W O R L D

US steps up spying over Iran’s nuclear plants
Washington, December 3
Alarmed over security of weapons-grade plutonium in Iran's secretive Bushehr nuclear plant, the US has significantly stepped up spying operations over the Persian Gulf country.

Strong warning to Assad over chemical arms: Clinton

UK, France may recall envoys to Israel
Jerusalem, December 3
In an unprecedented move, Britain and France are mulling the option of recalling their envoys from Israel in protest against its decision to expand settlements, a media report here said.

A Bedouin camp in the E1 area, between Jerusalem and the Israeli West Bank settlement of Maale Adumim, on Monday. — AFP

Japan orders tunnel inspections after death toll rises to nine
Tokyo, December 3
Japan ordered emergency inspections of highway tunnels across the country after one collapsed on Sunday killing nine persons. Two persons were also injured when a 110-m-long section of the tunnel's concrete ceiling panels collapsed onto cars on Sunday along the Chuo Expressway in Yamanashi prefecture, near Tokyo.

Ambulance and construction vehicles parked outside the Sasago tunnel in the city of Otsuki. — AFP

Saeed flays Hina over action against him in 26/11 case
Islamabad, December 3
Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Mohammad Saeed has criticised Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar for promising to take action against him if India provides evidence, saying the Pakistan Government had been unable to resolve outstanding issues like the Kashmir issue. Hina Rabbani Khar

Egypt’s judges begin strike as press plans blackout
Cairo, December 3
Egypt's top judges today began their indefinite strike to protest "psychological and physical pressures" by Islamist supporters of President Mohamed Mursi, as nearly a dozen newspapers announced they will not bring out their editions tomorrow in support of the Opposition.

US steps up spying over Iran’s nuclear plants

Washington, December 3
Alarmed over security of weapons-grade plutonium in Iran's secretive Bushehr nuclear plant, the US has significantly stepped up spying operations over the Persian Gulf country.

The Americans are increasing the surveillance of Iran's southwestern coast by deploying Pentagon's fleet of drones operating over the Persian Gulf and the electronic eye in the sky has intercepted visual images and audio communication from the reactor complex, The Wall Street Journal reported.

US drones are intercepting cell phones, electronic communications and other signals from the reactor, the paper said quoting American intelligence sources.

Surveillance at Bushehr was stepped up, especially after two fuel rods from the plant were removed in October, just two months from the time it became operational, officials said.

Nuclear experts, however, at the moment are more concerned over the safety of the plant than about possibility of Iran using it to develop nuclear weapons. Tehran has been complaining that the US was spying on Bushehr and had at times even sent fighter jets to pursue the unmanned craft, firing at them but missing.

Tehran formally protested the Pentagon's spying activities in a November 19 letter to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. The complaint charged that the US has violated Iranian airspace with its drone flights. But US officials maintain that surveillance is conducted off the country's shoreline, in line with international law.

The 1000-megawatt Bushehr reactor is viewed by the US as a lesser proliferation and security threat than growing number of uranium richment facilities in Iran. Both the reactor and the enrichment plants produce fissile materials that can be used to develop nuclear weapons. — PTI

Hawk’s eye

• The US is increasing the surveillance of Iran's southwestern coast by deploying Pentagon's fleet of drones operating over the Persian Gulf
• The electronic eye in the sky has intercepted visual images and audio communication from the Bushehr nuclear plant complex
• US drones are intercepting cell phones, electronic communications and other signals from the reactor

Strong warning to Assad over chemical arms: Clinton

Hillary Clinton

Prague, December 3
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today issued a "strong warning" to the regime of Bashar al-Assad over the potential use of chemical weapons against the Syrian people. "This is a red line for the United States," Clinton said after meeting Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg.

"Once again we issue a very strong warning to the Assad regime that their behaviour is reprehensible. Their actions against their own people have been tragic," she added. — AFP

UK, France may recall envoys to Israel

Jerusalem, December 3
In an unprecedented move, Britain and France are mulling the option of recalling their envoys from Israel in protest against its decision to expand settlements, a media report here said.

"This time it won't just be a condemnation, there will be real action taken against Israel," a senior European diplomat told Ha'aretz daily as Israel continued with punitive measures against the Palestinian Authority (PA) following their successful bid at the United Nations to win a non-member state observer status. "Britain and France are poised to take action — possibly including the unprecedented step of recalling their ambassadors," the report said.

The Jewish state has decided to move settlement construction ahead in the area known as E1, between Ma'aleh Adumim and Jerusalem that may effectively break the territorial contiguity of a future Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital, hampering future peace negotiations.

