CentrePoint News News That Matters

By ABC

Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond has unveiled plans for a referendum next year on whether the nation should seek independence from the United Kingdom.

Launching the paper spelling out the proposed options for Scotland’s future, Mr Salmond said “the debate in Scottish politics is no longer between change or no change”.

“It’s about the kind of change we seek, and the right of the people to choose their future in a free and fair referendum,” he said.

“This historic document sets out the case for Scottish independence with unprecedented depth and clarity.”

The paper, launched on Saint Andrew’s Day, Scotland’s national day, sets out four options: keeping the status quo; devolving limited further powers from London to Edinburgh; devolving everything apart from foreign affairs and defence policy; and full independence.

Mr Salmond hopes to bring forward proposed legislation early in the new year and hold a referendum in around 12 months’ time.

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http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/12/01/2757985.htm?section=world

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By BBC

US President Barack Obama has issued new orders for the US military in Afghanistan after deciding how many more troops to send, officials say.

Mr Obama told senior military leaders about his long-awaited decision on troop numbers on Sunday night, a White House spokesman said.

The president is now briefing the UK, French and Russian leaders on the plan.

The moves come as British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he would send 500 more soldiers to the country.

According to US media reports, Mr Obama is set to formally announce that a further 30,000 troops are to be sent to Afghanistan in a televised address on Tuesday.

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8387065.stm

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By Michelle A. Vu

A Chinese court sentenced the pastor and leaders of a 50,000-member megachurch in northeastern China to prison, rights groups reported Thursday.

Pastor Wang Xiaoguang of Linfen Fushan Church in Linfen, northern Shanxi province received three years for “illegal land occupation” and his wife Yang Rongli received a maximum of seven years for “illegal land occupation” and “assembling a crowd to disrupt public order”, according to ChinaAid Association. Other church leaders received three- to four-and-a-half-year prison sentences.

The sentences are some of the toughest for house church leaders in recent years.

“To punish an innocent house church leader with seven years imprisonment is the most serious sentence since 2004 when the senior Henan house church leader Pastor Zhang Rongliang received a similar length,” said CAA President Bob Fu in a statement. “We strongly condemn these unjust sentences, which are based on trumped-up changes.”

The trial was held at the People’s Court of Raodu district, Linfen City on Wednesday and lasted over 12 hours. Only one family member for each of the accused church leaders was allowed to attend the court hearing. In total, only four family members were at the trial for the five church leaders.

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http://www.christiantoday.com/article/china.sentences.megachurch.leaders.to.prison/24746.htm

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By BBC

Iran’s government has approved plans to build 10 new uranium enrichment plants, according to state media.

The government told the Iranian nuclear agency to begin work on five sites, with five more to be located over the next two months.

It comes days after the UN nuclear watchdog rebuked Iran for covering up a uranium enrichment plant.

Western powers say Iran is trying to develop nuclear arms. Iran says its nuclear programme is peaceful.

BBC Tehran correspondent Jon Leyne says Sunday’s announcement is a massive act of defiance likely to bring forward direct confrontation over Iran’s nuclear programme.

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8385275.stm

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By AP via Fox News

PARKLAND, Wash. —  Multiple police officers have reportedly been shot near McChord Air Force Base in Parkland, Wash.

Local television news reports did not release information on how many officers were shot or what their conditions are.

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http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,577691,00.html

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By CBC

Commonwealth nations, including Canada, called for a legally binding international deal on climate change and backed the idea for a fund to help poorer countries cope with the effects of a warming planet.

The 53 nations — many of which are smaller island states prone to rising sea levels and other effects of climate change — said Saturday a climate deal should be adopted no later than next year and that a special fund should begin in 2010 and grow to $10 billion US annually by 2012.

“Climate change is the predominant global challenge,” the Commonwealth leaders said in a declaration Saturday. “For some of us, it is an existential threat.”

The document called for a “legally binding” agreement.

