Miami - The king and queen of Spain on Thursday celebrated the 450th anniversary of the first Spanish settlement in Pensacola, Florida, believed to be among the earliest European colonies in the United States.

In a speech in English from the balcony of the TT Wentworth Jr Florida State Museum, King Juan Carlos I said the settlement of Pensacola represented "an extraordinary example of Spain's valuable contribution" to the United States.

Queen Sofia and the king were cheered by an enthusiastic crowd of about 3,000 people.

Washington  - Iran has yet to convince the international community that it has no intention to build nuclear weapons, the United States said Thursday after the release by the UN's nuclear watchdog of a new report on Iran's activities.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna said that Iran had considerably slowed - but not halted - its uranium- enrichment programme and was still not cooperating fully with the agency.

"We view this report as another opportunity lost to resolve international concerns," US State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid said in a statement.

Bishkek, Moscow  - Kyrgyzstan's parliament approved on Thursday the closure of a US air base on its territory, which has been crucial for supplying US and NATO troops in Afghanistan.

The decision was overwhelmingly passed with 78 votes for and 1 vote against, Russian news agencies reported. It comes one day after US President Barack Obama ordered 17,000 more forces to Afghanistan to combat a growing Taliban insurgency.

Tel Aviv/New York - US Senator John Kerry, who narrowly lost the 2004 presidential election, entered the Gaza Strip Thursday in a rare visit by a US elected official.

Kerry, who was the centre-left Democratic Party's previous presidential nominee, met with Karen Abu Zaid, director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

Krakow, Poland  - The United States Thursday greeted Germany's pledge to expand its NATO military commitment in Afghanistan, saying it will help secure the country in the lead-up to presidential elections later this year.

Geoff Morrell, press secretary of the Pentagon, said he hoped Germany would serve as an example to other countries to motivate more troop commitments before elections in August.

Morrell was at the NATO alliance meeting in Krakow.

New York  - The UN General Assembly president took yet another shot on Thursday at some world powers for what he called disrespect of the United Nations Charter, while intergovernmental negotiations began on reforming the UN Security Council.

Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, a former Sandinista foreign minister in Nicaragua in the 1980s, has been picking on the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain - the so-called P5 veto-wielding permanent members of the 15-nation council - since he became leader of the 192-nation last September.