The world in brief

LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY “Some people are trying very hard to

extend the Syrian conflict.Today there is this incident.This is no man’s land between Syria and Israel. Somebody is trying very hard to blow this crisis up.” Vitaly Churkin, Russia’s U.N. ambassador, as U.N. peacekeepers were held by Syrian insurgents in the Golan region Article, 1AU.S. envoy: Iran deceptive on nukes

VIENNA - A senior U.S. envoy accused Iran of “deception, defiance and delay” Wednesday in dealing with international concerns about its nuclear activities, reflecting frustration over Tehran’s expanding uranium-enrichment program and stalled U.N. attempts to determine whether Tehran has worked secretly on atomic arms.

Joseph Macmanus, the chief U.S. delegate to the International Atomic Energy Agency, also said the U.S. might push for tougher diplomatic action in the coming months.

While not going into details, his comments indicated that America might lobby the agency’s board to ask for a special inspection of Parchin, a facility that the agency suspects was used to test explosive triggers for a nuclear weapon, or that the United States would seek an agency resolution critical of Tehran.

International criticism of Iran has been relatively muted since last week’s nuclear talks in which Tehran showed interest in proposals made by the United States and five other world powers.

Election ruling adds to Egypt unrest

TRIPOLI, Libya - Egypt slipped further into political disarray Wednesday when a judge suspended coming parliamentary elections and referred the country’s much-criticized electoral law to the nation’s highest court.

An administrative judge struck down a decree by Islamist President Mohammed Morsi to hold staggered elections for a lower house of parliament scheduled to begin April 22. The court, citing concerns over the recently amended electoral charter, asked the Supreme Constitutional Court to review the law.

The ruling appeared likely to delay the elections and highlighted the struggle between Morsi and the largely secular opposition. The opposition has vowed to boycott the poll amid accusations that the electoral law favors Islamists. It also said elections should not be held while Egypt is gripped by deadly protests and deepening political rancor.

Ballet soloist admits acid-attack role

MOSCOW - Bolshoi ballet soloist Pavel Dmitrichenko confessed to organizing the acid attack that damaged the face and eyes of the Russian theater’s artistic director, Sergei Filin.

Dmitrichenko admitted to masterminding the Jan. 17 assault outside the director’s apartment building, Moscow police said on the police website Wednesday, adding in a separate statement that he was motivated by “personal animosity.” Two other men confessed to being the driver and the assailant, and all three remain in custody after being detained Tuesday.

“I organized this attack, but not in the way it was carried out,” Dmitrichenko said in a short video recording aired on state television channel Rossiya 24.

Dmitrichenko, 29, has been with the theater since 2002 and last starred as Ivan the Terrible in Sergei Prokofiev’s work of the same name.

Cardinals sever contact with media

VATICAN CITY - The College of Cardinals that will elect the next pope cut off formal communications with the news media Wednesday after the cardinals’ private deliberations emerged in the Italian press, raising the specter of a leaking scandal that cast a pall over the last year in office of Pope Benedict XVI.

“Concern was expressed in the General Congregation about leaks of confidential proceedings reported in Italian newspapers,” said Sister Mary Ann Walsh, director of media relations for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, who has organized news conferences with American cardinals in recent days. “As a precaution, the cardinals have agreed not to do interviews.”

The decision, communicated only an hour before a scheduled news conference with American cardinals Wednesday afternoon, marked a quick end to a brief period of openness on the part of the American cardinals, who had said they hoped to keep reporters as informed as possible without breaking vows of secrecy.

The Vatican declined to specify who in the college expressed opposition to the news briefings, saying only that as the cardinals prepare for the conclave that will elect the next pontiff, “they realize the importance of keeping things among themselves,” said the Rev. Tom Rosica, a Vatican spokesman.