Israel's hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision on Friday, a day after the PA's successful bid at the UN, to move ahead with plans for E1 and to build 3,000 housing units in East Jerusalem and West Bank settlements has apparently "shocked" the foreign ministries and the leaders in London and Paris.

Not only do Britain and France view construction in E1 as a "red line", they are reportedly angry because they view Israel as having responded ungratefully to the support the two countries gave it during the recent Gaza operation. "London is furious about the E1 decision," a European diplomat said. — PTI

Japan orders tunnel inspections after death toll rises to nine

Tokyo, December 3
Japan ordered emergency inspections of highway tunnels across the country after one collapsed on Sunday killing nine persons.

Two persons were also injured when a 110-m-long section of the tunnel's concrete ceiling panels collapsed onto cars on Sunday along the Chuo Expressway in Yamanashi prefecture, near Tokyo.

"The Prime Minister ordered the transport ministry to put the utmost efforts into rescuing victims, to quickly investigate the cause of the accident, to establish measures to prevent similar accidents, and to provide a counselling service to victims to take care of them," Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura told a news conference on Monday. — Reuters

Saeed flays Hina over action against him in 26/11 case

Islamabad, December 3
Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Mohammad Saeed has criticised Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar for promising to take action against him if India provides evidence, saying the Pakistan Government had been unable to resolve outstanding issues like the Kashmir issue.

Saeed, named by India as the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, claimed that evidence against him provided by India had been "dismissed" by Pakistani courts.

“In the four years since the attacks in Mumbai, India has been unable to provide any evidence against me in connection with the case. The documents provided by India as evidence could not stand in court and were dismissed by the Lahore High Court as propaganda. A similar case was also made by the Supreme Court," Saeed told the Urdu newspaper Ummat. — PTI

Egypt’s judges begin strike as press plans blackout

Cairo, December 3
Egypt's top judges today began their indefinite strike to protest "psychological and physical pressures" by Islamist supporters of President Mohamed Mursi, as nearly a dozen newspapers announced they will not bring out their editions tomorrow in support of the Opposition.

As confrontation intensified between mostly secular Opposition and Mursi after he assumed absolute power through decrees last month, the Supreme Constitutional Court said it was suspending its work to protest the "psychological and physical pressures" by Islamists who prevented judges from entering the court house yesterday.

Several newspapers today printed front-page headlines saying "No to Dictatorship" to protest against a new constitution that was drafted by an Islamists-dominated panel.

A cartoon of a newspaper in human form chained in a cell was pasted on several independent papers, including Al-Watan with the line 'A constitution that cancels rights and shackles freedoms. No to dictatorship'. The papers also declared that they would not go to print tomorrow. Three private TV channels declared they will leave their screens blank tomorrow. — PTI

BRIEFLY

Prince William, Kate expecting a baby
LONDON: Britain’s Prince William and his wife Catherine are expecting a baby, the prince’s office said on Monday. "Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are very pleased to announce that The Duchess of Cambridge is expecting a baby," the office said in a statement. — Reuters

Demonstrators carry signs at a rally against the visit of Russia's President Vladimir Putin in central Istanbul on Monday. — Reuters

A youth runs past a burning vehicle during a protest against the killing of cleric Mufti Ismail in Karachi on Monday. — AFP

90 hurt as oil rig tilts in Singapore
Singapore: Over 90 workers were injured on Monday when an oil rig being built at a shipyard in Singapore tilted to one side, the Ministry of Manpower said, amid reports of explosions and snapping cables. One worker was in critical condition and 22 others were seriously injured during the incident at the Jurong Shipyard, the ministry said in a statement. — AFP

N Korea installs rocket on launch pad
Seoul: North Korea has installed the first stage of a long-range rocket it plans to launch this month on the launch pad, defying international calls to cancel the mission, a report said on Monday. North Korea announced on Saturday that it would carry out its second long-range rocket launch this year between December 10 and 22. — AFP

Bomb kills five in Afghanistan
Kandahar: At least five persons, including two women, were killed when a bomb targeting an army vehicle exploded in southern Afghanistan on Monday, officials said.The remote-controlled bomb was placed on a motorcycle and hit an Afghan army patrol truck as it was passing in Trin Kot the capital of Uruzgan province. — AFP

Saudi fighter jet crashes in Gulf waters 
Riyadh: A Saudi F-15 fighter with only the pilot on board crashed into Gulf waters while on a training mission in the kingdom's Eastern Province, the defence ministry announced on Monday. The plane fell into "Saudi territorial waters and the search for the pilot is still ongoing", the ministry said, adding that an investigation has been launched into the cause of the crash. — AFP