Iran
Iran opened the doors of one of its key nuclear sites yesterday in an attempt to bolster support for its controversial atomic programme. Yesterday’s propaganda exercise was targeted at non-aligned countries, which Iran hopes will be more inclined to stand up to the United States and its allies, who accuse Iran of using its nuclear programme as a cover to produce a weapon.
Sunday Telegraph 4th February 2007
Reuters 3rd Feb 2007
A PRIZE-WINNING Iranian nuclear scientist has died in mysterious circumstances, according to Radio Farda, which is funded by the US State Department and broadcasts to Iran. An intelligence source suggested that Ardeshire Hassanpour, 44, a nuclear physicist, had been assassinated by Mossad, the Israeli security service.
Sunday Times 4th Feb 2007
THE world has been given a stark warning that Iran is within two to three years of producing its own nuclear weapons.
Scotland on Sunday 4th Feb 2007
There are fears among some US diplomats – shared by Britain and its European allies – that hawks within President George W Bush’s administration are preparing the ground for military action against Teheran before he leaves office in 23 months.
Telegraph 4th Feb 2007
If the US has been looking for a pretext to bomb Iran, it seems to have found one: that Iran poses a threat to Iraqi sovereignty. Since air-strikes against nuclear targets were mooted last summer, their military feasibility and diplomatic advisability have been questioned. If the rationale for these attacks were shifted away from nuclear targets, the US might follow Israel’s attack on Lebanon last year and aim to take out a wide range of Iranian assets.
Independent on Sunday 4th Feb 2007
North Korea
THEY have huddled with the North Koreans in Berlin, talked tough in Beijing and played cat-and-mouse at the United Nations in New York. Now America’s nuclear negotiators are staring failure in the face. According to Chinese and western sources, hints of compromise by the US have merely hardened the resolve of Kim Jong-il, North Korea’s dictator, to keep his atomic weapons and to outlast President George W Bush in office. Bush reluctantly authorised his team to work on a pact that would release North Korean money frozen in foreign banks in exchange for a sign of progress, such as allowing UN nuclear inspectors back into North Korea’s secret installations.
Sunday Times 4th Feb 2007
Terror
Police at Capenhurst and Springfields have been ordered to hand in their guns.
Sunday and Express and Star 4th Feb 2007
Forsmark
Four reactors at Forsmark in Sweden have been shut.
Sunday Telegraph 4th Feb 2007
Scotland
A SCOTTISH business leader is demanding the creation of an energy commission to cut through the political dogma that he says is frustrating debate on developing a national fuel strategy.
Scotland on Sunday 4th Feb 2007
