Bank of England refocuses mortgage lending scheme to avoid housing bubble

Bank tries to swerve housing bubble

Governor Mark Carney warns house prices are gaining momentum – but says housing market poses no immediate risk

• Live Latest developments
• Q&A: shift in Bank of England policy
  Governor Mark Carney says Funding for Lending Scheme will concentrate on business loans as house prices gain momentum
• Jill Treanor
• 
  
• theguardian.com, Thursday 28 November 2013 12.33 GMT

Link to video: Bank of England announces Funding for Lending swerve to avoid housing bubble A scheme to bolster mortgage lending that was only introduced last year is being scaled back as the Bank of England takes the first steps to prevent a housing bubble by increasing its surveillance of the housing market in a move that sparked fears mortgage rates could rise.
The surprise move, which Bank of England governor Mark Carney said was taken jointly with chancellor George Osborne, means that the funding for lending (FLS) scheme – which makes it cheaper for banks to fund lending – will now focus on business loans until the end of January 2015. The FLS for home loans end a year earlier than planned, in January 2014.
While stressing that the housing market is not an immediate risk to financial stability, Carney unveiled a series of measures to calm the mortgage market including imposing tougher tests on customers before they are granted home loans.
Among the other attempts to keep a check on the housing market, the Bank said the annual health check of Britain's banking sector being introduced next year will also require banks to look at their resilience to housing shocks.
Explaining the decision to remove mortgages from the FLS scheme next year, Carney, said it was "no longer appropriate to have our foot on the accelerator, better to shift it to neutral".
The TUC said the move would "hit the feelgood factor" that Osborne has been trying to create ahead of the 2015 general election and sparked speculation that the move to end a key part of the FLS had been taken reluctantly by the chancellor.
Osborne said: "Now that the housing market is starting to pick up, it is right that we focus the scheme's firepower on small businesses. Small firms are the lifeblood of our economy."
More than £1bn was wiped off the value of housebuilders – Barratt Developments fell almost 10% and Persimmon 6% – although some economics were sceptical that the withdrawal of the FLS would have a major impact. A Treasury panel of forecasters expects house price rises of up to 10% in 2014. They rose 6.8% in the 12 months to October.
Cathy Jamieson, shadow financial secretary to the Treasury, said: "We called for the scheme to prioritise lending to business and, after three wasted years when net lending to firms has fallen, the government is belatedly acting. But homeowners facing a cost-of-living crisis will want reassurance from ministers that suddenly taking the scheme away from mortgage lending won't see a rise in mortgage rates".
In a letter to Osborne, Carney set out the changes to the FLS which has led to a fall in bank funding costs since it was introduced in July 2012.
Carney said that the FLS would try to focus more on lending to the business sector, and a relaxation in capital rules that had been applied to mortgage lending would be removed.
"Although the growth in household loan volumes remains modest, activity is picking up and house price momentum appears to be gaining momentum," Carney told the chancellor.
However, there are no changes to the Help to Buy scheme which the Bank will assess annually from 2014. However, in its half-yearly check on the risks to financial stability the Bank said there was not a risk to the financial system from the housing market.
  COPY  http://www.theguardian.com/uk
"UK housing market activity is picking up from low level and inflation in house prices – which is already above historical averages on some metrics – appears to be gaining momentum. At present activity remains below long-term trends and underwriting standards are materially higher than before crisis. There is little evidence of an immediate threat to stability," the Bank said in its half-yearly Financial Stability Report (FSR).
But the FSR said risks could come from further rises in house prices and a buildup in household indebtedness which would be accentuated if underwriting standards on mortgage lending were to be relaxed so it was putting "several actions in train that will guard against a build-up in vulnerabilities".
As well as removing the lower capital rules for banks lending for mortgages via the FLS, the Financial Conduct Authority will ask banks to test customers' vulnerability, not just to the scenario of a 3% base rate in five years' time, but also a lengthening in mortgage terms, for instance. These affordability tests will be introduced from April 2014.
"The FCA should require mortgage lenders to have regard to any future FPC recommendation on appropriate interest rate stress tests to use in the assessment of affordability," the FPC said.
Frances O'Grady, general secretary of the TUC, said: "This is good news for the real economy, but bad news for the chancellor. The Bank of England is clearly worried that the economic recovery is based on consumers borrowing on the back of rising house prices rather than business investment and rising exports."
"Ensuring that funding for lending works to boost business investment is a sensible policy that can drive sustainable growth and help build a new economy. But stopping over-excitement in the property market may hit the feelgood factor that the chancellor is hoping will distract from the failure of government policy to rebalance the economy," she added.
The Bank said a key risk to financial stability could be caused by an abrupt rise in long-term interest rates and the FCA is working with banks and other firms to ensure they are prepared for this risk. Public sector indebtedness has also risen since the crisis and some households remain vulnerable. "Financial stability risks remain including from the high indebtedness of some sovereigns, corporates and households. These vulnerabilities have been kept in check by low interest rates and other policy interventions," the FSR said.
Households with loans five times greater than their incomes account for a fifth of total UK mortgage debt.
The FSR spelt out other actions it could take in the future to mitigate risks from the housing market such as making further changes to capital rules.
It also set out more detail about how it might set the so-called leverage ratio, which determines how much capital banks hold against their loans.

Is Iran already hedging on a key nuclear concession?

Is Iran already hedging on a key nuclear concession?

• By Max Fisher

• November 27 at 10:55 am

Iran's controversial heavy water facility at Arak. (Hamid Foroutan/AFP/Getty Images)

