PERSIAN GULF

E.U. OFFERS COMPROMISE TO IRAN ON NUCLEAR PROGRAM

VIENNA, Austria – The European Union offered a slight compromise yesterday in its drive to refer Iran to the U.N. Security Council, telling Russia, China, and other Iranian allies it was prepared only to delay the initiative and not give it up. Backed by America, the Europeans said that if referral opponents did not accept the offer, the European Union would push for an immediate vote on Security Council action, diplomats at a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency said.

The Europeans and Americans believed they could win a vote at the IAEA. But both China and Russia hold veto power on the Security Council and could block any action there against Iran – including possible sanctions – over its suspect nuclear program, so a delay would give the E.U. time to seek wider support.

– Associated Press

EAST ASIA

AMERICAN ENVOY WANTS TO VISIT N. KOREA FOR FURTHER TALKS

SEOUL, South Korea – The chief American envoy to North Korean disarmament talks wants to visit the communist country for further discussions after Pyongyang agreed in a landmark accord this week to abandon its nuclear program, a South Korean official said yesterday.

South Korea’s unification minister, Chung Dong-young, said he relayed a message to the North about the American envoy Christopher Hill’s interest in visiting. He said he delivered the request during last week’s inter-Korean Cabinet-level talks in Pyongyang. However, in Washington, a State Department spokesman, Sean McCormack, said the only travel plan Mr. Hill has is to return to Beijing for the next round of talks in November.

– Associated Press

CENTRAL ASIA

LOW TURNOUT REPORTED IN AFGHANISTAN AS BALLOTS COUNTED

KABUL, Afghanistan – Reports from nearly all polling centers across Afghanistan indicate about 6.6 million voters cast ballots, which would put national turnout at about 53%, the chief electoral officer of the U.N.-Afghan body that organized the polls, Peter Erben, said. But he estimated turnout in Kabul and the surrounding province was just 36%. Workers began counting ballots Tuesday, and Mr. Erben said officials hoped to have complete provisional results by October 4.

– Associated Press

SOUTH ASIA

COORDINATED ATTACKS KILL SIX IN PAKISTAN

LAHORE, Pakistan – Two bombs exploded about 90 minutes apart yesterday in this eastern Pakistan city. Information Minister Sheik Rashid Ahmed condemned the blasts, which he said were carried out by “enemies of Pakistan.” There was no immediate claim of responsibility, and security officials said they were investigating. The first bomb was planted under the seat of a bicycle and exploded near a crowded park, killing one person and injuring nine, three seriously, police said. About 90 minutes later, a second bomb went off outside a jewelry shop in a commercial district, killing five and wounding 17, police said.

– Associated Press

WESTERN EUROPE

VATICAN TO BAR HOMOSEXUALS FROM PRIESTHOOD

ROME – The Roman Catholic Church is preparing to bar homosexuals from becoming priests even if they are celibate in what could prove to be a defining act of Benedict XVI’s papacy. An “instruction” spelling out the policy has been drafted by the Congregation for Catholic Education and Seminaries. Vatican officials say it is expected to be published within weeks. Gay Catholic groups in America fear that the document could make homosexuals a scapegoat for the child abuse scandals that hit the Catholic Church in America in 2002. The publication of the document will coincide with an evaluation that starts this month by Church investigators into America’s 229 seminaries.

– The Daily Telegraph

NEW REMBRANDTS IDENTIFIED

AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands – When Sotheby’s sent the mysterious “Study of Woman With White Cap” to an expert on the Dutch master two years ago for comments on its technique, neither knew who had painted it. But the way the hat was painted and a discrepancy between the 17th-century headdress and the subject’s fur coat – later found to be a 19th-century addition – aroused the suspicions of the expert, Professor Ernst van de Wetering. His detective work has also resulted in the official identification of three other works by the artist, now on loan to Amsterdam’s Rembrandt Huis Museum. These are “Study of Old Man With Beard” and “Study of Old Man in Profile,” both part of the private collection of the Americans Isabel and Alfred Bader, and “Study of a Weeping Woman” from the Detroit Institute of Arts.

– The Daily Telegraph