World

When I think of actress Lupe Ontiveros, who passed away from liver cancer at 69 Thursday night, what stays with me most is her strength. Her women tended to be strong and resilient, no-nonsense types, whether they were running a theater company as she did in "Chuck & Buck," dealing with a rebellious daughter in "Real Women Have Curves," or picking up after some well-heeled white family, as she did in"The Goonies. "There was a "I have seen it all" quality that danced in her eyes, more bemused by the frailties of the human race than bitter about them.

SEOUL - The North Korean government Sunday suggested a high-level meeting with the United States "to ease the tension on the Korean peninsula," less than a week after its scheduled working-level talks with Seoul were called off. In what North Korea's National Defense Commission called an "important statement" on the state-run Korean Central Television, Pyongyang said that if the U.S. is "sincerely interested in keeping the peace and security in...

What would it take to get you into an electric car today? Forced by state regulators to sell more zero-emission vehicles, automakers are tripping over each other to offer consumers rock-bottom lease deals. For the first time, electric vehicles are penciling out cheaper than their gas-powered counterparts. Honda joined the price war this week by dropping the lease on its Fit EV from $389 to $259 a month. It threw in collision and vehicle theft coverage, maintenance, roadside assistance - even a charging station at your house.

BEIRUT - The surprising election of Hassan Rowhani, a moderate cleric, as Iran's president has prompted a wave of speculation about a crucial question: Will Iran's new leadership be more willing to compromise on its nuclear program? No one knows for sure, but some Iranians express hope that Rowhani has both the credentials and the personal relationships necessary to make headway on the issue, which has wreaked havoc with Iran's international relations and led to sanctions that have all but crippled the nation's economy.

WASHINGTON - The massive leaks about U.S. spying systems caused sharp political and legal aftershocks Tuesday as the Justice Department prepared to file criminal charges against Edward Snowden, a government contractor who has publicly admitted disclosing highly classified telephone and Internet data-gathering operations. The vast scope of the government surveillance sparked the first federal lawsuit challenging its legality, a bipartisan effort in the Senate to declassify secret court orders that authorize the operations, and requests from Google and Facebook for permission to disclose more about National Security Agency requests for users' emails and other online communications.

With his photogenic wife at his side and a willingness to make eye contact and engage in small talk, Xi Jinping looks more like an American politician than the gray suits who populate the upper ranks of Chinese politics. One of his first acts as head of the Chinese Communist Party last year was to ban long speeches, banquets and red carpets. But during his first months in power, Xi has proved himself more hard-line on a number of issues than his recent predecessors. He has tightened censorship in academia and the media, and spearheaded China's territorial assertions in the South China and East China seas.

CardHub.com , which compares and rates credit-card offers, has identified its favorite travel credit cards for 2013. Topping the list are the Capital One Venture Card , Blue Cash Preferred from American Express and the PenFed Platinum Rewards Card issued by the Pentagon Federal Credit Union. Credit cards make sense for travelers for many reasons, including getting free or low currency exchange rates when abroad, free rental-car insurance coverage and reward bonuses earned for dollars spent.

Your choices in San Francisco hotels are overwhelming. The prices can be too. So during our staff visit to the City by the Bay, we looked for reasonably priced hotels that had charm, location or both. We came back with 14 ideas on places to bed down. It's not a complete list, but it is eclectic, like the city itself. Mystic Hotel. This property, which opened in April, stands on a tunnel-adjacent block of Stockton Street that you'll never see on a picture postcard, yet it has style, as do the Burritt Tavern bar and restaurant downstairs.

WASHINGTON - Two years into a civil war that shows no signs of ending, the Obama administration is considering resettling refugees who have fled Syria, part of an international effort that could bring thousands of Syrians to American cities and towns. A resettlement plan under discussion in Washington and other capitals is aimed at relieving pressure on Middle Eastern countries straining to support 1.6 million refugees, as well as assisting hard-hit Syrian families. The State Department is "ready to consider the idea," an official from the department said, if the administration receives a formal request from the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, which is the usual procedure.

Until recently, very few people had ever heard of raspberry ketones, the aromatic compounds that give the berries their distinctive smell. Today, health food stores have trouble keeping the capsules or drops of the stuff on their shelves. Almost overnight, an obscure plant compound became the next big thing in weight loss - and all it took was a few words from Dr. Oz. In a February episode of "The Dr. Oz Show," Mehmet Oz told viewers that raspberry ketones were "the No. 1 miracle in a bottle to burn your fat. " Once Oz calls something a "miracle," it doesn't remain obscure for long.

WASHINGTON - On the surface, President Obama would seem to have a strong hand as he heads to the annual Group of 8 economic summit. Instead, the meetings Monday and Tuesday seem set to provide the first test of how much his administration's international agenda has been complicated by revelations of U.S. surveillance of telephone use and the Internet. The issues that dominated the last several economic summits have receded in advance of the meeting, which will be held at a gorgeous golf resort in Northern Ireland.