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif told the country's legislature Wednesday that Iran will continue construction at its controversial nuclear facility at Arak, according to Reuters. A key provision of Iran's recent nuclear agreement, sealed just this weekend in Geneva with the United States and five other world powers, requires it to halt all "activities" at Arak. Zarif's announcement, though not an outright contradiction of this agreement, pushes Iran's interpretation right up to the limits of the deal. But the question of how much this matters, if it matters as all, is complicated.
The facility at Arak, which Iran insists is peaceful but could be used to make plutonium once finished, has been one of the key sticking points of the nuclear negotiations. Two weeks ago, French diplomats had scuttled an earlier round of talks, partly over objections that the deal being discussed did not adequately address Arak. This weekend's deal, an interim agreement meant to be a major step toward a more permanent resolution of the years-long Iranian nuclear crisis, forbids Iran from any nuclear-related activities at Arak for six months.
"The capacity at the Arak site is not going to increase," Zarif told Iran's legislator, according to a translation of his comments on Iran's Press TV. He went on, "It means no new nuclear fuel will be produced and no new installations will be installed, but construction will continue there."
Zarif's suggestion that Iran can continue construction at Arak does not appear entirely consistent with Western statements on the Geneva agreement. A "Joint Plan of Action" describing the deal, released by European Union High Representative Catherine Ashton on behalf of all parties at the talks, announced that Iran "will not make any further advances of its activities at the Natanz Fuel Enrichment Plant, Fordow, or the Arak reactor."
A White House release described the deal as including a provision that "Iran has committed to no further advances of its activities at Arak." To be fair, though, while the White House release goes into great detail about the sorts of nuclear-related work that are barred, it never explicitly says that all construction work of any kind is barred.
Civil construction work itself is not particularly significant in terms of Iran's nuclear capabilities. The country has been working on the Arak facility since the 1990s and has been repeatedly hobbled by setbacks, including an inability to secure key components. Progress on the nuclear components has been slow and fitful at best. So it's difficult to see basic civilian construction as particularly consequential in terms of nuclear capabilities.
"I anticipated this," Mark Hibbs, a nuclear proliferation expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told me when I asked him about Zarif's announcement. "Likely step by Zarif to calm down hard-liners. Essential stuff is frozen. If they do excavation and civil construction around the reactor I don't care."
Western negotiators may well not care either, and perhaps may even have expected this. The language in the deal, after all, is extremely specific on limiting nuclear-related activities at Arak but strangely vague on whether civil construction is allowed. They may view Zarif's statement today with some sympathy.
On the one hand, Iranian officials who want a viable, long-term accord with the United States and other Western countries have to consider opposition from Iran's hard-liners. So it's certainly plausible that Zarif's announcement is meant to mollify internal opposition without taking any steps that might upset Western countries.
On the other, a key part of the process in working toward any long-term deal will be trust-building, which is no small thing given that the U.S. view is that Iran has cheated on past agreements. So the symbolic importance of civilian construction at Arak, even if it's just ditch-digging, is not nothing.
COPY  http://www.washingtonpost.com/world

Karzai faces growing pressure in Afghanistan to sign deal to maintain U.S. troop presence - A year after Benghazi attack, killings continue

Pressure grows on Karzai to sign deal with U.S.

Tim Craig

Many Afghans say Karzai is jeopardizing Afghanistan’s security by making new demands of Washington before agreeing to allow U.S. troops there beyond 2014.

 

By Tim Craig, Published: November 27 E-mail the writer

KABUL — President Hamid Karzai is facing a growing backlash from Afghan political leaders over his reluctance to sign a long-term security agreement with the United States.
Karzai had appeared to reach an agreement last week that would permit up to 15,000 foreign troops to remain in Afghanistan after the formal end of U.S. combat operations in 2014. But Karzai has since refused to sign the accord until the U.S. government agrees to a series of escalating demands.

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Pressure grows on Karzai to sign deal on U.S. troops

Tim Craig NOV 27

Many Afghans say the leader is jeopardizing nation’s security by making new demands of Washington.

In murderous Benghazi, a glimpse of Libya’s struggles

Abigail Hauslohner NOV 27

The killing continues in Libya’s second-largest city, and the government appears unable to stop it.

In Egypt, campuses have become a new battleground

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Anti-government forces are drawing support from universities where Islamists have deep roots.

Japan, S. Korea send planes to new Chinese aerial zone

Chico Harlan 7:40 AM ET

No response from China as Japan, S. Korea send planes to new aerial zone.

Central African Republic descending into ‘complete chaos’

Sudarsan Raghavan NOV 26

Hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes. How did this crisis start, and is it a genocide in the making?

With the Obama administration insisting that it will prepare for a full withdrawal if the agreement is not signed by year’s end, Afghan political leaders are increasingly nervous that the country’s fledgling armed forces could be on their own after 2014. If the agreement is not concluded, Afghanistan could also lose $4 billion in annual aid for its military.
“If he doesn’t sign, Afghanistan will go to civil war and Karzai will be responsible,” said Moeen Marastial, a former member of parliament who previously served in Karzai’s government. “Not only military commanders but ordinary people know, if this agreement is not signed, and there is no support and training for the military, the soldiers won’t be able to feed their families.”
Few Afghan leaders and analysts had expected Karzai to dig in so strongly over the accord, especially after an influential council of tribal leaders and civic activists urged him this week to sign it.
Now that he has laid out additional demands — including that the U.S. government release all 17 Afghans being held at the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba — Karzai is facing criticism that his actions are being driven by personal grudges and paranoia.
The Americans should know that “the Afghans are not with President Karzai anymore,” said Ahmad Saedi, a Kabul-based political analyst.
Political leaders and analysts in Kabul have various theories about why Karzai is holding out, including that he is facing pressure from Iran or wants to win U.S. support for his favored candidate in the presidential election next spring.
Many analysts and political leaders believe that Karzai is overestimating the will of the Obama administration to continue the negotiations.
“There are high and growing levels of concern in Afghan society over the durability of the international commitment, and there are high and growing levels of concern in the international community, to include the American public, about whether we’re really wanted,” James Dobbins, Obama’s special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, said in an interview.
During a meeting with U.S. national security adviser Susan E. Rice on Monday night, Karzai said he would sign the agreement only after he’s convinced that no more U.S. soldiers would enter Afghan homes uninvited — a reference to nighttime anti-terrorism raids — and that the Obama administration would help launch peace talks between his government and Taliban insurgents.
To help start that peace process, Karzai requested the release of the Afghan prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.
By Wednesday, there were signs Karzai might be softening his demands. In an interview with Radio Free Europe, he reiterated his call for an end to U.S. troop raids on Afghan homes and the start of peace talks, but didn’t mention the prisoner issue.
“Whenever the Americans meet these two demands of mine, I am ready to sign the agreement,” Karzai said.
On Wednesday night, Karzai spokesman Aimal Faizi insisted that the president wasn’t giving up on the prisoner issue, saying it was part of his call for an American-led peace process.
Obama officials have said they are not willing to reopen negotiations with Karzai, noting that the agreement was finalized after a year of discussions. And they say they need a completed accord soon to be able to plan a post-2014 presence, focused on anti-terrorism operations and training the Afghan military. But some U.S. officials say they are willing to give Karzai more time and remain hopeful he will buckle under domestic political pressure.
“Militaries have to plan, and you can’t just have a last-minute deal, but I think there is a bit more flexibility than these arbitrary dates that have been set” by the U.S. side, said Linda Robinson, a Rand Corp. senior international affairs specialist who recently wrote a book on U.S. Special Operations missions in Afghanistan.
But Ali Ahmad Jalali, an Afghan American who served under Karzai during the early years of his administration, said the pressure on Karzai is “building within the government, within the society and within the elites of Afghanistan.”
“People are confused, and are calling on the international community not to sacrifice the future of Afghanistan for one man,” he said.

