Iran warns against Israeli military strike
Nuclear standoff: Iran warns US, Israel against strike News.com.Au 11 Nov 11 IRAN will hit back against any attack or even threat of military action, the country’s supreme leader says after Israel warned the world must act to prevent Tehran getting nuclear weapons.Iran “will respond with full force to any aggression or even threats in a way that will demolish the aggressors from within”, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told students at a Tehran military college, according to his official website. Continue reading
Anti nuclear, anti war protest planned against Obama’s visit to Darwin, Australia
Local activists plan Obama protest News.com.au 10 Nov 11 LOCAL
activists angry at US military bases in Australia are planning to protest US President Barack Obama’s trip to Darwin next week. Justin Tutty from Darwin Residents Against War says he expects at least 20 locals to stage a peaceful protest near Parliament when Mr Obama arrives on Thursday.
“Our message is that we don’t want US bases, we don’t want US nuclear warships in Darwin Harbour and we don’t want US troops in Darwin,” Mr Tutty said. There has been speculation Mr Obama will use the visit to make an announcement relating to increasing the US military presence in the Northern Territory.
Australian Defence Minister Stephen Smith recently foreshadowed increasing the number of joint training exercises with America in Darwin and the US storing more equipment in the city for disaster and humanitarian assistance.
Already the US and Australia jointly run the Pine Gap spy base near Alice Springs in the Northern
Territory. Mr Tutty said there was little information about what a greater US presence in Northern Territory would mean.
“They have talked about a pre-positioning base and we are very sceptical about the nature of the base because of all the lies we have been told about Pine Gap,” Mr Tutty said.”For so many years they told us that Pine Gap was a communications base, but in the last few years it has come out about its offensive role and it was used to direct dozens of attacks on Iraq.” http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/national/local-activists-plan-obama-protest/story-e6frfku9-1226190123963#ixzz1dLAjnMoG
Unwisdom of attack on Iran, and not much new in IAEA report
despite the rhetoric about last chances, there is still time for a peaceful way out of the crisis. The Obama administration has no stomach nor money for another war, and its generals insist that every way they game the scenarios, America comes out the loser.
The IAEA report: what does it really mean and will it lead to war with Iran? byJulian Borger 9 November 2011 guardian.co.uk Tuesday’s IAEA report has rekindled the global debate over what to do about the Iranian nuclear programme with a familiar array of options on the table: engage, sanction or attack. The various protagonists are familiar too. Russia is complaining the IAEA report has spoilt the chance of renewed dialogue, the US, Britain and France want a new push towards tighter sanctions, and Israel is threatening to strike unless the international community sorts the matter out in the next few months.
There is something a little phoney about all the sound and fury. There is nothing in the report that was not previously known by the major powers. The West and Israel supplied most of the original tip-offs for the annex on weapons development, while Russia was briefed and no doubt knew one of its own scientists had been lecturing the Iranians on how to make explosive implosion devices (ostensibly for making tiny diamonds).
Furthermore, the bulk of the report is historical, referring to the years leading up to 2003. Continue reading
A British warning against an attack on Iran
Iran is a far more sophisticated and divided society than the picture generally painted in the west.
An attack on Iran would halt and reverse moves to reform. The Arab spring would become an Arab winter with disastrous consequences for US and European interests as well as Arab societies, including Saudi Arabia. The alternatives are many – to continue to apply economic sanctions, a policy of carrot and stick, but with much more emphasis on the carrot. Embraces are far more difficult to withstand than attacks…
An attack on Iran would be disastrous Britain must resist US pressure for military action. Even if Iran had nuclear weapons, engagement is the only course to take, Guardian UK 6 Nov 11
“Would a British prime minister ever refuse a plea from a US president to join America in a controversial military operation?” This was the response, rhetorical and unanswerable as far as they were concerned, by Whitehall mandarins whenever they were asked why Tony Blair agreed to invade Iraq. It was not a matter of whether the invasion was wrong or right; it was that the occupier of 10 Downing Street would simply not turn down such a request from the White House.
For the US, Britain could offer not only political and “moral” support but a juicy physical asset – Diego Garcia, the base conveniently placed for American bombers, on the British Indian Ocean Territory.
