The world in brief

— QUOTE OF THE DAY “This signals the erosion of the regime’s

capacity to use all its forces, the idea of

sending planes is no longer an option, neither against an internal or an external enemy.”

Retired Lebanese Gen. Elias Hanna,

an expert on Syria military capabilities, on the

defection of a Syrian air force officer who landed his warplane in Jordan Article, this page

Mexico captures drug kingpin’s son

MEXICO CITY - Mexican marines detained one of the sons of Mexico’s most-wanted drug kingpin, Joaquin Guzman Loera, leader of the powerful Sinaloa cartel, the navy said Thursday.

Marines detained Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar in the western state of Jalisco thanks to intelligence work, the navy said in a brief statement. It didn’t say when the 26-year-old Guzman Salazar was caught or offer any other details.

A senior U.S. law enforcement official in Mexico who spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons said that U.S. officials believe the younger man “oversaw many of the drug transportation and money laundering operations ... [and] operated from Jalisco, Colima and Sinaloa” states.

An official with Mexico’s attorney general’s office said Guzman Salazar was purportedly involved in drug trafficking and money laundering in western Mexico. He said Mexican authorities expect the United States will request Guzman Salazar’s extradition.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to discuss an investigation in progress.

Ecuador asylum ruling slow to come

LONDON - Julian Assange spent a third day inside Ecuador’s London embassy Thursday as hopes appeared to recede of an imminent end to a legal and diplomatic standoff sparked by the WikiLeaks founder’s request for political asylum.

Ecuador’s deputy foreign minister, Marco Albuja, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. late Wednesday that President Rafael Correa would make a decision within the day.

But WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson said “it could take hours, it could take days” before a decision was made.

Speaking after visiting Assange on Thursday, he said Ecuador had asked for information from Britain, Sweden and the United States and would study it before making a decision.

Ecuador’s London embassy confirmed a decision was expected from Ecuador’s capital, Quito, but spokesman Priscilla Kohn said it was unclear whether it would come Thursday.

Karzai appeals for help in graft fight

KABUL - Afghanistan’s president appealed Thursday to Afghan lawmakers and to his international allies to do more to help him stamp out the corruption that pervades the country’s government, and pledged personally to stop “deals” that undercut changes.

President Hamid Karzai has repeatedly promised to clean up corruption in his administration without much result. In his address to a special session of the parliament that comes weeks before an international donor conference, he said he would make a new push.

“You should cooperate with me on these reforms. You have accused me of making deals. Yes, I have done so, but I had reasons. And now I am changing this. I am bringing reform from the inside,” Karzai told the lawmakers.

It was unclear what he had meant by “deals,” although the president is frequently accused of letting allies keep powerful posts despite allegations that surround them.

Highly placed government officials have been investigated but seldom prosecuted.

Militant gets 20 years in Bali bombings

JAKARTA, Indonesia - An Indonesian court Thursday sentenced a militant to 20 years in prison for his role in several terrorist acts, including the twin nightclub bombings on the resort island of Bali in 2002 that killed 202 people, mostly foreigners.

The militant, Umar Patek, known by the alias Little Umar, stared at his hands during the 12-hour proceeding.

He is believed to be a leading member of the al-Qaidalinked Jemaah Islamiyah, a radical splinter group blamed for a series of deadly terrorist attacks in Indonesia, including the blasts on Bali. Among the dead in two nightclubs were 88 Australians and seven Americans.

Front Section, Pages 6 on 06/22/2012

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