Nation and World in Brief 2-12

Ahmadinejad: Iran to disclose new nuclear projects soon

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran will disclose new nuclear projects in the coming days, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Saturday.

“Within the coming days we will witness (the) opening and operation of new nuclear projects in Iran,” Ahmadinejad said at a ceremony in Tehran marking the 33rd anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution.

He did not say what the new projects would be, but he was likely referring to the opening of the new uranium enrichment site of Fordo, located south of Tehran, which is said to be capable of enrichment at 3.5, 4 and 20 percent.

“The world should know that despite all pressures, Iran will not withdraw one inch from its principles and (nuclear) rights,” he said.

“All countries have put pressure on us for not obtaining nuclear knowhow, but all these pressures were futile. We not only now have the nuclear knowhow but also are capable of providing for our (nuclear) needs by our own local experts,” Ahmadinejad said.

Obama urges middle-class tax cut extension

NEW YORK — President Barack Obama on Saturday urged Congress to extend a payroll-tax cut, with the clock ticking on the time remaining for lawmakers to act or have taxes rise for millions of working Americans.

“If Congress refuses to act, middle-class taxes will go up. It’s that simple,” Obama said Saturday in his weekly radio and Internet address about the tax cut, which expires at the end of February and amounts to roughly $1,000 a year for the typical family, or $40 a paycheck.

In December, lawmakers agreed on a two-month extension of the tax cut. But legislation to extend it would also renew jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed and stop a 27 percent reduction in Medicare payments to physicians. The measure costs more than $150 billion and Congress needs to figure out to cover the expenditures.

In the Republican reply, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell targeted Obama’s not-yet-released budget, saying the president’s fiscal plan likely would impede job creation with a tax hike while not addressing the nation’s debt.

“We can expect that this will not be a proactive budget built to promote fiscal responsibility and future prosperity. Rather, it appears we’ll see a bloated budget that doubles down on the failed policies of the past,” said McDonnell.

Obama’s budget, to be released Monday, would let Bush-era tax cuts for Americans at the high-end of the tax brackets expire. It is also expected to request the elimination of corporate tax loopholes in addition to reduced corporate tax rates.

U.S. general discusses crackdown with Egypt ruler

CAIRO — The United States’ top general discussed an Egyptian crackdown on Western-funded pro-democracy groups with the head of the country’s ruling military council on Saturday, as another two foreigners were arrested on charges of fomenting discontent on the first anniversary of Hosni Mubarak’s ouster.

The meeting between Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey and Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi took place as relations between the two allies have reached their lowest level in decades.

Egypt, which regularly blames anti-military protests on foreign meddling, has referred 16 American civil society employees to trial on charges of using State Department funds to finance unrest in Egypt. Among those referred to trial is Sam LaHood, the head of the Egypt office of the Washington-based International Republican Institute and the son of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

And in an indication authorities will continue to push the line that foreigners are stirring up trouble, Egyptian police said they had arrested an Australian journalist and an American student whom they say residents accused of trying to bribe people to join a strike aimed at pressuring military rulers to transfer power to civilian rule.

The new arrests follow warnings from both the White House and Congress that the United States could cut an annual $1.5 billion aid package to Egypt over the crackdown on the civil society groups.

Syrian general assassinated

BEIRUT — A Syrian general was assassinated Saturday outside his home in the capital, Damascus, the official state news service said, as violence continued to rage in the central city of Homs and elsewhere in the country.

Three gunmen waited for Brig. Gen. Issa al-Kholi and shot him as he left his residence, the official Syrian Arab News Agency reported.

The slain general, a senior military physician who headed a Damascus hospital, was believed to have been one of the highest-ranking military officers killed in the almost year-long conflict.

By wire sources