Karen DeYoung in Washington and Sayed Salahuddin in Kabul contributed to this report.

In ‘bleeding’ Benghazi, a glimpse into Libya’s struggles

Abigail Hauslohner

The fragile government appears unable to stop the killing and intimidation plaguing Libya’s second-largest city.

• Wemple: ‘60 Minutes’ and Benghazi

  By Abigail Hauslohner, E-mail the writer

  BENGHAZI, Libya — It is exceedingly easy to get away with murder here.
  Just ask any Libyan: Who killed more than 50 police officers, soldiers and judges here and in the eastern city of Darna this year?
  
  
  Who lit the fire that claimed the lives of U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and another American at the U.S. diplomatic mission here just over a year ago? Who launched the mortar rounds that killed two CIA contractors that same night?
  Or, for that matter, who bears responsibility for the 2011 torture and killing of Abdul Fattah Younis, the Gaddafi-era military commander who defected to lead the rebels?
  “Do you live on Mars?” asked Hashem Bishr, the hard-line Salafist leader of a powerful Tripoli militia.
  To understand Libya’s unsolved murder mysteries, understand this, Bishr said: “It’s just not a good time.”
  What he meant is that there are people who know the answers — they’re just not willing to share.
  Nor is the fragile, post-revolution government prepared to mete out justice, many Libyans and rights groups say.
  Tripoli’s weak authorities have promised to investigate the killings. “But until now, there is nobody in detention. Nobody has been charged. And according to our knowledge, no one is being investigated,” said Hanan Salah, a Libya researcher for Human Rights Watch. The government, she said, lacks the technical capacity to do so.
  But there is also a powerful element of fear.
  More than a year after the deadly attack on the U.S. mission here, the dilapidated port city that was the birthplace of Libya’s 2011 revolution has become the epicenter of a shadowy campaign of assassinations and bombings. Most of the killings have targeted police and army personnel, along with a handful of judges and a political activist.
  “The pale truth is that this is a bleeding city — a city that has a lot of losses every day,” said Fathallah Bin Ali, a Benghazi businessman who allies himself with the federalists, a faction in eastern Libya that is holding the region’s oil infrastructure hostage to extract more control from the government.
  In recent months, mysterious early morning bombings have targeted two courts, a wedding hall and a popular cafe. No one was killed. But the intent, residents say, was intimidation.
  Mohamed al-Bargathi said he has no desire to mend the facade of his once-bustling cafe, the Rotana, which was shattered last month by a homemade bomb in a bag left on the front steps.
  “I’m afraid they’ll just bomb it again,” he said, smoking a cigarette outside the shuttered business. “If we knew who did it, we would kill him and reopen. But we don’t know who did it.”
  Many here say that Benghazi is a microcosm of Libya’s larger struggles.
  On a normal afternoon, political opponents and rival militia leaders can be seen warily eyeing one another over espressos from across hotel lobbies. The Libyan special forces, resurrected from a force that existed before the revolution, man camouflaged gun-trucks at intersections in the center of town and participate in a “joint-security operations room” to manage the city’s security. But their Islamist militia rivals have their own security operations room — their own bases and, sometimes, their own checkpoints.
  
  This week, the special forces clashed with Ansar al-Sharia, the hard-line militia that remains the prime but unprosecuted suspect in the U.S. mission attack. Ansar was operating a roadside checkpoint at the city’s western edge. Two weeks earlier, someone had fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the car of the Libyan operations room chief, killing his driver.
  
  
  

  Hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes. How did this crisis start, and is it a genocide in the making?
  
  Depending on whom you ask, just about every armed group around here is guilty of killings, theft and human rights abuses.
  Since Stevens’s death, U.S. officials, along with many other Western diplomats and civil society groups, no longer venture to Benghazi because the risks are simply too high. Even the FBI officials charged with investigating the Sept. 11, 2012, attack have conducted the bulk of their research from the safer confines of Tripoli, 400 miles away.
  But Benghazi is wasting away, abandoned by its friends and investors at a time when it is most desperately in need of help — with justice, policing, reconstruction and employment opportunities — said Amina Megheirbi, a member of Libya’s elected congress who represents the city.
  “It’s suffering from the evacuation — of our own government and all international missions,” Megheirbi said. “It left Benghazi open to extremists, criminals and Gaddafi supporters.”
  The result, she said, is even more unemployed youths, more fuel for the fire. “One thing leads to another,” she said. “It worsens the situation.”
  And so there are some Benghazi residents who take a different approach, looking a visitor in the eye and pleading: It’s not so bad. Tell the foreigners to come back.
  “Benghazi is safe,” said Abdel Hafidh Sallak, a longtime political activist, sitting in his living room.
  Sallak and others point to Venezia Street — a crowded boulevard just a few blocks from the charred wreckage of the U.S. mission where locals browse an array of gleaming, new clothes and furniture shops late into the night.
  The U.S. ambassador’s death was an accident, Sallak insisted, adding that ordinary people
  haven’t been affected by the killings. In Libya, he said, “they never put the bombs in places where there are people.’’
  COPY http://www.washingtonpost.com/

AIEA: Coreia do Norte pode ter reativado reator nuclear

28/11/2013 - 14:27

Viena (AFP)

