IRAN
Iran elections: Presidential candidates start registering
BBC News – May 7, 2013
Iran has begun registering candidates to replace Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in its forthcoming presidential election. Hopefuls have a five-day period in which to declare their intention to stand in the 14 June poll.
NORTH KOREA
North Korea missiles moved away from launch site: U.S. officials
Phil Stewart, Reuters – May 6, 2013
North Korea has taken two Musudan missiles off launch-ready status and moved them from their position on the country’s east coast, U.S. officials told Reuters on Monday, after weeks of concern that Pyongyang had been poised for a test-launch.
Bank of China closes account of key North Korean bank
Heng Xie and Megha Rajagopalan, Reuters – May 7, 2013
Bank of China Ltd has shut the account of North Korea’s main foreign exchange bank, which was hit with U.S. sanctions in March after Washington accused it of helping finance Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program.
JAPAN
Opinion: Is Japan Developing a Nuclear Weapons Program?
Peter Symonds, Global Research – May 7, 2013
The Wall Street Journal published an article on May 1 entitled “Japan’s nuclear plan unsettles US.” It indicated concerns in Washington that the opening of a huge reprocessing plant could be used to stockpile plutonium for the future manufacture of nuclear weapons.
MISSILE DEFENSE
Israel Takes Defensive Steps After Reported Strike in Syria
Scott Bobb, Voice of America – May 6, 2013
Israel has closed its northern airspace to commercial aviation and deployed two batteries of an anti-missile defense system there after a series of reported Israeli air strikes in Syria. A Syrian activist group says the strikes killed at least 42 Syrian soldiers.
