IRAN
Israel calls for “paralyzing” sanctions on Iran
Reuters — December12, 2011
Iran’s ruling clerics could use nuclear weapons to strengthen their grip on power and the world must urgently impose crippling sanctions to prevent them from building such arms, Israel’s defense minister said on Sunday.
Iran’s Got Our Drone: Distraction or Disaster?
Mark Thomson, TIME — December 11, 2011
Let’s say you’re outside walking around when you’re hit in the head by an iPhone that falls from the sky. Just how lucky are you? Pretty darn lucky, especially if you were trying to bring it down. But now that you’ve got it, how much can you learn from it? That’s the challenge facing Tehran following its claim last week that it had brought down one of America’s most-secret reconnaissance systems: the Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel drone.
NORTH KOREA
U.S. Diplomat Urges North Korea to “Change Behavior”
Global Security Newswire — December 11, 2011
The U.S. special representative for North Korea on Monday said the Obama administration would not agree to another round of bilateral talks with the Stalinist state until officials there “change their behavior,” Agence France-Presse reported.
INTERVIEW: North Korea’s end heralds the real crisis
Victor Fic and Jennifer Lind, The Asia Times — December 12, 2011
What is more dangerous than a strong dictatorship? A collapsed one, so Lind warns in her latest analysis. [1] In this interview with Asia Times Online contributor Victor Fic, Lind says that a North Korean implosion creates many perils, such as “loose nukes” entering the global black market. She also calls upon the US, South Korea and China to start planning together – now – for the staggering task of managing North Korea’s collapse.
RUSSIA
At launch of nuclear reactor, Russia’s Putin speaks of atomic energy ‘renaissance’
Washington Post — December 12, 2011
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin attended the launch of a new nuclear power reactor Monday, calling it part of a “renaissance” of atomic energy.
Putin Attends Russian Launch of New Nuclear Reactor
Fox News, December 12, 2011
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin attended the launch of a new nuclear power reactor Monday, calling it part of a “renaissance” of atomic energy.
UNITED STATES
Among Gingrich’s Passions, a Doomsday Vision
William J. Broad, The New York Times — December 11, 2011
Newt Gingrich, the Republican presidential hopeful, wants you to know that as commander in chief he is ready to confront one of the most nightmarish of doomsday scenarios: a nuclear blast high above the United States that would instantly throw the nation into a dark age.
Romney jabs Gingrich for ‘erratic outspokenness’
Catalina Camia, USA Today — December 11, 2011
Mitt Romney says Newt Gingrich displayed “erratic outspokenness” when he said Palestinians are an “invented” people as he turned up the criticism on his GOP presidential rival.