A Agência Internacional de Energia Atômica (AIEA) declarou nesta quinta-feira que imagens de satélite indicam que a Coreia do Norte tem tentado reativar seu reator nuclear de Yongbyon.
"A agência continua a acompanhar a evolução na usina nuclear de Yongbyon, principalmente por meio de imagens de satélite", afirmou o diretor-geral a agência, Yukiya Amano, em um discurso ante o Conselho de Ministros, que iniciou na quinta-feira uma reunião fechada de dois dias.
"Atividades consistentes com um esforço para reiniciar" o reator nuclear de cinco megawatts foram registradas, acrescentou.
"No entanto, como a agência não tem acesso ao local, é impossível para nós determinar se o reator foi reiniciado ou não", destacou Amano.
Este reator era a única fonte de plutônio para o programa militar nuclear da Coreia do Norte, que ainda teria o suficiente para produzir entre quatro e oito bombas.
Pyongyang fechou a instalação nuclear de Yongbyon em 2007 e o reinicio de suas atividades poderia permitir o reabastecimento de seus estoques de plutônio, necessário para a fabricação de armas nucleares.
O regime expulsou os inspetores da AIEA de sua usina nuclear em 2009, e desde então recusa-se a recebê-los novamente.
Em fevereiro, o país realizou seu terceiro teste nuclear subterrâneo, desafiando as resoluções do Conselho de Segurança das Nações Unidas, e aumentando as tensões e os temores de um possível conflito militar.   COPIADO  http://www.afp.com 

Tóquio e Seul desafiam zona de defesa aérea chinesa

28/11/2013 - 14:20

Pequim (AFP)

O Japão e a Coreia do Sul anunciaram nesta quinta-feira o envio de aviões para a nova zona aérea de identificação decretada pela China, sem avisar previamente as autoridades chinesas, após um voo idêntico realizado por bombardeiros americanos.
A frente unida de desafio acentuou a pressão sobre o regime comunista, e a sua própria imprensa destacou o risco de acumular críticas contra uma China pouco habituada à "guerra psicológica".
No sábado passado, o ministério chinês da Defesa proclamou de forma unilateral uma "zona aérea de identificação" sobre grande parte do Mar de China Oriental, entre Coreia do Sul e Taiwan, que inclui fundamentalmente um pequeno arquipélago controlado pelo Japão, as ilhas Senkaku, reivindicado por Pequim com o nome de Diaoyu.
Esta atitude provocou uma tempestade diplomática, com reações hostis de vários países da região Ásia-Pacífico, onde as ambições marítimas da China preocupam cada vez mais.
Segundo as novas regras estabelecidas por Pequim, qualquer aeronave que entrar na "zona de identificação" deve apresentar o plano de voo detalhado, mostrar claramente a nacionalidade e manter as comunicações por rádio para "responder de maneira rápida e apropriada aos pedidos de identificação" das autoridades chinesas, sob risco de intervenção das Forças Armadas.
Mas na quarta-feira, dois bombardeiros B-52 americanos sobrevoaram a zona de identificação, assim como um avião militar sul-coreano, sem que as autoridades chinesas fossem informadas.
Washington utilizou a missão dos B-52 para transmitir a mensagem de que não pretende ceder terreno a Pequim nesta região, onde pretende ampliar sua presença.
Nesta quinta-feira foi a vez de aviões da guarda costeira japonesa sobrevoarem, sem encontrar oposição, a "zona aérea de identificação" (ZAI).
"Nós não alteramos nossas operações normais de patrulha na região e não informamos (a China) sobre nossos planos de voo. Nós não encontramos nenhum caça chinês", disse o porta-voz da guarda costeira, Yasutaka Nonaka.
Segundo o jornal Asahi Shimbun, aviões militares das Forças de Autodefesa (SDF, nome oficial das Forças Armadas japonesas) também atravessaram, em uma data não especificada, a polêmica "ZAI" chinesa.
Depois de aceitar as exigências chinesas em um primeiro momento para garantir a segurança dos passageiros, as duas principais companhias aéreas japonesas, JAL e ANA, decidiram na quarta-feira não informar as autoridades de Pequim sobre os planos de voo.
Depois de informar que um de seus aviões sobrevoou na terça-feira a área de defesa decretada pela China, o governo da Coreia do Sul pediu a Pequim que revise a decisão.
Segundo um porta-voz militar sul-coreano, o voo aconteceu como parte de exercícios militares em torno de um recife submerso, cuja soberania é disputada por Pequim e Seul.

Um bombardeiro americano B-52 durante a abertura do show aéreo de Singapura, em 14 de fevereiro de 2012.

Os "jogos" perigosos no Mar da China Oriental preocupam visivelmente os Estados Unidos, principal aliado e produtor do Japão.
Os Estados Unidos destacaram que seu vice-presidente, Joe Biden, que irá a Pequim na próxima semana, como parte de sua viagem à Ásia, aproveitará a oportunidade para manifestar sua "preocupação" sobre o assunto.
Nesta quinta-feira, uma porta-voz da diplomacia chinesa, Qin Gang, pediu a Washington e Tóquio de "retificar seus erros no campo e pôr fim às acusações irresponsáveis ​​contra a China".
Na China, a própria imprensa acusou o governo de demorar muito a responder ao "ato de desafio" de Washington com seus dois bombardeiros.
Os Estados Unidos adotaram um "comportamento diversionista", como parte de uma "guerra de opinião contra Pequim", afirmou o jornal Global Times .
A China "não foi capaz de oferecer em um período satisfatório uma resposta apropriada e temos sido inundados por uma quantidade exponencial de comentários negativos sobre a nova zona aérea", considerou o jornal ligado ao Partido Comunista.
"A China precisa reformar seu mecanismo de relações públicas para ganhar a batalha psicológica lançada por Washington e Tóquio", concluiu.
O governo da China anunciou na quarta-feira que efetuou uma vigilância constante do voo de dois bombardeiros americanos B-52, que entraram em sua polêmica nova zona de defesa aérea sem informar a Pequim.
"A situação é caótica devido à linha-dura de Tóquio, e a mensagem de Washington vai apenas reforçar a beligerância perigosa de Tóquio e suprimir o espaço para manobras diplomáticas", considerou por sua vez o China Daily, outro jornal oficial chinês.
   COPIADO  http://www.afp.com 

Manifestantes tailandeses cortam energia elétrica da sede da políciaangcoc

28/11/2013 - 14:19

(AFP)

Os manifestantes que exigem a queda do governo na Tailândia cortaram nesta quinta-feira a energia elétrica na sede da polícia nacional, em pleno centro de Bangcoc, e ignoraram o pedido de negociação da primeira-ministra, que evitou uma moção de censura.
"Os manifestantes cortaram a energia elétrica no quartel-general da polícia nacional. Estamos usando um gerador", explicou à AFP o policial Prawut Thavornsiri.
Quase mil manifestantes estão reunidos diante do edifício, o que impede o tráfego em uma das áreas mais movimentadas de Bangcoc.
O corte coincidiu com um novo apelo de negociação da primeira-ministra Yingluck Shinawatra.
"Proponho aos manifestantes que deixem de protestar e que desocupem os edifícios oficiais", declarou Yingluck em um discurso na TV, antes de pedir para "encontrar uma solução".

