Russian experts working by night removed a large quantity of highly enriched uranium from a Soviet-era reactor in Germany on Monday and flew it to Russia for processing.Anti-nuclear protesters forced a convoy carrying the material to stop briefly despite efforts to keep the route secret and a heavy police presence. Some 326 kg (717 lb) of enriched uranium, enough for several bombs, was heading to a processing center in Podolsk, Russia from the former Rossendorf research reactor near Dresden, where the material was stored, U.S. and German officials said. Moscow's atomic energy agency Rosatom said in a statement on its website that the shipment had arrived in Russia. Roughly two-thirds of the uranium is highly enriched. In Russia it will be mixed with low-grade uranium to make reactor fuel that no longer represents a proliferation risk. ...
http://abcnews.go.com
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Editor - 10:24:00 12-18-06
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 Powell Questions Troop Increase in Iraq |
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell is casting doubt on a plan under consideration by President Bush that would increase troops in Iraq, calling the U.S. Army overextended and ``about broken.'' The incoming Senate majority leader, however, offered qualified support for a troop surge, saying it would be acceptable for a few months as part of a broader strategy to bring combat forces home by 2008. ``If the commanders on the ground said this is just for a short period of time, we'll go along with that,'' said Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., citing a time frame such as two months to three months. But a period of 18 months to 24 months would be too long, he said. Other Democrats, though, voice opposition to a troop increase in Iraq. ...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6288697,00.html
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Editor - 09:59:00 12-18-06
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| Bush signs civilian nuclear deal with India |
Bush today signed a civilian nuclear deal with India, allowing fuel and know-how to be shipped to the world's largest democracy even though it has not submitted to full international inspections. The bill carves out an exemption in U.S. law to allow civilian nuclear trade with India in exchange for Indian safeguards and inspections at its 14 civilian nuclear plants. Eight military plants, however, would remain off-limits. "This is an important achievement for the whole world. After 30 years outside the system, India will now operate its civilian nuclear energy program under internationally accepted guidelines, and the world is going to be safer as a result," Mr. Bush said in a bill-signing ceremony at the White House. Critics have said the measure undermines efforts to curb the spread of nuclear weapons and technology and could spark a nuclear arms race in Asia by boosting India's atomic arsenal. India still refuses to sign the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty...
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20061218-010619-2599r.htm
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Editor - 09:56:00 12-18-06
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| Nagasaki bombing labelled a crime |
One of Japan's most senior politicians has said the US atomic bombing of Nagasaki in 1945 was impermissible from a humanitarian point of view. Shoichi Nakagawa, the policy chief of the governing party, said that the use of atomic weapons was a crime. Mr Nakagawa has attracted controversy recently, calling for a debate on whether Japan should have nuclear arms. He raised the possibility that North Koreans might try to attack Japan with their own nuclear weapons. Speaking in Nagasaki over the weekend, Mr Nakagawa - a right-winger - said that atomic bombings were a crime. The American decision to drop the atomic bomb was truly impermissible on humanitarian grounds, he said. He repeated the comments on Monday, telling Reuters news agency: "By dropping two atomic bombs, many people, including ordinary citizens, were killed... I believe that such an act can be called a crime." ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6189489.stm
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Editor - 09:52:00 12-18-06
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| Bush accused of gagging critic of Iran policy |
The White House yesterday faced fresh accusations of tailoring intelligence to suit its political viewpoint from a former CIA analyst barred from publishing a critical newspaper commentary on American policy towards Iran.Flynt Leverett, a former Middle East analyst at the CIA and the National Security Council who has criticised the Bush administration for going to war with Iraq and for its handling of Iran, accuses the White House of pressing the CIA to demand sweeping cuts to an opinion piece he wrote for the New York Times on Washington's policy towards Tehran. Mr Leverett, who now works at the New America Foundation, a thinktank in Washington, is the latest in a series of analysts and agents to accuse the CIA publication review board of stifling criticism of the administration or the intelligence-gathering operations in the run-up to the war in Iraq. However, Mr Leverett goes a step further in accusing the White House of putting pressure on the CIA to prevent ...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1974216,00.html
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Editor - 09:13:00 12-18-06
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| Cuban Migrants Won't Attempt Trip Again |
Cuban migrants sent back to the island this year after reaching an abandoned bridge in the Florida Keys said Monday they would not risk their lives again like the other half of their group, which took a second sea voyage to the United States last week. Noel Reyes, one of the eight remaining ``bridge'' migrants in Cuba, said he was thrilled the others arrived safely but would wait to leave the island legally. ``I already risked my life once, why should I go and commit madness again?'' he asked. The group has been waiting several months for permission to leave by the Cuban government. They received U.S. visas to emigrate after a federal judge ruled against the original Department of Homeland Security decision that sent the group back to Cuba. ...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6288682,00.html
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Editor - 09:09:00 12-18-06
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