…and Iran calls on Russia and the US to (accept) its nuclear deal. I'm Frances Alonzo reporting from Washington. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the world needs to (respond) to the sinking of a South Korean warship that has been blamed on North Korea. "The international, independent investigation was objective, the evidence overwhelming, the (conclusion) inescapable. This was an unacceptable provocation by North Korea, and the international community has a responsibility and a duty to respond." Clinton made the remarks Wednesday in Seoul where she held brief talks with South Korea's President Lee Myung-bak and the country's foreign minister. Secretary Clinton's comments come as North Korea has begun to freeze ties with the South, denying responsibility for the attack on the vessel and is accusing the South of launching a smear (campaign) against it. VOA correspondent Steve Herman has details. Pyongyang has expelled eight South Korean government officials from a joint factory park in the North, and it is (threatening) to block what little cross-border traffic exists. The Unification Ministry in Seoul says hundreds of South Korean managers and other workers from the South were allowed to enter the industrial complex in the west coast Kaesong border city Wednesday. But ministry (spokesman) Chun Hae Sung tells reporters Pyongyang halted contacts between the Red Cross delegations in the truce village Panmunjom, and the North Korean Navy contacted the South to inform it that all marine communications between the two Korea's are now cut. Steve Herman, VOA News, Seoul. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on Russia and the United States to accept a nuclear fuel swap deal. He also warned that it may be the last chance to (resolve) the nuclear standoff. During a televised speech on Wednesday, Mr. Ahmadinejad said the swap is a great opportunity for US President Barack Obama. Energy giant BP is planning a risky maneuver it hopes will stop the gushing flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico from a leaking offshore well. This is BP's CEO Tony Hayward. "The next step of our plan is to move to a containment (device) that will be sealed on the top of the blowout preventer that is on the seabed, and it would be deployed within a three- or four-day time window if the ‘top kill’ is not successful." Company officials have put the chances of success at 60 to 70 percent for this maneuver, because the well is located 1,500 meters (beneath) the surface. US space shuttle Atlantis has returned to earth at the end of its final mission. The space shuttle and its crew of astronauts landed safely Wednesday morning at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The (mission) was the last scheduled trip to space for Atlantis which NASA has used for 25 years. Ethiopian opposition leader Hailu Shawel, leader of the All Ethiopians Unity Party, has rejected the results of Sunday's parliamentary election, and is calling for a new vote. Meanwhile, Ethiopia's government says the election was free, fair and (democratic). But the United States and the European Union says the election appeared to fall short of international standards. In Burundi, opposition parties are demanding a re-run of Monday's local elections, saying they were tainted by (massive) fraud. The parties protested after provisional results from Burundi's electoral commission showed the ruling party winning most of the 129 constituencies. Lawyers for ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra are appealing to Thailand's criminal court to (withdraw) an arrest warrant issued for Mr. Thaksin on terrorism charges linked to recent protests by his supporters. The government has accused the former prime minister of being the mastermind behind the deadly anti-government protests by the Red Shirts. Football's world governing body, FIFA, has announced that the last group of at least 150,000 World Cup tickets will go on sale on Friday. At a handover (ceremony) of the completed Greenpoint Stadium Wednesday, FIFA's secretary general said the tickets were from the governing body's allocation and includes all games, including the previously sold-out final on July 11. Meanwhile, a new report says industrial world's economy is recovering faster than expected. You can get more details at voanews.com. I'm Frances Alonzo, VOA News.9