Manifestantes contrários ao governo tailandês em frente à sede da polícia, durante um protesto em Bangcoc.

"Não podemos confiar nela", reagiu Akanat Promphan, um porta-voz dos manifestantes, pouco dispostos a desistir da ocupação do ministério das Finanças e de um complexo com vários ministérios.
A revolta da oposição foi provocada por uma lei de anistia, especialmente redigida segundo os manifestantes para permitir a volta do irmão de Yingluck, Thaksin Shinawatra, ex-primeiro-ministro exilado em Dubai, e evitar uma condenação a dois anos de prisão por fraude financeira.
O texto foi rejeitado pelo Senado, mas isto não serviu para acalmar os manifestantes. A oposição a Yingluck, unida ao ódio por Thaksin, pede a renúncia da primeira-ministra, considerada uma marionete do irmão.
A acusação foi citada pelo Partido Democrata para apresentar uma moção de censura a Yingluck, que conseguiu evitar a medida graças à maioria parlamentar de seu partido, el Puea Thai.
Preocupação da ONU
Após semanas de mobilização, os manifestantes não dão mostras de desistência, mas uma pausa é aguardada por ocasião do aniversário do rei Bhumibol, em 5 de dezembro, um acontecimento muito importante na Tailândia.
As manifestações são as mais importantes desde 2010, quando 100.000 partidários de Thaksin, os "camisas vermelhas", ocuparam o centro de Bangcoc durante dois meses para reclamar a saída do governo da época, dirigida pelo democrata Abhisit Vejajiva.
Finalmente, a mobilização foi violentamente esmagada pelo exército, com 90 mortes e 1.900 feridos. A crise mostrou as profundas divisões entre as massas rurais e urbanas desfavorecidas do norte do país, partidárias de Thaksin, e as elites de Bangcoc, que odeiam o ex-premier.
Milhares de "vermelhos" se concentram desde domingo em um estádio de Bangcoc em apoio ao governo anunciam uma grande manifestação para sábado.
A oposição se concentrou em mais de 20 prédios do governo, sobretudo no sul do país, reduto dos Democratas. Passeatas aconteceram nas proximidades dos ministérios da Defesa e da Educação.
A nova mobilização preocupa a comunidade internacional. O secretário-geral da ONU, Ban Ki-moon, afirmou que está preocupado com o aumento da tensão políticas em Bangcoc.

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Exército sírio ocupa cidade estratégica ao norte de Damasco

28/11/2013 - 13:35

Damasco (AFP)

O exército sírio tomou o controle nesta quinta-feira de Deir Attiya, uma cidade estratégica na conquista da região de Qalamoun, ao norte de Damasco, anunciou a televisão estatal.
"Nosso exército heroico assumiu o controle de Deir Attiya, na província de Damasco, depois de esmagar os últimos bastiões terroristas nesta cidade", indicou uma fonte militar citada pela televisão.
"Esta manhã, o exército conseguiu, depois de caçar terroristas nos locais onde estavam escondidos, limpar a cidade e matar muitos deles, depois de quatro dias de luta", disse um oficial da segurança em Damasco.
"As operações continuam nos arredores da cidade", acrescentou.
O Observatório Sírio para os Direitos Humanos (OSDH) informou que o exército expulsou quase todos os jihadistas do Estado Islâmico do Iraque e do Levante (EIIL) e outros rebeldes que estavam nesta cidade de 10.000 habitantes, localizada 88 km ao norte de Damasco, e que tem uma grande comunidade cristã.
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AIEA é convidada pelo Irã a visitar usina de Arak em 8 de dezembro

28/11/2013 - 13:26

Viena (AFP)

O Irã convidou a Agência Internacional de Energia Atômica (AIEA) para inspecionar em 8 de dezembro o local de produção de água pesada em Arak, cumprindo um dos compromissos assumidos no acordo assinado com a agência em meados de novembro, indicou seu diretor-geral Yukiya Amano.
"Posso informar o conselho que nós recebemos um convite para visitar o usina de produção de água pesada de Arak em 8 de dezembro", informou o japonês, segundo o texto de um discurso para o Conselho de Ministros, que iniciou na quinta-feira uma reunião fechada de dois dias.
O reator de Arak está no centro das preocupações das grandes potências, pois poderia fornecer ao Irã a capacidade de extrair plutônio, uma alternativa ao urânio enriquecido para construir uma bomba atômica.
De acordo com o acordo provisório concluído domingo, em Genebra, com o Grupo 5+1 (Estados Unidos, China, Rússia, França, Grã-Bretanha e Alemanha), o Irã se comprometeu a congelar a construção do reator por seis meses.
A AIEA já inspecionou em várias ocasiões este reator, mas nunca recebeu detalhes sobre o seu projeto e seu funcionamento desde 2006 e não é autorizada a visitar o local de produção de água pesada desde agosto de 2011.
O Irã se comprometeu a abrir a usina de Arak para inspetores da agência em um acordo provisório de seis pontos para "estabelecer a confiança entre as duas partes".
Este acordo, assinado em Teerã em 11 de novembro durante uma visita de Yukiya Amano, também inclui uma visita à mina de urânio de Gachin e um compromisso do Irã de fornecer informações sobre seus possíveis planos para novos reatores nucleares de enriquecimento no local.
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República Dominicana retira embaixador do Haiti e suspende diálogo

28/11/2013 - 13:19

Santo Domingo (AFP)