This is what so worries Whitehall, and Britain’s top brass in particular – a growing fear that Barack Obama will find it difficult to oppose increasing pressure for military action against Iran’s nuclear facilities within the next 12 months. Continue reading
USA companies want to sell nuclear to India, but not be liable for accidents
The crux of the issue is: Who will be held responsible in case there is an accident at a plant that is set up by foreign investors?
US may press India to amend
nuclear legislation, Business Standard New Delhi November 02, 2011, Friendly, but blunt. That will be the tone of the message from the
United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to India.
When NRC chairman Gregory Jaczko comes here later this month to meet with his counterparts in the Atomic Energy Commission and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India, he would say that this country’s civil nuclear liability law would not pass muster in the US. For, as sourcesnote, it would require to be substantially amended if New Delhi hopes to get business from the US.
The US has discussed the law — The Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill 2010 — with France and Russia. These are the other two countries with whom India wants to do business in nuclear power…. Continue reading
United Nations passes Iran’s nuclear disarmament bill
UN passes Iran’s bid for N disarmament, Press TV 1 Nov 11The UN General Assembly’s First Committee has endorsed an Iran-sponsored resolution on nuclear disarmament despite attempts by the US and the Israeli regime to kill the bid.
The resolution calls for the implementation of pledges made at the three most recent Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review conferences. It also reiterates the urgency for a nuclear-free Middle East and demands that the Israeli regime must sign the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Israel, widely believed to be the sole possessor of a nuclear arsenal in the Middle East with over 200 undeclared nuclear warheads, pursues the policy of “deliberate ambiguity” for its nuclear program.
Tel Aviv has so far rejected all global demands to join the NPT and does not allow the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors to inspect and monitor its controversial nuclear program.
The Israeli regime has never denied or confirmed the existence of its nuclear arsenal as part of its long-held ‘nuclear ambiguity’ policy. Despite international objections to such dubious policy, the UN and its nuclear regulatory agencies have never taken serious steps to censure or impose sanctions on the defiant regime. Tehran has also proposed a draft resolution on missiles, which is to be discussed in the committee’s next session.
“Occupy” and anti nuclear- declaration for the future
”The future of the human race requires the co-operation of its members.”
our planet can no longer withstand the assaults of an increasingly destructive industrial civilisation.
Learning To Shine Through The Ruins, By Vincent Di Stefano, 30 October,2011, Countercurrents.org “…….The cultural awakening of the 1960s had made many aware of the presence of deepening flaws within industrial civilisation: Of the rampant militarism that had unleashed two unspeakably destructive World Wars; of the atomic slaying of the inhabitants of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; of the slash and burn methods of US imperialism that disgorged blistering gifts of napalm and poisonous defoliants into the wasted landscapes of Indo-China;
……..this abundance and the freedoms it has bestowed appear to have benumbed rather than sharpened our capacity to perceive and to interpret the divided reality that underlies our illusions of comfort and prosperity.
Despite the fact that the Chernobyl melt-down 25 years ago has already cost nearly a million lives , and despite the fact that hot Strontium from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant has been detected on the rooftops of houses in Yokohama 250 kilometers away, the nuclear industry, together with its marketing arm, the International Atomic Energy Commission continues to aggressively pursue their deadly interests….. Continue reading
Japan planning to export nuclear technology to India, Vietnam
Japan Closer to Exporting Nuclear Technology to India, Vietnam, WSJ By TATSUO ITOTOKYO, 30 Oct 11 —Nearly eight months after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident, Japan is resuming steps it hopes will lead to exports of commercial nuclear technology to India and Vietnam, even as Japan itself is scaling back the use of nuclear energy at home.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and his Vietnamese counterpart, Nguyen Tan Dung, will likely discuss nuclear power cooperation when they meet Monday, a government official said. Japan has already signed off on talks toward a nuclear power pact with Vietnam, but the parliamentary approval needed to ratify the agreement has been put on hold…..The agreement with India may draw criticism, as it comes at a time when the Fukushima crisis isn’t yet resolved. Moreover, India isn’t a member of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and technology, while promoting peaceful uses of nuclear energy…. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204528204577007712071441558.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
New Zealand MP seeks inquiry on Australia’s nuclear shipments
Uranium passing through NZ ports, Sky News October 30, 2011 A Greens MP has called for an inquiry into Australian shipments of radioactive uranium passing through New Zealand waters and ports in breach of its anti-nuclear stance.
