Iran steel factory blast: Foreigners among seven killed
An explosion at a steel factory in Iran has killed seven people including foreign nationals, say reports in Iranian state media.
The blast in the city of Yazd was caused by discarded ammunition which arrived at the plant with a consignment of scrap metal, the official Irna news agency reported.
It happened late on Sunday at the privately owned plant, Irna said.
At least 12 other people are reported to have been injured.
The governor of Yazd region in central Iran, Azizollah Seyfi, said "several of those killed were foreign nationals".
He gave no further details of their nationalities or what caused the blast, although he did say it was being investigated.
A local member of parliament, Ali Akbar Oliaw, said there appeared to have been unexploded munitions in with the steel.
"Among the scrap metal was ammunition which had not worked, and this caused the blast," he was quoted as saying.
Leaders of a U.S. House and Senate negotiating panel on Monday said they had agreed to compromise legislation imposing new sanctions that target Iran's central bank, despite Obama administration misgivings over the measure. They said they hoped to pass it this week.
Yemen
South Sudan
Morocco
Times of India article asserts that Morocco's managed transition to a democratic system provides several lessons. First, King Mohammed VI has shown it is possible for autocrats to devolve political power to the people without compromising on stability. Second, political Islam can exist within a secular democratic system. And third, it is jobs, corruption and accountability that are driving pro-democracy sentiments in the Arab word.
EU Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki has defended the outcome of negotiations on the EU-Morocco fisheries partnership agreement against scathing criticism from MEPs.
During a debate on the agreement on 12 December 2011, British Liberal MEP Chris Davies hit out at the "subsidy of extraordinary proportions" paid by the EU for access to the "over-fished" Moroccan waters.
Justice is one of the most sensitive issues in this tourist-friendly North African country of 32 million, where there is widespread distrust of a court system that most Moroccans believe serves the highest bidder. "Justice" can be bought in civil trials for just $5,000. In sensitive trials against terror suspects or feisty journalists, a call from a powerful official is enough to seal a guilty verdict. At the JDP election win celebration the assembled crowd chanted "the people want the reform of the justice system!"
Syria
Libya
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Libyan leader vows army and police force will be set up in 100 days, promises decentralization
(Ibrahim Alaguri/Associated Press) - Men chant slogans during a protest in Benghazi, Libya, Monday, Dec. 12, 2011. Arabic writing on the banner, right, reads “Libyan youth will protect the revolution, Feb. 15”
TRIPOLI, Libya — Libya’s new leaders said Monday they hope to have a working army and police force up and running in 100 days time, and said ministries would be relocated to cities across the country in a bid to decentralize national authority.
National Transitional Council chairman Mustafa Abdul-Jalil told reporters in the capital Tripoli that that timeline should suffice to restructure the nation’s security apparatus and build confidence it its forces.
“We will announce a system for the security structure of the army and have established police and border guards in no more than 100 days,” Abdul-Jalil said.
Egypt
Turkey
Qatar
Pakistan
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