservation efforts globally.

Shark fishing has grown rapidly since the mid-1980s, driven by a rising demand – mainly in China – for shark fin soup, a highly prized symbol of wealth.

Because of their long life spans and low fertility rates, sharks are vulnerable to overfishing.