O governo da República Dominicana convocou na quarta-feira para consultas seu embaixador no Haiti, após a participação de Porto Príncipe na decisão do Mercado Comum Caribenho (Caricom) de adiar a entrada de Santo Domingo.
O governo dominicano também cancelou um encontro com representantes haitianos previsto para sábado em Caracas.
"Nos vemos na obrigação de convocar para consultas nosso embaixador no Haiti para tratar deste tema com cuidado que merece", disse o vice-chanceler José Manuel Trullols ao embaixador haitiano em Santo Domingo, Fritz Cineas, segundo um comunicado do ministério das Relações Exteriores.
"O governo da República Dominicana está altamente preocupado com o desconhecimento demonstrado pelo governo haitiano da Declaração Conjunta assinada pelos dois países na semana passada para buscar soluções aos problemas bilaterais, como o conflito migratório".
Após a assinatura do acordo, o Haiti "empreendeu ações contrárias a esta declaração, como ficou evidenciado na recente reunião do Caricom", completa o texto.
O Caricom anunciou na terça-feira a suspensão da análise do pedido de entrada da República Dominicana, até a adoção de medidas para resolver o conflito migratório com o Haiti.
O Tribunal Constitucional (TC) da República Dominicana negou, em uma decisão de setembro, a nacionalidade aos filhos de imigrantes ilegais, em sua maioria haitianos.
Trullols criticou as declarações do chanceler haitiano, Pierre-Richard Casimir, que teria afirmado que a República Dominicana deu "uma interpretação livre" ao acordo conjunto assinado na semana passada, que prioriza o diálogo para a busca de soluções ante qualquer assunto da agenda bilateral.
Ele ressaltou que Casimir assinou a Declaração Conjunta ao lado do ministro da presidência dominicana, Gustavo Montalvo.
"O governo dominicano entende que, sob tais condições, é muito difícil seguir dialogando com os vizinhos, pois não respeitam os termos do que foi acordado na declaração", completou.
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Libertado sob fiança o último militante do barco de Greenpeace detido na Rússia

28/11/2013 - 13:08

Moscou (AFP)

A justiça russa decidiu nesta quinta-feira em apelação libertar sob fiança o último membro da tripulação do barco de Greenpeace detido na Rússia, o australiano Colin Russell, anunciou a ONG.
"Excelente notícia! O australiano Colin Russell foi libertado sob fiança", escreveu o Greenpeace em sua conta no Twitter.
Russel era o único militante dos 30 membros da tripulação do "Artic Sunrise" que não havia sido beneficiado por esta medida em primeira instância.        COPIADO  http://www.afp.com

Aviões japoneses entram na "zona aérea de identificação" chinesa sem problemas

28/11/2013 - 11:52

Aviões japoneses entram na "zona aérea de identificação" chinesa sem problemas

28 Nov 2013

Tóquio (AFP)

Aviões da guarda costeira japonesa sobrevoaram nesta quinta-feira, sem encontrar oposição, a "zona aérea de identificação" decretada pela China sobre o Mar da China Oriental.
"Nós não alteramos nossas operações normais de patrulha na região e não informamos (a China) sobre nossos planos de voo. Nós não encontramos nenhum caça chinês", disse o porta-voz da guarda costeira, Yasutaka Nonaka.
No sábado passado, o ministério chinês da Defesa proclamou de forma unilateral uma "zona aérea de identificação" sobre grande parte do Mar de China Oriental, entre Coreia do Sul e Taiwan, que inclui fundamentalmente um pequeno arquipélago controlado pelo Japão, as ilhas Senkaku, reivindicado por Pequim com o nome de Diaoyu.
A China afirma que qualquer aeronave que entrar na "zona de identificação" deve apresentar o plano de voo detalhado, mostrar claramente a nacionalidade e manter as comunicações por rádio para "responder de maneira rápida e apropriada aos pedidos de identificação" das autoridades chinesas, sob risco de intervenção das Forças Armadas.
As autoridades japonesas responderam que a zona não tinha nenhuma validade e o governo dos Estados Unidos chamaram a iniciativa chinesa de "incendiária".
Depois de aceitar as exigências chinesas em um primeiro momento para garantir a segurança dos passageiros, as duas principais companhias aéreas japonesas, JAL e ANA, decidiram na quarta-feira não informar as autoridades de Pequim sobre os planos de voo.
Além disso, dois bombardeiros B-52 americanos sobrevoaram a zona de identificação no início da semana, assim como um avião militar sul-coreano, sem que as autoridades chinesas fossem informadas.
Nesta quinta-feira, o primeiro-ministro australiano, Tony Abbott, defendeu o direito de expressar sua opinião ao justificar as críticas do país a China pela criação da zona de defesa aérea.
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Primeira-ministra tailandesa evita moção de censura

28/11/2013 - 11:31

Bangcoc (AFP)

A primeira-ministra tailandesa, Yingluck Shinawatra, superou nesta quinta-feira uma moção de censura no Parlamento, o que pode aumentar a revolta dos milhares de manifestantes que exigem sua renúncia.
"A primeira-ministra Yingluck ganhou o voto de confiança", anunciou o presidente do Parlamento, Somsak Kiatsuranont.
No total, 297 deputados votaram contra a moção e 134 a favor, dois optaram pela abstenção e cinco não participaram na votação.
Minoritário no Parlamento ante o partido governista Puea Thai, o Partido Democrata, que não vence uma eleição há quase 20 anos, não tinha nenhuma chance de aprovar a moção, exceto no caso de um abandono em massa no Puea Thai.
A votação aconteceu no momento em que milhares de manifestantes prometiam cercar novos ministérios. Vários prédios oficiais foram ocupados nos últimos dias.
Os manifestantes desejam a renúncia de Yingluck Shinawatra, irmã de Thaksin Shinawatra, primeiro-ministro derrubado por um golpe de Estado em 2006 e que continua sendo, apesar do exílio, o político mais amado e odiado do reino.
A revolta da oposição foi provocada por uma lei de anistia, especialmente redigida segundo os opositores para permitir que Thaksin escape de uma condenação de dois anos de prisão por fraude. O texto foi rejeitado pelo Senado, mas isto não acalmou os manifestantes.
Thaksin continua sendo a personalidade mais amada e mais odiada do país, dividindo a sociedade entre as massas rurais e urbanas pobres do norte e nordeste, leais ao ex-premier, e as elites de Bangcoc, que o consideram uma ameaça para a monarquia.
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Six held over English football 'Asian betting scam'

• 28/11/2013 - 13:34
  
  

  
  

  London (AFP)

  

  Six men have been arrested by police investigating alleged fixing in English football matches, amid claims Thursday of attempts to defraud Asian betting websites.

