Iran to move enrichment operations if needed: report (Reuters)

TEHRAN (Reuters) ? Iran will move its uranium enrichment plants to safer sites if necessary, a Revolutionary Guards commander was quoted on Wednesday as saying, following speculation that Tehran's enemies could attack the facilities.

The Iranian media report did not give details, but Iran has carried out preparations to shift higher-grade enrichment to an underground facility near the holy city of Qom, offering the sensitive work better protection against any military attacks.

Controversy over Iran's uranium enrichment program has resulted in Western powers imposing increasingly tight economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic. Israel and the United States say they have not ruled out military action if diplomacy fails to persuade Tehran to suspend its activities.

"If conditions require, we will move our uranium enrichment centers to safer places," the semi-official Mehr News Agency quoted Brigadier General Gholamreza Jalali as saying.

Western powers suspect Iran is trying to acquire the ability to produce nuclear weapons. Iran denies this, saying it is enriching uranium only for peaceful purposes such as power generation and medical use.

Israel, widely believed to have the only nuclear arsenal in the Middle East, says a nuclear-armed Iran would threaten its existence.

A November report by the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, suggested that Iran pursued the science needed to make an atomic bomb at least until 2003 and that secret research may be continuing.

"PAINFUL" RESPONSE

Iran started refining uranium last year to 20 percent purity, a level which takes it closer to the 90 percent level needed for bombs. Iran says the material will fuel a medical research reactor.

Adding to Western concern about its aims, Iran said in June it would move this higher-grade enrichment to the Fordow facility - tucked inside a mountain on a former military base - from its main enrichment plant near the central city of Natanz.

Last month's IAEA report said Iran had installed centrifuge machines to enrich uranium at Fordow and that nuclear material had been moved there, indications that enrichment may soon get under way at the site.

Iran says its response to any military action will be "painful."

"If the Americans and Israelis could attack our nuclear facilities and inflict a blow on it, they would have surely done it," said Jalali, head of Iran's Civil Defense Organization.

A hardline lawmaker, Parviz Sarvari, said on Monday that OPEC member Iran planned to carry out military maneuvers near the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf, where about 30 percent of the world's crude oil exports pass through.

But Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman dismissed the lawmaker's remarks, saying it was Sarvari's personal view and did not represent Iran's official view.

However, Iranian officials have warned in the past about the

closure of the strategically important Strait as a possible retaliatory measure if the nuclear facilities were attacked.

Concerns about Iran's disputed nuclear work and threats to major shipping lanes drove up oil prices by more than $2 a barrel on Tuesday to post its biggest gain since late November, in sharp contrast to a fall in most other financial markets.

Brent crude slipped towards $109 on Wednesday.

(Writing by Parisa Hafezi; Additional reporting by Hossein Jaseb in Tehran and by Fredrik Dahl in Vienna; Editing by David Stamop)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iran/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111214/wl_nm/us_iran_nuclear_relocation

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South Africa gallows site becomes museum, memorial (AP)

PRETORIA, South Africa ? Relatives of anti-apartheid militants hanged at South Africa's main gallows are gathering in Pretoria for a ceremony at which President Jacob Zuma will inaugurate the site as a national memorial and museum.

Organizers say the project opening Thursday offers closure for relatives, and a chance for society to confront the wounds of the past and then move on.

The gallows at Pretoria Central Prison was abandoned after the death penalty was abolished in 1995.

Renovations have included posting a sign on a freshly painted wall along a hallway leading to the gallows telling visitors some 3,500 South Africans were hanged over the last century. "Of these," it continues, "130 were patriots whose only crime was fighting oppression."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111215/ap_on_re_af/af_south_africa_gallows_museum

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Report: Rangers brawler Boogaard had brain ailment

NEW YORK (AP) ? Rangers enforcer Derek Boogaard suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain ailment related to Alzheimer's disease that is caused by repeated blows to the head, the New York Times reported.

The 28-year-old Boogaard, who died in May of an accidental overdose of alcohol and oxycodone, was found to have had CTE ? which can be diagnosed only after the death of the patient, according to the third story of an extensive three-part series on Boogaard posted on the newspaper's website Monday night.

Dr. Ann McKee, one of four co-directors of Boston University's Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy and the director of the center's brain bank, saw signature brown spots near the outer surface of Boogaard's brain, which are revealing signs of CTE.

Such damage in someone as young as Boogaard was surprising. Symptoms of the condition include memory loss, impulsiveness, mood swings, and addiction.