Fortnightly shipments of Australian yellowcake uranium, totalling five thousand tonnes annually, are being shipped through New Zealand ports, according to documents provided to the Sunday Star Times by Green MP Gareth Hughes.
The paperwork shows the Environmental Risk Management Authority (ERMA) was unaware of the shipments for 13 years, until late 2009.
That agency had since been replaced by the new Environmental Protection Authority, and an EPA spokeswoman told the newspaper that even though ERMA was unaware of the shipments, the regime that permitted them to pass through New Zealand’s ports had still followed international best practice…..
A spokesman for Prime Minister John Key told the Sunday Star Times yellowcake was ‘Australian dirt, which is essentially harmless’…..
Hughes is calling for an independent inquiry, saying the shipments had no place in a nuclear-free country.
‘Why did the authority fail to approve it for so long, do we have adequate safeguards and response strategies, and what role is New Zealand playing in the international nuclear cycle?’ he said. http://www.skynews.com.au/eco/article.aspx?id=679499&vId=
India and Japan planning a deal on rare earths
Japan, India to jointly develop rare earths, The Yomiuri Shimbun, 31 Oct 11 Japan and India agreed Saturday to promote at the private level joint development of rare earths, which are indispensable for automobiles and information technology products.
Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba and Indian Foreign Minister Shri S.M. Krishna also agreed to step up negotiations toward conclusion of an India-Japan nuclear agreement during a meeting at the Foreign Ministry’s Iikura Guest House in Minato Ward, Tokyo, according to officials.
In addition, they agreed to enhance cooperation in security policies by carrying out joint exercises by the Maritime Self-Defense Force and Indian Navy and in other ways, they said.
The exercises are likely to focus on ensuring the safety of sea-lanes in the Indian Ocean, observers said….. India, which has nuclear weapons but does not participate in the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, is cautious about Japan’s stance in promoting nuclear arms reduction and nonproliferation through conclusion of a bilateral nuclear pact.
Japan wants to hold negotiations with India on the export of nuclear technologies and nuclear-related equipment, but it may be some time before an agreement is reached, the observers said… http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T111029002574.htm
Wikileaks reveal Saudi Arabia’s fears about Iran’s nuclear plant
Plumbing WikiLeaks: Saudi Arabia Fears
Iranian Nuclear Meltdown and Potential Terrorism to Desalination, Circle of Blue, By Brett Walton, 28 OCTOBER 2011 Classified cables show that Saudi and U.S. officials believe water supplies along the Persian Gulf are at high-risk for terrorist attacks and possible contamination from nearby nuclear plants. This is the first of a new series that will analyze the water-related U.S. embassy cables published by WikiLeaks.
“The location is so dangerous,” said Prince Turki Al-Kabeer, the undersecretary for multilateral affairs from the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “Not just to us, but to the world economy!”
Ostensibly, Prince Turki was meeting with the Netherlands ambassador, the Russian ambassador, and a political/military counselor from the American embassy to discuss an initiative against nuclear terrorism. But — according to a classified American embassy cable from 2009 that has since been published by WikiLeaks — the conversation turned to Iran’s nuclear program and the Russian-built reactor at Bushehr, a site less than 300 kilometers (186 miles) from Saudi shores on Iran’s Persian Gulf coast.
Prince Turki went on to say that Russia should “use its influence” to persuade Iran to relocate the reactor to the Caspian Sea, where there would be sufficient water for cooling, and, the cable’s author makes clear, isolation from Saudi territory, if a nuclear accident were to occur.
