Iran: Protest

TEHRAN — Iran has protested to an Oxford University college over a scholarship in memory of the slain Iranian student who became an icon of mass street protests sparked by the disputed June election.

In Tehran, a small group of hard-line women demonstrated Wednesday against the scholarship in front of the British Embassy. The women chanted "Death to Britain," the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

Oxford's Queen's College established the Neda Agha Soltan Graduate Scholarship in Philosophy earlier this year, named for the 27-year-old student fatally shot on June 20 on the sidelines of a Tehran demonstration. Her dying moments were caught on a video viewed by millions on the Internet, and she became a potent symbol of the opposition's struggle.

Ireland: Released

DUBLIN — A 79-year-old Irish Catholic priest abducted in the Philippines a month ago has been freed unharmed and neither country paid any of the kidnappers' $2 million ransom demand, Irish and Filipino authorities announced late Wednesday.

Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said the Rev. Michael Sinnott "displayed great forbearance ... in spite of his age and difficult health."

"He is clearly a man of great resilience, strength and courage and we wish him well as he seeks to recover from such a trying ordeal," said Irish President Mary McAleese, who called Sinnott's freedom the answer to the shared prayers of millions in both countries.

Six armed men abducted Sinnott Oct. 11 from his missionary home on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, escaped by speedboat, and took him into the jungle.

Honduras: No deal

TEGUCIGALPA — A senior U.S. diplomat expressed hope Wednesday that the opposing factions in coup-torn Honduras would resolve the crisis before upcoming elections even as he left the country without a deal.

"We're advancing the dialogue and we think it's important to continue the conversations," Craig Kelly, deputy assistant secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere, said shortly before leaving the Central American country. "There is still a lot of work to be done along the way ... but I believe it is important for both sides to keep talking."

Kelly, who arrived Tuesday, gave no details on his meetings with ousted President Manuel Zelaya and interim leader Roberto Micheletti, who are at odds over the implementation of a U.S.-brokered pact for resolving the impasse by installing a unity government.

France: Mideast