World Briefs

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama picked a Republican congressmen to be the next secretary of the Army Tuesday, bringing another member of the opposition into his administration's fold.

Rep. John McHugh will make sure the country's troops can handle the new kinds of combat in the 21st century, including nonconventional warfare, the president said.

SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras – In a new overture to Iran, the Obama administration has authorized U.S. embassies around the world to invite Iranian officials to Independence Day parties they host on or around July 4th.

A State Department cable sent to all US embassies and consulates late last week said that US diplomats could ask their Iranian counterparts to attend the festivities, which generally feature speeches about American values, fireworks, and, of course, hot dogs and hamburgers.

BEIJING – Ahead of the 20th anniversary of the bloody crackdown on Tiananmen Square this week, Chinese authorities have rounded up dissidents and shipped them out of town. Now, they've even shut down Twitter.

Along with their usual methods of muzzling dissent, the authorities extended their efforts Tuesday to silence social networking sites that might foster discussion of any commemoration of the events of June 3-4, 1989.

SRINAGAR, India – Over 40 people were hurt Tuesday after Indian police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse Kashmiris protesting against the alleged rape and murder of two Muslim women, police and witnesses said.

The violent protests came as Indian authorities Tuesday deployed thousands of police to prevent more demonstrations.

Police said they were probing the deaths of the 17-year-old woman and her 22-year-old sister-in-law, whose bodies were found in a shallow stream Saturday.

Their families have accused security forces of abducting, raping and killing the women.

Jerusalem – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and senior members of his cabinet have pushed back hard against a renewed US demand to end settlement activity in the occupied Palestinian territories, saying it amounted to "expulsion."

But 53 Israeli parliamentarians are exploring another kind of expulsion: Under a proposal to be reviewed this week, Jordan would become the official homeland for Palestinians now living in the West Bank. Among the challenges facing the proposal is this: nobody asked Jordan if it would support such a plan. Not surprisingly, it doesn't.