  Six men have been arrested by police investigating alleged fixing in English football matches, amid claims Thursday of attempts to defraud Asian betting websites.
  At least three footballers and an agent are among the six arrested, said The Daily Telegraph newspaper, which said an undercover investigation by its reporters had triggered the police swoop.
  The report said match-fixers from Asia were targeting lower-league English games.
  The new National Crime Agency (NCA), Britain's answer to the FBI, said they were probing a suspected international gambling ring.
  "Six men have been arrested across the country as part of an NCA investigation into alleged football match fixing," said a spokesman.
  "The focus of the operation is a suspected international illegal betting syndicate.
  "This is an active investigation and we are unable to provide further detail at this time."
  The men were being held at a police station in central England on suspicion of bribery and fraud offences, the Telegraph said.
  A Singaporean "fixer" was recorded telling undercover reporters that the results of English games could be decided for £50,000 ($81,000, 60,000 euros) and correctly predicted the outcome of three games played by one team.
  The team and arrested players cannot be named for legal reasons, but the agent was named by the Telegraph as former Bolton Wanderers striker Delroy Facey.
  No teams in England's lucrative Premier League are believed to be involved in the probe.
  The fixer explained that gamblers could use the insider information to place bets with Asian companies.
  A spokesman for the Football Association, the sport's governing body in England, said: "The FA has been made aware of a number of arrests in relation to an NCA investigation.
  "We have worked closely with the authorities in relation to these allegations. The FA will make no further comment at this time due to ongoing investigations."
  The Football League, which runs the three professional divisions below the Premier League, said they had not been contacted by the police.
  "We understand from media reports that there is an ongoing police investigation into alleged match-fixing in domestic football," chief executive Shaun Harvey said in a statement.
  "To date, we have had no contact from the police regarding this matter.
  "The threat of corruption is something that the Football League and the other football authorities treat with the utmost seriousness.
  "The integrity of our matches and our competitions is the bedrock of the domestic game."
  In February, Europe-wide police agency Europol said it had found evidence of match-fixing in top international football matches and it had uncovered an organised crime syndicate based in Asia that was behind the operation.
  The biggest case of fixing in sport in Britain in recent years involved three Pakistan cricketers and a British agent who were jailed in 2011 for spot-fixing during a Test match against hosts England.
  The men were involved in pre-arranging no-balls for shadowy South Asian betting rings.
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Brawn to leave Mercedes Formula One team

• 28/11/2013 - 12:36

  
  

  Paris (AFP)

  

  Ross Brawn will step down from his position as Mercedes team principal at the end of the year, the German Formula One outfit confirmed on Thursday, ending months of speculation.
  The 59-year-old is one of the longest-serving figures in modern Formula One but it remains unclear whether he will retire from the sport or join another stable such as Ferrari in 2014 or McLaren-Honda in 2015.
  The English engineer largely contributed to the seven world titles won by Germany's Michael Schumacher at Benetton and then Ferrari.
  He then joined Honda F1 as team principal in 2007, buying out the team and renaming it Brawn GP, going on to win the world constructors' championship and drivers' title double in 2009 with Jenson Button.
  Runners-up in the world constructors' championship this year behind Red Bull, Mercedes will now be run by joint executive directors - Austrian Toto Wolff in charge of business and Ireland's Paddy Lowe overseeing the technical side.
  

  

  Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn walks in the pit lane ahead of the Formula One Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka on October 11, 2013

  "The most important consideration in my decision to step down from the role as team principal was to ensure that the timing was right for the team in order to ensure its future success," said Brawn, who will formally leave the team on December 31.
  "The succession planning process that we have implemented during this year means we are now ready to conduct the transition from my current responsibilities to a new leadership team composed of Toto and Paddy."
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Eurozone economic confidence up, shows signs of slowing

• 28/11/2013 - 12:25

  
  

  Brussels (AFP)

  

  The 17-nation eurozone economy continues to make progress but there are signs of a slowdown over the past two months, a key survey showed Thursday.
  The European Commission's Economic Sentiment Indicator, a measure of overall economic confidence, rose 0.8 points to 98.5 in November, building on gains since May, it said.
  However, "while the upward trend observed since May has been preserved, the improvement in confidence has noticeably decelerated over the past two months," it said.
  The eurozone economy eked out meagre growth of just 0.1 percent in the third quarter, short of forecasts for 0.2 percent and down from 0.3 percent in the second when the bloc finally escaped a record 18-month recession.
  At 98.5 points, November's reading was above analyst forecasts for 97.8 points compiled by Dow Jones analysts but still below the 100 points trend line.
  

  

  People enjoy the nice weather on a terrace of Wittamer cafe in Brussels on April 17, 2010

  Among the larger eurozone economies, Germany gained 0.8 points, Italy 1.9, Spain 1.4 and The Netherlands 1.3.
  Struggling France, the second largest economy in the bloc after Germany, continued to lag, dropping 0.9 points.
  For the wider 28-nation European Union economy, the ESI added 0.4 points to 102.1.
  Analysts said the result suggested the eurozone economy would hold to positive territory in the fourth quarter after the worrying slowdown in the third.
  The November reading hit a "27-month high, thereby supporting hopes that the eurozone can gradually establish economic recovery despite growth relapsing to just 0.1 percent in the third quarter," said Howard Archer of IHS Global Insight.
  Archer noted an "overall pick up in confidence ... including Germany, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands" as France slowed, "which adds to concerns over the country’s underperformance."
  Capital Economics said the November gain "is a comforting sign given the recent falls in other indicators ... but we still expect the recovery to remain weak. "
  Overall, the rise "is something of a relief given the recent run of more downbeat news from the region," it said.
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Russian court releases last Greenpeace activist on bail

• 28/11/2013 - 11:35

  
  

  Moscow (AFP)

  

  A Russian court on Thursday released on bail the last of 30 Greenpeace crew members who had been held in detention since their September open-sea protest against Arctic oil drilling.
  "Excellent news! Colin Russell from Australia is granted bail," the global environmental protection group tweeted in a message that was confirmed by Russian news agency reports from the Saint Peterburg court.
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Exxon to sell Iraq oil stake to PetroChinaBaghdad (AFP)

• 28/11/2013 - 10:50

  
  

  
  American energy giant Exxon Mobil will on Thursday hand over part of its controversial stake in a massive oilfield in south Iraq to Chinese firm PetroChina, a statement said.
  The sale of part of Exxon's 60 percent stake in the West Qurna-1 field, one of Iraq's biggest, comes amid a row with Baghdad's central government over the US firm's contracts with the autonomous northern region.
  A statement issued by the office of Hussein al-Shahristani, Iraq's deputy prime minister responsible for energy affairs, after a meeting with PetroChina's Iraq chief Wang Shali, said Thursday would "witness the signing of the final agreement between her company and Exxon Mobil".
  The deal will see PetroChina take a 25 percent stake in the consortium of companies working on West Qurna-1, but Exxon will also retain a similar share.
  In January 2010, Iraq completed a deal with Exxon and Anglo-Dutch giant Shell to develop production at the field, which has proven reserves of 8.5 billion barrels of oil.
  
