VARIOUS NEWS BRIEFS/REPORTS

Iran: U.S. Sub Was Spying

http://www.indiadaily.com/breaking_news/84727.asp

U.S. Sub Was Spying Jan. 11, 2007

The U.S. submarine Newport News was spying on Iranian coastal installations -- specifically, anti-aircraft defense sites -- when it collided with the Japanese tanker Mogamigawa on Jan. 8 near the Strait of Hormuz, Hezbollah sources said.

http://www.ameinfo.com/106763.html IRAN

$1bn Iraq reconstruction loan Iran: (while 400,000 children live hungry and unsheltered on the streets of Tehran! Plus tens of thousands abandoned women).

Iran is to loan $1bn to Iraq for reconstruction purposes, reported the Gulf Daily News citing the IRNA news agency. Iranian Economy Minister Davoud Danesh Jafari said Iraq had committed to using Iranian contractors and experts for the various infrastructure projects. The loan will be directed towards the construction of power plants, roads, hospitals and schools.

http://www.ameinfo.com/106098.html

Total Oil - Iran investigation:

French energy group Total is being investigated over alleged $2bn bribes paid to Iran, MSNBC report. The bribes relate to the South Pars gas contract, which Total won in 1997. Christophe de Margerie, Total's head of exploration and production who is due to take over as chief executive in February, faces separate charges of corruption during the UN oil-for-food programme.

http://www.ameinfo.com/106281.html

UAE gas deal concerns Iran: (business leverage or blackmail)?

Iran's Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri Hamaneh said last week that the country will be unwilling to export gas to the UAE unless the price suggested for its deal with Sharjah's Crescent Petroleum is revised upwards, reported the IRNA. Hamaneh said the MD of Crescent was prepared to hold face to face talks to resolve the issue.

http://www.ameinfo.com/104936.html

Irancell, Hua discussions Iran: (includes Chinese equipment to monitor and control cell phone and text messages).

Irancell, Iran's second mobile provider, and China's Hua have been holding discussions about the production of base station transceiver and base station controller systems, reported the Tehran Times.

A senior official from Irancell told the ISNA news agency that talks concerning the setting up of assembly lines in Iran had gone well. He added that the manufacture of other communication products was also possible.

LEBANON http://www.ameinfo.com/99811.html

The Professional Computer Association of Lebanon, Intel, MercyCorps, IESC, Microsoft, CISCO, CA and UNDP launches training and technology centre in Baalbek. (one of the sites where Iraqi WMDs were moved into pre-constructed silos and concrete storage facilities)

The PCA ICT Academy, an ICT development project which aims to transform the lives of thousands of families throughout Lebanon, announced the opening of a training and technology centre in Baalbek.

Yemen http://www.ameinfo.com/106776.html

Yemen eyes GCC nuclear plan

Yemen is keen to join a nuclear energy programme currently being considered by neighbouring GCC countries according to President Ali Abdullah Saleh and cited by Reuters. The GCC is to look at a peaceful nuclear option amid geopolitical concerns over Iran's objectives with its nuclear activities.