At risk, according to both Saudi and U.S. officials, are the desalination plants supplying much of Saudi Arabia’s drinking water, and the Persian Gulf waterway that conveys a large portion of the world’s oil exports — 6.6 million barrels per day… http://www.circleofblue.org/waternews/2011/world/plumbing-wikileaks-saudi-arabia-fears-iranian-nuclear-meltdown-and-potential-terrorism-to-desalination/
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting – behind the scenes, India lobbies for Australian uranium
India lobbies for Australian uranium, THE HINDU PRISCILLA JEBARAJ, 28 Oct 11 “……Informal, behind-the-scenes diplomacy is a key part of the CHOGM summits, and India seemed to be using the opportunity to lobby for a change in Australia’s uranium exports policy banning sales to India, which is not a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
The issue reportedly came up at Mr. Ansari’s meeting with Australian Leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott on Thursday. Mr. Abbott heads the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia, which favours allowing Australia — which has the world’s largest reserves of uranium — to export the mineral to India…..
Mr. Ansari is also likely to discuss the issue at his bilateral meeting with Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard later this week. The ruling Labour party is split on the issue, which is expected to be a subject of hot debate at the party conference this December. Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd argued that India’s civil nuclear power programme was not dependent on Australian uranium.
“If you hear an argument from an Indian businessperson that the future of the nuclear industry in India depends exclusively on access to uranium, that is simply not sustainable as a proposition. Have a look at the data,” he said at a mining industry breakfast, according to a report by Australian news agency AAP. Both Indian officials and businessmen have been raising the issue on the sidelines of the CHOGM. “There is no problem in terms of global supply, let’s just be very, very blunt about this.”However, Resources Minister Martin Ferguson who supports uranium exports to India, said he was eager to debate the issue at the party conference, which could turn out to be pivotal for India’s hopes of accessing Australian uranium….http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2574653.ece
Movement against India’s nuclear power program goes national
The writ petition mentions, “How under the pressure of foreign countries and the multi-billion dollar nuclear industry, the government has been pushing forward an expensive, unviable and dangerous nuclear power programme without proper safety assessment and without a thorough comparative cost-benefit analysis vis-a-vis other sources of energy, especially renewable sources.”
Country-wide protests against nuclear plants have escalated following the Fukushima disaster in Japan.
Humongous nuclear costs at the expense of exchequer
Activists nationwide unite to battle UPA’s nuclear dreams, Rediff, October 14, 2011, Sheela Bhatt in New Delhi Activists, experts and scientists across the country have come together to challenge Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s dream project to double the nuclear energy-based power generation in the country, A writ petition filed by eminent lawyer Prashant Bhushan under Article 32 seeks appropriate writ for declaring Nuclear Liability Act, 2010, unconstitutional and to call for safety re-assessment and cost-benefit analysis of all nuclear facilities in India. The petitioners want the overhaul of the ‘dysfunctional’ regulatory system.
The petitioners comprise of distinguished personalities or organisations who have first time come together to challenge one of the biggest policy decisions of the United Progressive Alliance government. Continue reading
UK Coroner to fully investigate radiation murder of Alexander Litvinenko
Marina Litvinenko, Mr. Litvinenko’s widow, said the inquiry would include “an investigation into the involvement of the Russian state in his murder, which is exactly what I want.”
Britain Agrees to New Inquiry Into Poisoning Death of a Former K.G.B. Officer NYT, By ALAN COWELL October 14, 2011 LONDON — A coroner has agreed to open a full inquest into the radiation poisoning of the former K.G.B. officer Alexander V. Litvinenko, potentially bringing the case before a British legal forum for the first time, opening new seams of information about his death and possibly stirring new tensions with Moscow. Continue reading
France’s distressed nuclear companies desperate to sell reactors to South Africa
The French companies Areva and EDF need to sell reactors abroad to survive and, after Fukushima, the number of countries investing in new nuclear industry is very limited. Hence France’s strong nuclear lobby and “friendship” with South African politicians over the past few years.
Nuclear power will cost the country dearly, Mail and Guardian RIANNE TEULE: ENERGY Oct 14 2011 The Mail & Guardian’s front-page story last week (October 7) highlighted the upcoming nuclear battle for a total of R1-trillion worth of reactors in South Africa and the fact that the country is being forcefully lobbied by the French and other nuclear countries. The exorbitant costs and the nuclear industry’s desperation prove that it is absolute lunacy for South Africa to choose the nuclear route. Continue reading
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PLEASE OPPOSE HR 8255 AND S.3639 – bills would accelerate satellite deployment, with no environmental review or safeguards – https://ncstd5li.quorum.us/campaign/169331/
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