"To see this amount? That's a 'wow' moment," McKee said of the damage to Boogaard's brain tissue. "This is all going bad."

The disease was more advanced in Boogaard than it was in famed enforcer Bob Probert, who died of heart failure in 2010 at 45. He played 16 seasons in the NHL and often struggled with alcohol and drug addiction.

Reggie Fleming, who was 73, and 59-year-old Rick Martin, were other hockey players who were found to have CTE.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2011-12-06-HKN-Boogaard-Brain-Damage/id-b225ab0cdecf40319a373befdcb26379

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Paul Ryan to endorse in GOP primaries, help replace ???timid??? congressmen with ???bold conservatives??? with ???bold conservatives??? (Daily Caller)

Republican House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan says he?s on a mission to help elect ?more conservatives in Congress to save the country? and plans to endorse in congressional races where there are ?clear cut cases between reformers and career people.?

?We?re going to try to get behind people who are coming here to save the country and fight for limited government and economic freedom,? Ryan said in an interview with The Daily Caller about his political action committee, Prosperity PAC.

In a memo obtained by TheDC, the Wisconsin congressman plans to ask supporters to donate to his Prosperity PAC to help elect members of Congress ?who aren?t afraid to make the tough, but necessary, decisions to secure our fiscal future, and, when necessary.?

?We need to replace timid Members of Congress with bold conservatives who know what needs to be done,? Paul writes in the memo.

Ryan, whose PAC is also used to defend his ?Plan to Prosperity? budget plan, also said his donations will be used to ?fight Democrats? lies and demagoguery with the facts.?

?Our long-term fiscal problem is clear: Medicare and Medicaid spending is driving the U.S. further into debt and toward the most predictable economic collapse in our nation?s history,? Ryan says in the memo. ?Unless action is taken now, these critical safety nets will no longer exist for those who need them most.?

The House budget chairman wouldn?t say how much money he hopes to raise for his Prosperity PAC.

?I don?t have that figure,? he told TheDC. ?I don?t have a set budget or anything like that. The idea is just to get activists educated, motivated and to help send more men and women to Congress who are coming for a cause and not a career,? he said.

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/dailycaller/20111204/pl_dailycaller/paulryantoendorseingopprimarieshelpreplacetimidcongressmenwithboldconservativeswithboldconservatives

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Afghanistan says needs billions long after troops go (Reuters)

KABUL (Reuters) ? Afghanistan's international backers must not cut funding to Kabul to the degree that it forces the government to choose between spending less on security or development, the finance minister said on Saturday.

A World Bank study released last month said Afghanistan was likely to need around $7 billion a year from the international community to help pay its security and other bills long after foreign troops leave at the end of 2014.

"The World Bank's study makes a case for continued assistance," Finance Minister Omar Zakhilwal said, speaking from the German city of Bonn. "We have done our own analysis and our conclusion with regard to the fiscal gap is not too different from the World Bank's."

Asking Kabul to cut spending on security forces would risk allowing the Taliban-led insurgents to make a comeback, while if services such as health and education were reduced instead, that could indirectly bolster support for the insurgency.

"What they are saying is, these are not options that the Afghan government should be pushed into, we have to know the consequences of pushing the government into these choices," Zakhilwal told Reuters.

Without foreign help, Afghanistan would not be able to pay for its army and police after 2014, currently estimated as a 352,000-man force after the pullout.

"Post-2014, the current level of the security forces is not sustainable for Afghanistan because of the cost," he said. "In the longer term, (the size of) our security force will come down."

With an economic crisis gripping Europe, smaller budgets in the United States, and electorates weary of a decade-long war, Western politicians want to spend much less on Afghanistan, without letting the country descend into civil war.

Aid, which in 2011 was nearly $16 billion, will decline along with troop numbers as the West scales down its presence in Afghanistan. But the United States and its allies face a serious financial burden for many years after the official end of combat operations.

Without detailing levels of foreign assistance required, or the finance ministry's own budget projections, the minister said Afghanistan expected to bring in more revenue from mining projects, trade and transit, and more efficient collection of taxes.

On Monday, Bonn will host a major international conference about the future of Afghanistan.

"What we want to get out of this (conference) is strong, believable political statements from our partners (of) long-term support for development and security," Zakhilwal said.

"I do expect strong, believable statements of support."

Despite the presence of tens of thousands of Western forces in Afghanistan, the United Nations and other groups say violence is at its worst since U.S.-led Afghan forces toppled the Taliban from power in late 2001.