“I look forward to seeing a comprehensive agreement in Copenhagen where we’ll actually get on with actually reducing emissions as opposed to setting abstract targets,” said Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who is attending the three-day Commonwealth meeting in the twin-island Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago.

Harper agreed only two days ago to attend next month’s UN meeting after U.S. and Chinese leaders agreed to go, and was urged on Friday by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to set ambitious greenhouse gas emissions targets as soon as possible.

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http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/11/28/commonwealth-climate.html

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By Rasmussen

A federal medical panel’s recommendation that women can now wait until age 50 to get a routine mammogram instead of age 40 is stirring up strong debate. The latest Rasmussen Reports survey finds that 81% of adults disagree with the panel’s recommendation.
Just nine percent (8%) agree with the new guideline, and another nine percent (9%) are not sure.

However, 12% of women agree with the recommendation, while 12% of men are not sure. Women over 40 are more skeptical than any other age group.

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http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/lifestyle/general_lifestyle/november_2009/81_disagree_with_new_mammogram_recommendation

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By CDN

LAHORE, Pakistan, November 27 (CDN) — A young Christian man is in hiding in Pakistan from Taliban militants who seek to kill him for “blasphemy” because he defended his faith.

In February Jehanzaib Asher, 22, was working in a barbershop his family jointly owns with his cousin in Wana, South Waziristan – a Taliban stronghold in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas in Pakistan’s northwest – when the Islamic militants showed up to try to convert him to Islam.

It was not the first time the Taliban’s Noor Hassan had delivered strident sermons to him and his relatives, and this time Asher decided not to listen silently. He defended Christianity by citing verses from the Bible, and Hassan and another Islamic militant viciously beat him – breaking his left leg and some ribs and leaving his left hand non-functional.

He told Compass that he only defended Christianity and did not comment on Islam.

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http://www.compassdirect.org/english/country/pakistan/12066/

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By BBC

A bomb blast caused the Russian train crash in which at least 26 people were killed, intelligence officials say.

The Nevsky Express derailed with nearly 700 on board as it ran through remote countryside between the capital Moscow and the second city, St Petersburg.

Investigators found “elements of an explosive device” at the scene of Friday’s attack, a statement said.

Workers inspect train damage. (Photo by BBC)

Officials said a second, less powerful device went off on Saturday near the site of the first, but no-one was hurt.

There was no immediate confirmed claim of responsibility for the blast on Friday evening, which hit a train popular with government officials and business executives at peak travel time.

“Criminology experts say, on the basis of preliminary information, that an improvised explosive device, equivalent to 7kg (15 lb) of TNT, had gone off,” said Alexander Bortnikov, head of Russia’s domestic intelligence service.

At least three of the 14 carriages left the tracks as the train reportedly approached speeds up 200 km/h (130mph).

Russia’s prosecutor-general has opened a criminal case on terrorism charges, Russian news agencies say.

If terrorism is confirmed as the cause, observers say the derailment would represent the deadliest attack outside the volatile North Caucasus region for five years.

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8383960.stm

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By Yomiuri Shimbun

TOKYO — Japan and China have agreed to conduct joint exercises and expand their military exchanges, the defense ministers from the two countries said Friday.

Japanese Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa and his Chinese counterpart, Liang Guanglie, met for about two hours on Friday and agreed on a range of exchanges to deepen their ties and improve communication.

They also agreed to conduct joint exercises “at an appropriate time” to prepare for natural disaster relief and at-sea rescues.

“One of the things we agreed on was to conduct high-level exchanges over the next year,” Kitazawa said. “It demonstrates great progress in our bilateral relations that we have agreed to conduct our first joint maneuvers.”

Japan’s relations with China have been improving lately, particularly on the economic front, but the two have been at odds over territory to Japan’s south, where rich fishing areas and natural resources are located and the border between the two nations remains in dispute.

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http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_JAPAN_CHINA_ASOL-?SITE=YOMIURI&SECTION=HOSTED_ASIA&TEMPLATE=ap_national.html

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