EGYPT
Military halts clashes as political crisis grips Egypt
Marwa Awad and Edmund Blair, Reuters – December 6, 2012
Egypt’s Republican Guard restored order around the presidential palace on Thursday after fierce overnight clashes killed seven people, but passions ran high in a struggle over the country’s future.
NORTH KOREA
US, Japan, South Korea to seek Security Council action if North Korea launches rocket
AP, Washington Post – December 5, 2012
The U.S. and key Asian allies have agreed to seek U.N. Security Council action if North Korea launches a long-range rocket this month, the State Department said Wednesday. Pyongyang plans the launch between Dec. 10 and 22 in defiance of a U.N. ban. Washington sees such launches as veiled tests of missiles designed to strike the United States. North Korea says it is trying to put a communications satellite into orbit.
N. Korea’s Kim ‘reluctantly firing rocket to mark his father’s death’
The Telegraph – December 6, 2012
The long-range rocket is set to be launched on the one-year anniversary of Kim Jong-il’s death, his one-time personal chef Kenji Fujimoto told reporters in Tokyo.
North Korea Plans Satellite Launch: Why Now?
Austin Ramzy, Time – December 5, 2012
The U.S. State Department called a possible launch “a highly provocative act that threatens peace and security in the region.” South Korea expressed “grave concern,” while Japan called on Pyongyang to exercise restraint and call off the launch. China, North Korea’s sole major ally, was more reserved in its criticism of the move, saying it was “concerned” about the announcement but adding that North Korea “is entitled to peaceful use of the outer space, which is subject to relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions.”
NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION
Burma accused of pursuing nuclear weapons
Michael Carl, WND – December 5, 2012
The East-Asia Intel report said a cargo ship en route from North Korea was transporting the alloy through Japan, with the intention of transferring it to China, then Burma.
NUCLEAR ENERGY
Is the “Superfuel” Thorium Risker Than We Thought?
Phil McKenna, Popular Mechanics – December 5, 2012
“It may not be as resistant as touted and in some cases the risk of proliferation may be worse than other fuels,” says Stephen Ashley of the University of Cambridge. In an article published in the journal Nature online today, Ashley and his colleagues highlight the potential dangers of thorium fuel.
Russia, China Ink Deal to Build 2 New Nuclear Reactors
RIA Novosti – December 6, 2012
Russia will build two new reactors at China’s Tianwan nuclear power plant under an inter-governmental agreement signed on Thursday. The bilateral protocol on the construction of Tainwan’s third and fourth reactors was signed in the presence of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao.
SYRIA
Clinton, Russian foreign minister to meet on Syria
Anne Gearan, Washington Post – December 6, 2012
In a potential sign that Russia’s support of embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad may be softening, Moscow’s top diplomat will meet jointly Thursday with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and the U.N. envoy for Syria, a senior State Department official said.
IRAN
Iran to take US to international court over intercepted spy drone
RT – December 5, 2012
Iran has threatened international legal action against Washington over its alleged interception of a US spy drone. Tehran claims it has evidence of illegal spying on Iran’s nuclear program to present to an international court. Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi announced on Tuesday that Tehran now has proof of the presence of US spy drones over Iranian territory.
NUCLEAR TESTING
GPS satellites and telescopes can detect rogue nuclear tests
Tia Ghose, NBC News – December 5, 2012
A new technique using GPS and large radio telescopes can detect clandestine underground nuclear tests using waves that travel from the blast into the upper atmosphere, or ionosphere, new research suggests.
