The world in brief

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Is there any way the army will remove its

checkpoints for two hours? All of that is empty talk, politics, and we’ve gotten fed up with all of these decisions.”

Syrian activist Fadi al-Yassin,

dismissing a U.N. Security Council statement calling for daily two-hour cease-fires to allow for dialogue as impossible to implement Article, 7AU.S., Israel at odds on Iran timetable

JERUSALEM - Israel and the U.S. disagree on what would be a realistic timetable for stopping Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, Israel’s defense minister said Thursday, but he stopped short of threatening unilateral Israeli action.

Ehud Barak reiterated concerns that Iran is trying to make its suspected nuclear-weapons program immune from attack before taking a decision on assembling atomic bombs, and said Israel “cannot afford” to wait in such a situation.

However, Barak told Israel Radio that the Jewish state could hold off for several more months to allow sanctions and negotiations to work. During this period, it would become clear “if the Iranians intend or don’t intend to stop their nuclear-weapons program.”

In the interview, Barak argued that superior U.S. military capabilities and Washington’s position as a world power account for its different stance toward perceived Iranian nuclear threats. The U.S. has urged Israel to give sanctions time to work.

Cuba replaces oldest Cabinet official

HAVANA - Cuba replaced the oldest official in Raul Castro’s Cabinet on Thursday, an 88-year-old ex-general who helped mold the communist country’s new army and commanded defenses at the Bay of Pigs invasion.

Jose Ramon Fernandez, a longtime member of Communist Party’s ruling Central Committee, is out as vice president of the Council of Ministers, according to an official notice published by the party newspaper Granma.

Jose Miyar Barrueco, 79, is also leaving his post as minister of science, technology and environment.

Castro has publicly regretted that Cuba has failed to groom new leadership to take over from officials in their 70s and 80s who occupy many top posts in his government. Preparing the next generation is a priority for his five-year term, he says.

Granma said Fernandez is being named a special adviser to Castro in recognition of his service. His replacement is Higher Education Minister Miguel Diaz-Canel, 51, an electrical engineer.

5 more bodies found in wreck off Italy

GIGLIO, Italy - Search crews found five more bodies in the wreck of the Costa Concordia cruise ship, which struck a reef off an Italian island in January, officials said Thursday.

The discovery raises to 30 the number of bodies found.

Two people remain missing and are presumed dead.

The latest bodies were all found in spaces between the hull and the seabed off the Tuscan island of Giglio, according to the Italian Civil Protection agency, which is coordinating search operations. Since the Jan. 13 capsizing, the Concordia has been lying on its side, half submerged in water near Giglio’s port.

No details were given about the victims.

Australian on the run 7 years captured

SYDNEY - A police raid in an isolated stretch of the Australian outback early Thursday led to the capture of one of the country’s most wanted men, a murder suspect who had evaded arrest for nearly seven years by hiding out and living rough in some of the region’s most inhospitable land.

Malcolm John Naden, 38, wanted in the killings of two women and the sexual assault of an adolescent girl, had become somewhat a legend in the rural region where he was caught, about three hours northwest of Sydney.

An experienced survivalist, he had earned the respect of some for using low-tech methods to thwart a police task force armed with high-tech thermal imaging and helicopters.

But officers from Strike Force Durkin, the special police unit formed to capture him, credited old-fashioned detective work with his arrest. A tip came in Wednesday evening that Naden, who was said to burglarize farmhouses for nonperishable foods, beer and weapons, had returned to a house he had broken into before.

Naden, who was armed with a stolen semiautomatic rifle, attempted to flee, but the police surrounded the home and captured him without shots being fired.

Front Section, Pages 6 on 03/23/2012

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