World/nation briefs

20-year ban planned on canyon miningThe Obama administration announced that it intends to place a 20-year ban on mining 1 million acres of land bordering the Grand Canyon, an area where uranium mining claims have spiked in the last seven years. The ban would strengthen a moratorium on new mining claims and activity, which the administration placed on Grand Canyon border lands two years ago in response to the jump in uranium stakes. Interior Department officials said the agency initially would extend the current moratorium an additional six months in order to complete the steps necessary to establish the 20-year ban.

Rep.Weiner makes resignation officialRep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y, has submitted his letter of resignation, addressing it to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York Secretary of State Cesar Perales. U.S. House Speaker John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi were copied. The letter is expected to be entered into the record on the House floor Tuesday. Cuomo's office has not said when the governor will call for a special election.

Airbus racks up orders at Paris Air ShowAirbus and Boeing signed more than $25 billion in orders to kick off the Paris Air Show. The haul from the first day of the show was an improvement from recent years despite a challenging economic environment for the industry. Airbus topped the totals, signing orders and commitments for 142 aircraft worth $15 billion at list prices, the company said. Rival Boeing countered with more than $11 billion worth of orders and commitments for 56 of its jets, including an order by Qatar Airways for six of its 777 jets in a $1.7 billion deal.

Rare U.S. missile attacks kill 12Suspected U.S. drones fired missiles at a vehicle and a house in northwest Pakistan, killing 12 people in a rare attack in an area where some of NATO's fiercest enemies have reportedly traveled, Pakistani officials said. Seven of the 12 people killed in the attacks in the Kurram tribal area were Afghan militants whose bodies were taken across the border to be buried, said Noor Alam, a local government official.

Journalist is slain along with familyA newspaper columnist known for writing about corruption and drug violence was slain -- along with his wife and son -- by gunmen who broke into the family home as they slept. Miguel Angel Lopez Velasco, a top editor for the newspaper Notiver, was shot to death in the port city of Veracruz, becoming one of nearly 70 Mexican journalists slain since 2000. He often skewered politicians, police or criminals, whoever he thought deserving of criticism, colleagues said. He was the second journalist killed this year in Veracruz.

European ministers delay loan paymentEuropean finance officials put off a decision on handing debt-laden Greece its next installment of emergency loans, increasing the pressure on Athens to enact new austerity measures and fueling market fears of a national default. Investors had hoped officials would approve the payout of about $17 billion in rescue loans to Greece. But after several hours of talks, finance ministers from the 17 countries that use the euro said they would release the funds only if Greek lawmakers approve a controversial program of tax hikes and spending cuts to slash the country's mammoth budget deficit.

Oil tycoon to serve second sentenceMikhail Khodorkovsky, the former Russian oil tycoon and felon who already served an eight-year prison sentence in Siberia, was sentenced this month to serve his second term in a penal colony in a region bordering Finland. Khodorkovsky left Moscow on June 10 and has been kept incommunicado since.