MIDDLE EAST

HAMAS LEADER SAYS GROUP SEARCHING FOR NEW DONORS

RAMALLAH, West Bank – A senior Hamas official said yesterday the Islamic terrorist group is already looking for new sources of funding after the international community threatened to cut off aid, warning that Hamas will not be “blackmailed.” A member of the group’s exiled leadership, Osama Hamdan, spoke a day after international donors said millions of dollars in aid could be in jeopardy if Hamas does not change its violent ways.

– Associated Press

EASTERN EUROPE

PUTIN WARNS AGAINST FOREIGN MEDDLING

MOSCOW – President Putin had sharp words for his critics and stark reminders of Russia’s nuclear might at an annual news conference yesterday in which he sought to burnish his image. Playing to a crowd of about 1,000 journalists in a nearly 3 1/2-hour session, Mr. Putin gave an upbeat assessment of his six years in office and a defiant warning against foreign meddling in Russia’s affairs. Mr. Putin said gross domestic product grew by 6.3% in 2005, with real incomes also rising. He also said one of the greatest political achievements in 2005 was bringing Chechnya into the “constitutional fold” with November parliamentary elections.

– Associated Press

WESTERN EUROPE

ENVOYS VOW TO MAINTAIN SUPPORT FOR AFGHANISTAN

LONDON – Envoys from nearly 70 countries and international bodies vowed yesterday to maintain their financial support for Afghanistan. Speaking at the start of the two-day meeting, Secretary of State Rice said the Bush administration planned to ask Congress for $1.1 billion in aid for Afghanistan next year. Britain announced $800 million in new aid over the next three years.

– Associated Press

OPEC SAYS IRAN WON’T HAMPER PRODUCTION

VIENNA, Austria – The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed yesterday to hold crude production steady, and its president said Iran had pledged not to withhold any oil because of its standoff with the West over its nuclear program.

– Associated Press

SOUTH AMERICA

CHILE GETS ITS FIRST U.S. F-16 WARPLANES

SANTIAGO, Chile – Chile received two American warplanes yesterday out of 10 it had ordered from America. Chile ordered the F-16s in 2002 after America ended a 20-year ban on the sale of high-tech weaponry to Latin America. The F-16s are not equipped with advanced air-to-air missiles in keeping with an American policy against introducing new military technology to a region. Despite fears from some of Chile’s already weaker neighbors, President Lagos insisted that Chile is not altering the region’s military balance.

– Associated Press

EAST ASIA

N. KOREA RENEWS COMMITMENT TO NUCLEAR TALKS

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea yesterday renewed its commitment to stalled nuclear disarmament talks, while at the same time vowing to strengthen its stockpile of atomic weapons to counter what it called extreme American hostility. North Korea “is sticking to its stand to seek ways of overcoming difficulties lying in the way of the six-party talks and of achieving progress in the talks,” the North’s official Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in a commentary carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency.

– Associated Press

SOUTHEAST ASIA

TROOPS KILL AT LEAST 18 REBELS

SANTA IGNACIA, Philippines – Philippine troops, backed by rocket-firing helicopters, killed at least 18 communist rebels in a northern town yesterday. In a separate battle, Philippine marines fought a group of Al Qaeda-linked rebels on Jolo island, killing one Abu Sayyaf militant in a security sweep ahead of joint exercises between American and Philippine troops next month, the military said.

– Associated Press