A U.S. military strike against it would be a "strategic blunder," a top Iranian official said yesterday, while brushing aside tough talk from the Bush administration as psychological warfare rather than a real threat.

Intelligence Minister Ali Yunesi called U.S. threats a bluff but warned that the United States would make a big mistake if it attacked Iran.

"The Americans are stupid, but not so much to make the same mistake which they made in Tabas," said Yunesi, referring to a failed U.S. military operation in 1980 to rescue hostages in Iran.

President Bush said last week his administration won't exclude the possibility of using military force against Iran over its nuclear program, which the United States believes is aimed at producing weapons. Iran, which is rich in oil and natural gas, has denied allegations of a secret nuclear-weapons program, saying its nuclear activities are for peaceful energy purposes.

Kiev, Ukraine

New president vows to clean up country

Before a vast crowd of supporters, newly inaugurated President Viktor Yushchenko promised yesterday to steer a new course for Ukraine: away from corruption and political cronyism and into the European Union.

"Ukraine will stand against all evil," Yushchenko told the crowd on Kiev's Independence Square, where weeks earlier demonstrators cried out that he'd been robbed of the presidency by fraud in a campaign laced with intrigue that even saw the pro-Western reformer poisoned by a huge dose of dioxin.

"We will create new jobs. Whoever wants to work will have the opportunity to work and get an appropriate salary," Yushchenko said. "We will fight corruption in Ukraine. Taxes will be enforced, business will be transparent ... we will become an honest nation."

London

Post-war cash feeds graft, report says 

The ravages of modern warfare are too often compounded by ill-conceived and expensive post-war reconstruction projects that fuel a "feeding frenzy" of corruption and profiteering, according to a U.N.-funded report.

The report, citing graft from Liberia and Bosnia-Herzegovina to Lebanon and Afghanistan, said the overwhelming international response after wars was to pump money into rebuilding programs without proper control. The report made no reference to Iraq.

"What is difficult enough to try to manage in times of peace becomes even more problematic in post-war situations where the sheer scale of works ... and the weakness of public oversight create opportunities for the corrupt of historic proportions," it said.

"This results in a 'feeding frenzy' and a free-for-all in which the interests of the victims of tragedy are frequently swept down the river," said the report, compiled by anti-corruption organization Tiri.

Vienna, Austria

U.S. snowboarder declared dead

A missing U.S. snowboarder was declared dead yesterday following weekend avalanches that claimed the lives of daredevils seeking the dangerous thrill of off-trail areas and virgin alpine snow.

Officials called off their search for the 31-year-old American, who was not identified, a day after the snowboarder was swept away by a huge avalanche in the western province of Tyrol. It was unclear whether authorities had managed to recover the victim's body.

The snow slide that killed the snowboarder also killed two Canadians, 40 and 57, at the popular resort of St. Anton.