Headlines for a day:

There are so many interesting stories in circulation today, just the headlines and a brief intro will do:

Ahmadinejad: European countries are puppets of a US master

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday denounced European countries that are tightening sanctions on Iran as puppets of a US master and said he was surprised at their moves to isolate Tehran's central bank."We have had no relations with America for the past 32 years so we had no relationship with them yesterday and won't have tomorrow," Ahmadinejad said in a speech broadcast live on state television."But we are surprised by these European puppets, who immediately repeat whatever their master says like impotent servants."

Street clashes rage in Cairo, death toll at 37

Street clashes rumbled on in Cairo on Wednesday as protesters derided a deal struck between Egypt's ruling generals and mostly Islamist parties for a faster transfer to civilian rule.

The death toll in five days of violence climbed to 37 by a Reuters count after a man was killed in the city of Alexandria. Hardcore protesters battled police through the night in Cairo.

'Blast rocks Hezbollah stronghold in Lebanon'

A large explosion rocked a Hezbollah stronghold in the city of Tyre on the southern Lebanese coast late on Tuesday night, Lebanon newspaper The Daily Star reported on Wednesday.The Daily Star quoted local media as saying the explosion took place at a Hezbollah arms cache. A Lebanese security source did not confirm the media reports, saying the cause of the blast could not be determined due to Hezbollah security's closure of the area.

Turkey says Israeli, Cypriot gas drilling illegal

Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said on Wednesday Israeli and Cypriot energy exploration in the Mediterranean was illegal, agreement should first be reached with all relevant parties, and resources should be equally shared.

Turkey and Cyprus are in dispute over the energy resources in the eastern Mediterranean and Texas-based Noble Energy started drilling in September a Cypriot offshore block abutting another block controlled by Israel.

Israel Prepares for Biological Terrorist Attack

The defense and health ministries will stage an exercise dubbed ‘Orange Flame 6” in the north next week and simulate an “unconventional terrorist” attack.The two-day drill next Wednesday and Thursday will simulate a biological outbreak of a contagious disease, attacking and infecting the cities of the north, primarily Afula, Tiberias, and the Nazareth area in the Galilee.

Israeli Strike on Iran will 'Jam, Blind, Deafen' Defenses

An Israeli attack on nuclear sites in Iran would go beyond air strikes from fighter planes and likely include electronic warfare against Iran’s electric grid, Internet, cellphone network, and emergency frequencies for fire and police services, according to a report by Eli Lake, a correspondent for Newsweek and the Daily Beast.

Expert: Muslim Brotherhood May Seize Power in Egypt

Middle East expert Dr. David Bukay of Haifa University said on Tuesday that he is concerned over the possibility that the extremist Muslim Brotherhood will take power in Egypt. Bukay’s comments come on the heels of the renewed protests in Egypt, some of which have been led by the Muslim Brotherhood.

Bukay compared the methods of the Muslim Brotherhood to those of Hamas when it took over power in Gaza, and said that the Brotherhood is making its way slowly but surely towards taking power.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards dare Israel to attack

Iran dares Israel to attack, because the retaliation would send the Jewish state to "the dustbin of history," a senior Revolutionary Guards commander said, according to the Fars news agency Monday.

"For some time there has been a hidden energy we hope to expend to consign the enemies of Islam forever to the dustbin of history," he said.

"Our ballistic (missile) capacity never ceases to grow," he added.
The comments were one of the most belligerent reactions yet by an Iranian official to speculation that Israel was considering launching air strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

Iran developing advanced missile defense system

Iran could be getting outside help in developing its own missile defense system, a preeminent Israeli missile expert told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.

Uzi Rubin, an architect of Israel’s missile defense program, was responding to Iranian reports boasting of a new domestic missile defense system named “Bavar 373,” which Tehran claimed was “a substitution for S-300 (Russian) missile system.”

A report by the semi-official Iranian Student News Agency on Tuesday quoted the commander of the Khatamol al-Anbiya Air Defense Base, Brigadier General Farzad Esmaili, as saying that the Bavar 373 had “higher and more advanced capabilities than the S-300” and that the system would be “completed soon.”

Russian Warships in Syrian Waters

The rift between Russia and the West over Syria and Iran has widened on Tuesday as Moscow sent warships to Syrian shores in a show of support for the regime of President Bashar al-Assad and slammed new United States sanctions against Iran as “unacceptable”.

Three Russian warships have entered Syrian territorial waters, Russian wire services reported on Tuesday citing Syrian sources. The news came a day after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the West and Arab monarchies of engaging in “political provocation” in Syria by rejecting dialogue between the opposition and authorities and welcoming armed attacks on government offices.

The Russian warships were reported to be heading towards the Syrian port of Tartus, where Russia has a naval base. A source close to the Syrian President said the Russian ships would patrol Syrian waters “to prevent any military interference”.

Study: Radioactive water reaches international date line

Radioactive water from the damaged Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant has reached the international date line, about 4,000 kilometers east of Japan in the Pacific Ocean, according to estimates.

The concentration of radioactive cesium-137 will be 0.1-0.01 becquerel per liter by the end of November, 10 to 100 times higher than before the accident started, according to estimates by the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology.

Massive Hydrovolcanic Explosion Inevitable at Fukushima

On September 20, 2011, Hiroaki Koide, assistant professor at Kyoto University’s Research Reactor Institute, estimated that material from the nuclear fuel rods may be twelve meters deep underground at reactors one and three.

If the fuel reaches an underground water source, Haruo explained, it will result in the contamination of water, soil and the sea. More catastrophic, underground super-heated water will ultimately create a massive hydrovolcanic explosion.

Haruo said debris is spreading in Pacific Ocean. On November 15, tons of radioactive debris reached the Marshall Islands.

France, Germany to press euro zone treaty change

French President Nicholas Sarkozy has embraced a German campaign for treaty change that could give European authorities intrusive powers to intervene in the national budgets of countries sharing the euro currency.

France and Germany will soon propose amendments to the European Union treaty in response to the bloc's sovereign debt crisis, Sarkozy said on Tuesday.

"We will do everything not just to defend Europe but also to consolidate it."

Strong Quake Rattles Bolivia

A strong 6.2-magnitude earthquake rattled Bolivia on Tuesday and was also felt in Peru and Chile, but the epicenter was deep underground and there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties

Quake shakes southern Greek Island

Seismologists say an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.3 has struck the southern Greek island of Crete. There are no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
The European-Mediterranean Seismological Center gave the preliminary magnitude as 5.5. Magnitudes given by different seismological centers often vary.

Strong 6.2 Magnitude Earthquake Rattles Bolivia