UCLA is in Omaha for the College World Series and, yes, the Bruins took bats with them to use. Maybe the Bruins' batters are not just in it for the ride. But do the math. Their .251 regular-season team batting average was the lowest among the 64 teams that made the NCAA tournament. The Bruins' 293 runs are the fewest among the eight teams that reached the College World Series. Their average of 4.8 runs per game is a full run behind the next lowest (Oregon State averages 5.8)

"Who … should I close with?" - Detroit Tigers Manager Jim Leyland, in the wake of Jose Valverde's third blown save within a month. "'I had him in fantasy once and he killed me so ... five games?' - how I assume someone from MLB decided on Hinske's suspension. " - Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Brandon McCarthy, on Twitter, after peace-loving teammate Eric Hinske was suspended five games for his role in the Dodgers-Diamondbacks brawl. "When you start talking about blowing it up, you're basically saying you're going to start from scratch.

ROME - Each day, Giacomo Di Giralomo makes a point of asking, "Where are you, Matteo?" on his talk radio show, which is broadcast across western Sicily. It's a question that the police are asking with greater urgency as they seek Matteo Messina Denaro, the Sicilian Mafia's last fugitive godfather, a fixture on Top 10 lists of the world's most wanted for allegedly killing about 50 people and going on the run 20 years ago. Known for his love of fast cars, women and designer clothes, Messina Denaro, 51, has returned to the spotlight with the opening of a trial in Palermo last month.

Last Sunday, a few days after news broke that the National Security Agency was running a massive electronic surveillance program, The Times published a letter from Arcadia resident David Strauss implying that the Facebook generation had this coming. "[My wife and I] do use snail mail and the telephone, but we have no need to show everyone what we had for breakfast," Strauss wrote. "Maybe a renewed sense of privacy among millennials would give the 'Patriot Actors' a lot less to do. " A handful of other readers whose letters weren't published expressed similar sentiments about Americans' expectations of privacy in the digital age. Here is a selection of those letters.

TEHRAN - The stunning landslide election of Hassan Rowhani as Iran's next president highlighted a deep frustration among many Iranians about the direction of their country, especially an economy marred by skyrocketing prices, stagnant salaries and dwindling job opportunities. In explaining their vote for Rowhani, many spoke of change. They alluded not to hot-button international issues such as Iran's contentious nuclear program or its die-hard support of Syrian President Bashar Assad, but to the slumping economy that has been especially unforgiving on the young, among whom the unemployment rate reportedly tops 40%. "People want a change in the economic situation," said Saman Hasani, 26, an engineering student who was among many people honking car horns on the streets of Tehran on Saturday evening after the Interior Ministry confirmed Rowhani's victory.

Michele and Russell Poland's credit was shot, but they managed to buy their suburban dream home anyway. After a business bankruptcy and a home foreclosure, they turned to a rare option in this era of tightfisted banking - a subprime loan. The Polands paid nearly $10,000 in upfront fees for the privilege of securing a mortgage at 10.9% interest. And they had to raid their retirement account for a 35% down payment. Most borrowers would balk at such stiff terms. But with prices rising, the Polands wanted to snag a four-bedroom home in Temecula near top-rated schools for their 5-year-old son. By later this year, they figure, they'll be able to refinance into a standard loan.

Security researchers Nick DePetrillo and Don Bailey have discovered a seven-digit numerical code that can unlock all kinds of secrets about you. It's your phone number. Using relatively simple techniques, this duo can use your cellphone number to figure out your name, where you live and work, where you travel and when you sleep. They could even listen to your voice messages and personal phone calls — if they wanted to. "It's really interesting to watch a phone number turn into a person's life," DePetrillo said.

WASHINGTON - Five years ago, when Americans had not yet made up their minds on their choice for president, Europe had. More than 200,000 people crowded the streets of Berlin - a favorite backdrop for U.S. politicians reaching for history - to hear then-candidate Barack Obama promise to turn the page on the unpopular policies of George W. Bush. "Germany meets the superstar," the news magazine Der Spiegel proclaimed on its cover. As he heads to Europe on Sunday for a visit that will culminate with a sequel to that Berlin speech three days later, Obama has been demoted to mere president.

One of the toughest jobs for a fantasy owner is deciding how long to stick with a struggling pitcher. Staff writer Tim Hubbard looks at four usually reliable starters whose problems on the mound are making life miserable for their owners. Cole Hamels Philadelphia Along with Roy Halladay, another of the Phillies' Big Three who has been uncharacteristically pedestrian in 2013. The left-hander went 0-6 in May and has a 5.32 ERA at home. On the plus side, he did strike out 11 Marlins last week … of course, they are the Marlins.