Tehran – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday the American people are eager for different opinions about the world and that he wants to provide them with “correct and clear information,” state media reported.
The Iranian leader left Sunday for New York to address the U.N. General Assembly and speak to students and teachers in a forum at Columbia University.
Tensions are high between Washington and Tehran over U.S. accusations that Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons and helping Shiite militias in Iraq that target U.S. troops. Iran denies those claims.
Ahmadinejad said his visit will give Americans a chance to hear a different voice, the official IRNA news agency reported.
“The United States is a big and important country with a population of 300 million. Due to certain issues, the American people in the past years have been denied correct and clear information about global developments and are eager to hear different opinions,” Ahmadinejad was quoted by IRNA as saying.
DETROIT
UAW sets 11 a.m. strike deadline today
The United Auto Workers set a deadline of 11 a.m. EDT today to strike General Motors Corp. if a new contract isn’t reached, even as the two sides bargained into late Sunday night, according to a posting on the website of UAW Local 160 in Warren, Mich.
GM said Sunday night it is working with the union to resolve issues.
“The contract talks involve complex, difficult issues that affect the job security of our U.S. workforce and the long- term viability of the company,” said the statement, which was posted on a GM website.
CHICAGO
Jackson asks Bush to act on Jena 6 case
The Rev. Jesse Jackson on Sunday called on President Bush and the U.S. Department of Justice to intervene in the racially charged Jena Six case, accusing authorities in Louisiana of treating six black teenagers more harshly than a white classmate they were accused of beating.
Jackson described the prosecution of the teenagers as the latest struggle within the decades-old civil-rights movement, saying, “Jena is not just Jena; there is a Jena everywhere,” during a news conference at Third Baptist Church on Chicago’s South Side.
Jackson said he called the White House on Sunday and left a message.
REDWOOD CITY, Calif.
Dad finds teen dead in acid at factory
An 18-year-old fell into a vat of sulfuric acid and died after apparently being overcome by fumes, police said. His body was discovered by his father Sunday at a circuit-board factory where they both worked.
The San Mateo County coroner’s office identified the victim as Fernando Jimenez Gonzalez of Redwood City. Gonzalez had been submerging circuit boards in the vat at Coastal Circuits, Redwood City police said.
Gonzalez’s father went to the factory when his son did not come home from his shift and discovered the body.
Police were investigating.
LOS ANGELES
Flesh-eating zombies devour top film spot
“Resident Evil: Extinction,” with Milla Jovovich again fighting flesh-hungry zombies, opened as the No. 1 weekend flick with $24 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Lionsgate’s “Good Luck Chuck,” with Jessica Alba and Dane Cook in a romantic comedy about a man jinxed at finding true love, debuted in second place with $14 million despite an almost universal thrashing by critics.
UNITED NATIONS
Rice hopes Arabs attend Bush meeting
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday that key Arab nations, including Syria, would be invited to President Bush’s planned Mideast peace conference this fall.
Formal invitations haven’t been issued yet, but Rice said it “would be natural” for Syria, Saudi Arabia and 10 other Arab League members looking at a broad peace deal with Israel to participate despite their hostility to the Jewish state.
She said their attendance would have to reflect acceptance of international efforts to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and support for the ultimate goal of a two-state solution and a comprehensive regional peace agreement.
BERLIN
Germans drop try to extradite CIA agents
German authorities confirmed Sunday they have dropped their efforts to seek the extradition of 13 CIA operatives charged in the kidnapping of a German citizen in the Balkans four years ago.
German Justice Ministry officials said they would not formally press the U.S. government to hand over the agents after U.S. officials made clear in recent weeks that they would not cooperate.
Prosecutors said the agents were wanted on suspicion of kidnapping and inflicting bodily harm on Khaled el-Masri, a German citizen of Lebanese descent. El-Masri has said he was detained by Macedonian police Dec. 31, 2003, handed over to the CIA and taken to a secret CIA prison, where he was abused and then released.
