Havana, June 20 (RHC)  The Rio+20 UN Sustainable Development Conference opened its high level session with an inaugural speech by UN Secretary General Bank Ki-moon, followed by some of the over 120 heads of state and government taking part in the forum. Cuba is being represented by its President Raul Castro.

Damascus, June 20 (RHC)-- Terrorist groups in Syria are holding hundreds of civilians hostage in the city of Homs, located some 162 kilometers north of the capital, Damascus.

Caracas, June 20 (RHC) -- President Hugo Chavez announced the launch of the Mission Full Life for Venezuela on Wednesday, which is aimed at combating crime and ensuring public safety.

Rio de Janeiro, June 20 (RHC) -- Cuban President Raul Castro is heading the island’s delegation attending the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, (Rio+20), which got underway on Wednesday morning in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

La Paz, June 20 (RHC) -- Bolivian Senate passed the bill on Mother Earth, which will be presented by the Andean country’s president, Evo Morales, at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development underway in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro.

Quito, June 20 (RHC) — The editor in chief of the Ecuadorian daily El Telégrafo, Orlando Perez, described as ‘politically worrying’ funds provided by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to opposition groups in the member states of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our Americas (ALBA).

Caracas, June 20 (RHC) -- Venezuela's National Assembly approved a bill that will strengthen economic relations among member countries of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA).

Tehran, June 20 (RHC)-- Iran has denounced the deployment of U.S. troops in Kuwait, calling attention to a U.S. Congressional report that documents many U.S. troops withdrawing from Iraq and re-deployed in Kuwait.  According to reports from Washington, the U.S. is planning a significant military presence of up to 13,500 troops in Kuwait.

Tehran, June 20 (RHC)-- Iran has announced that it will soon launch production of an anti-armor weapons system.  Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi said that the new weapons system, dubbed Dehlaviyeh, is being manufactured by the defense ministry's aerospace industries department, but would not provide further information.

Cairo, June 20 (RHC)-- Egyptians are awaiting the final results of Sunday's presidential elections, in which it is widely believed that the candidate of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Morsi, will come out the winner.

Khost, June 20 (RHC)-- At least 18 people, including two police officers, were killed on Wednesday by a suicide bomber who attacked a U.S. and Afghan military convoy in provincial capital of Khost.

London, June 20 (RHC)-- WikiLeaks’ founder Julian Assange has taken refuge in Ecuador’s embassy in London and has asked for political asylum.  Assange made the move Tuesday in a last-ditch bid to avoid extradition to Sweden over sex crime accusations.

Ramallah, June 20 (RHC)-- Violence has erupted along Israel’s border area with the Gaza Strip and neighboring Egypt, leaving scores dead.  At least six Palestinians, including two teenagers, have been killed in a number of Israeli airstrikes over the past two days.

Los Cabos, June 20 (RHC-Xinhua) -- The seventh Leaders' Summit of the Group of Twenty, or G20, ended in Los Cabos, Mexico, Tuesday afternoon, with leaders agreeing on the need to control the European crisis and generate global growth.

Los Cabos, June 20 (RHC) — The Mexican social organizations and delegations from more tan 30 countries participating in the Peoples’ Summit rejected the G-20 Summit and the prevailing neo-liberal policies in today’s world.