IRAN
Israeli aide: U.S. will lose standing if Iran gets nuclear weapons
Ben Birnbaum, The Washington Times — December 12, 2011
The United States could lose its role as the “main player” in the Middle East if Washington fails to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons, according to a special envoy of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Iran Rejects US Calls to Return Downed Drone
Voice of America — December 13, 2011
Iran says the United States should accept its consequences after a U.S. surveillance aircraft went down in Iranian territory earlier this month. The Obama administration has made a formal request for Iran to return the aircraft, but Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Tuesday that the U.S. should apologize instead.
NORTH KOREA
US envoy says North Korea ‘must change behaviour’
Associated Foreign Press — December 12, 2011
The United States will consider meeting North Korean officials if they make good on nuclear disarmament pledges, but they first “must change their behaviour”, according to a top US envoy. “The basic, most important point that has to be underscored is that it’s really up to North Korea to take the right steps,” Glyn Davies, the US special representative on North Korea, told reporters after meeting Japanese officials on Monday.
N Korea furious at South’s Christmas lights plan
BBC News — December 11, 2011
North Korea has warned South Korea of “unexpected consequences” if it lights up a Christmas tree-shaped tower near their tense border.
UNITED STATES
Iran Rejects US Calls to Return Downed Drone
Voice of America — December 13, 2011
Iran says the United States should accept its consequences after a U.S. surveillance aircraft went down in Iranian territory earlier this month. The Obama administration has made a formal request for Iran to return the aircraft, but Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Tuesday that the U.S. should apologize instead.
SYRIA
Syria crackdown has killed 5,000 people, UN says
CBS News — December 13, 2011
The death toll from Syria’s crackdown on a 9-month-old uprising has exceeded 5,000 people, the top U.N. rights official said Monday, as Syrians closed their businesses and kept children home from school as part of a general strike to pressure President Bashar Assad to end the bloodshed.
Violence In Syrian Border Province Leaves 28 Dead
Bassem Mroue, NPR — December 13, 2011
Syrian security forces fired on a funeral procession in a restive northwestern border region, killing two people and raising Tuesday’s death toll to at least 28, activists said.
The flare-up of violence in Idlib province highlighted how Syria’s uprising, which earlier this year involved mostly peaceful demonstrations in small towns and cities, has become a virtual insurgency in the countryside along the Turkish border.