  

  The office of Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Hussein al-Shahristani has announced that Exxon Mobil is to transfer part of its stake in the West Qurna-1 field to PetroChina
  In October 2011, however, Exxon signed an oil exploration deal with the Kurdistan region in northern Iraq covering six areas, including two that are claimed by both Baghdad and Kurdistan.
  The Kurdish deal infuriated Baghdad, which says all oil contracts must go through the central government and regards any that do not do so as illegal.
  Iraq has repeatedly given an ultimatum to Exxon to either sell its stake in West Qurna-1 or give up its Kurdish deals, but has never set a deadline or outlined any potential consequences.
  The American energy firm nevertheless told Baghdad a year ago that it was looking to sell its stake.
  It was not immediately clear if Exxon's sale of part of its stake to PetroChina would resolve the dispute with the Iraqi authorities.
  Iraq is heavily reliant on oil production for state revenues, and is looking to dramatically ramp up crude output in the coming  years to fund much-needed reconstruction of its conflict-battered economy.
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La cumbre entre UE y las antiguas repúblicas soviéticas, ensombrecida por Ucrania

28/11/2013 - 12:56

Vilna (AFP)

La cumbre entre la Unión Europea (UE) y seis antiguas repúblicas soviéticas se abre este jueves en Vilna, ensombrecida por el rechazo de Ucrania -el mayor de estos países- a firmar un acuerdo con los europeos, lo cual hace peligrar el conjunto de su estrategia al Este.
Después de meses de negociaciones entre Bruselas y Kiev para tratar de solucionar el caso de la opositora encarcelada Yulia Timochenko, los ucranianos decidieron la semana pasada, presionados por Rusia, cerrar la puerta a los europeos.
La UE afirma que un acuerdo sigue "sobre la mesa" pero las posibilidades de que se firme el viernes en Vilna un acuerdo parecen ínfimas. En un mensaje transmitido por sus familiares, Timochenko pidió este jueves a los líderes europeos que "liberen a Ucrania" firmando sin condiciones el acuerdo si es posible. "Si, presionado por las manifestaciones en Ucrania, (el presidente Viktor) Yanukovich decide en el último momento firmar el acuerdo (...) les pido que firmen el viernes sin dudarlo y sin condiciones, incluyendo lo relativo a mi propia liberación", escribe Timochenko, cuya liberación era hasta ahora una condición impuesta por la UE al Gobierno ucraniano.
La renuncia de las autoridades ucranianas provocó la ira de la oposición proeuropea, que organiza en Kiev manifestaciones multitudinarias que recuerdan la 'Revolución Naranja' de 2004.
El primer ministro, Mykola Azarov, afirmó el miércoles que el proceso de negociación seguía abierto, pero el presidente del país, Victor Yanukovich, había advertido la víspera que Ucrania esperaría mejores condiciones para firmar.

Activistas prorrusos con máscaras del personaje de novela gráfica Guy Fawkes (inspirado a su vez en un personaje histórico), con carteles de la Unión Europea (UE) con la señal de prohibido, en Kiev durante una protesta el 28 de noviembre de 2013

Este jueves por la mañana, la presidenta lituana, Dalia Grybauskaité, "llamó a las sociedades civiles a tener una voz potente cuando los Gobiernos actúan de forma irresponsable", durante un foro ciudadano en Vilna antes de la apertura de la cumbre. Yanukovich estará en la capital lituana para explicar su posición ante sus homólogos europeos, que estarán casi todos presentes. Los 28 quieren saber más sobre las intenciones reales del presidente ucraniano, según una fuente europea. Considerado como prorruso durante su elección de 2010, el presidente parece hacer malabarismos entre Europa y Rusia.
Bruselas alzó el tono contra Moscú esta semana al denunciar públicamente las "presiones" rusas. "La guerra frío terminó", lanzó el miércoles la jefa del Gobierno alemán, Angela Merkel. "Hay que superar esta mentalidad de 'o uno, o el otro'", señaló.
Advertencia a Rusia
La cumbre de la Asociación Oriental debe adoptar una declaración que dirija una advertencia "velada" a Rusia contra una injerencia en los casos de los países vecinos, según el diario polaco Gazeta Wyborcza. El texto debería también llamar a los países de Europa del Este a "reformarse y acercarse de Occidente".
La UE también es criticada por la forma en que negoció con Ucrania. "Bruselas ha cometido un error de juicio" al focalizarse en el 'caso Timochenko' en detrimento de la "política de presión y chantaje" ejercida sobre Kiev por Moscú, declaró el presidente polaco, Bronislaw Komorowski.
Algunos le reprochan también no haber dado a Ucrania y a los otros países de la asociación una perspectiva clara de integración europea, como fue el caso con los países del Este hace 20 años, tras la caída del Muro de Berlín.
La UE trata de minimizar el revés y afirma que se puede firmar un acuerdo con Ucrania en las próximas semanas o meses. De forma más global, espera que no ponga en cuestión el proyecto lanzado en 2009 para tratar de estabilizar a las antiguas repúblicas soviéticas.
En Vilna tendrá que contentarse con rubricar dos acuerdo de asociación, con Georgia y Moldavia. La firma definitiva se producirá dentro de varios meses. Están previstos otros acuerdos menos importantes, como uno con Azerbaiyán sobre los visados.    COPY  http://www.afp.com/es

El ejército sirio se apodera de Deir Atiya, cerca de Damasco

28/11/2013 - 11:55

Damasco (AFP)

El ejército sirio se apoderó este jueves de Deir Atiya, una ciudad clave para conquistar la región de Qalamun, al norte de Damasco, anunció la televisión pública.
"Nuestro ejército heroico tomó el control de Deir Atiya, en la provincia de Damasco, después de haber aplastado los últimos focos terroristas en esta ciudad", declaró una fuente militar citada por la televisión.
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Irán invitó a la AIEA a inspeccionar la planta de Arak el 8 de diciembre

28/11/2013 - 11:43

Viena (AFP)

La Agencia Internacional de la Energía Atómica (AIEA) afirmó este jueves que Irán le invitó a inspeccionar la planta de agua pesada de Arak el 8 de diciembre, por primera vez desde agosto de 2011.
"Puedo informar al consejo de que hemos recibido una invitación de Irán para visitar la planta de producción de agua pesada de Arak el 8 de diciembre", dijo el director general de la AIEA, Yukiya Amano.
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