NATO-led forces say they have seen a decline over recent months in attacks launched by insurgents against their troops.

(Editing by Nick Macfie)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111203/wl_nm/us_afghanistan_economy

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Feds to Rick Scott: Florida's youth prisons' dangerous conditions are likely widespread

Florida?s youth-corrections system is so poorly administered that children are assaulted by officers, denied necessary medical care and punished harshly for minor infractions, a federal report released Friday concludes.

Conditions are so severe, the U.S. Department of Justice said, that they violate the Constitution.

The Justice Department?s Civil Rights Division released a scathing 28-page report Friday on conditions at two North Florida youth prisons, the Dozier School for Boys and the Jackson Juvenile Offender Center. Though the two camps were both shut down by state juvenile-justice administrators earlier this year, the report said the state?s ?failed system of oversight and accountability? likely has resulted in dangerous conditions at youth prisons throughout the state.

?These conditions return youth to the community no better ? and likely less-equipped to succeed than when they were first incarcerated,? Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez wrote in a Dec.?1 letter to Gov. Rick Scott, adding that such practices ?erode public confidence in the juvenile justice system and interfere with the state?s efforts to reduce crime.? Miami Herald story by Carol Marbin Miller here.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tampabaycom/blogs/buzz/~3/c43PU_z3sVo/feds-rick-scott-floridas-youth-prisons-dangerous-conditions-are-likely-widespread

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David Beckham Visits Abused, Abandoned Kids In Manila (AP Exclusive)

MANILA, Philippines -- Away from fans' prying eyes, David Beckham took time out from soccer to share his experiences and listen to Filipino children struggling to rebuild their broken lives.

"It's so important to have a dream," Beckham told the former street children Friday at a UNICEF-supported shelter in a suburb of Manila, the Philippine capital where he and his teammates from the Los Angeles Galaxy are playing an exhibition against the country's national team this weekend.

On the sidelines of the Galaxy's Manila trip, Beckham, who is also a UNICEF goodwill ambassador, visited the shelter for children who have been rescued from the streets. They shared tales of domestic abuse and crime ? some fell victim to drugs or were abandoned by their parents.

Wearing a black UNICEF T-shirt, the 36-year-old former England captain listened intently in a private conversation with a group of five children and told them how he started playing when he was 7 years old and eventually achieving his dream of playing for Manchester United.

UNICEF asked that the names of the children and the shelter not be disclosed to protect their privacy.

Conan, a 17-year-old who was abandoned by his parents when he was 7, told Beckham that he dreams of joining the Philippine team and later becoming a coach.

He played in the Street Children's Football World Cup last year in South Africa, where the Philippines beat South Africa 2-1.

The younger children were awe-struck while listening to one of the world's best known athletes.

One 12-year-old girl named Shaina said she wants to be a nurse to help the sick. She often held Beckham's hand as she and the other children guided him around the facility, unfazed by the tattoos that adorn his arms.

Beckham told the UNICEF staff it was incredible that the children had gone through "so much in such a short space of time in their young lives" and learned responsibility and respect.

He said he was lucky to have had the support of both his parents and it was "so sad to see so many children that don't have that support, don't have that love."

He later listened to JM, a former drug user who turned 18 on Friday, sing a rap song in the Filipino language on how drugs ruin lives. After a staff translated the song for Beckham, he gave him a double thumbs up, saying, "You're good!"

The shelter that houses 136 kids has a small soccer field surrounded by separate cottages for boys and girls, a school, a basketball court and a training facility where children learn to sew clothes and cut hair.

Beckham posed with the children for a picture wearing a blue graduation gown and cap made at the sewing room, where he also tried his hand at making a pillow case.

"What struck me the most about coming into the center was it was a real happy place, a real inspiring place," he told The Associated Press. "They are teaching kids unbelievable values. Every child I spoke to today ? they all have dreams, they all have inspirations."

A father of four children, Beckham said it was "heartbreaking to think majority of these children haven't got parents, or haven't got parents to care for them and love them."

Beckham said that because of work, it's been difficult for him "to do some of the things I would like to do ? going out into the field like I obviously have today."

"I think it is important to raise awareness to many issues around the world, many worries around the world," he said. "In my position, thankfully, I can create that kind of interest and awareness to things that are happening around the world."

A highlight of his visit was a brief practice followed by a short game in which he joined one half of the shelter's team.

The star sweated under the midday sun as he helped their shoeless goalkeeper. His side lost 1-0.

___

Online:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/03/ap-exclusive-beckham-visi_n_1126587.html

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