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Deal to allow Iranian national elections

BAGHDAD, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- The deputy speaker of the Iraqi Parliament said a deal reached by top Iraqi leaders will allow for the first national elections in Iraq since 2005.

Parliamentary Deputy Speaker Khalid al-Attiya said the parliament approved the new deal Sunday night thanks to a closed-door session following of months of discussions on the controversial proposal, The New York Times reported Monday.

"It is a great achievement for Iraq," al-Attiya said of the deal that initially faced opposition in Iraq.

Government officials said despite opposition, the election law deal was agreed upon by Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish leaders.

Previously, Iraq failed to pass an election law on 11 separate occasions and an ensuing Nov. 8 agreement was ultimately vetoed by Tariq al-Hashimi, one of Iraq's two vice-presidents.

The Times said the main point of contention on previous election law deals was the division of Iraqi Parliament seats among the various sects in Iraq.

Healthcare debate may tackle abortion

WASHINGTON, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Consideration on abortion language could come as soon as the U.S. Senate prepares to resume debate on its healthcare reform bill, senators say.

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said on "Fox News Sunday" senators could vote on abortion language Monday, which could influence the outcome of the legislation, Politico reported.

Conservative Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., has threatened to filibuster the legislation unless it includes restrictions on abortion coverage.

Durbin said members of his party were "coming to closure" on abortion language and another contentious issue, the public option.

Senate Democrats deliberated during the weekend on a new public option proposal that would give the Office of Personnel Management authority to run a new national health-insurance plan, congressional aides said. OPM, which oversees the federal employee health plan, would negotiate terms with private insurers and contract with private-sector nonprofits to run the new program.

Nelson, who also opposes a public option, said the new proposal would eliminate the government insurance program in Majority Leader Harry Reid's current bill, which allows states to "opt-out" of a public option, Politico reported.

"Seems to me, it would be in lieu of the public option," Nelson said, adding that the opt-out idea proffered by Reid, D-Nev., "is no longer being talked about."

Khamenei alleges 'plot' over nuclear work

TEHRAN, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said members of the international community are plotting against Iran and its nuclear program.

The Tehran Times reported Monday that Khamenei made his comments regarding the United States, along with Britain and other European countries, in Tehran Sunday while taking part in a ceremony for the holiday of Eid al-Ghadir.

The Iranian leader accused the foreign countries of lying about his country's nuclear efforts in an attempt to alter the international community's opinions about Iran.

Khamenei said his country was simply attempting to develop nuclear technology ahead of its need for such technology, the Times reported.

Khamenei insisted the negative international efforts against Iran and its nuclear program have failed to date.

"The Zionists, the Americans, and other arrogant powers are afraid that the Iranian nation will become an example … and that is why they have been using every trick and plot in order to isolate Iran," Khamenei said.

Secret Service checkpoints breached

WASHINGTON, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Intruders have reached the president or another person under U.S. Secret Service guard eight times since 1980, the federal agency confirmed.

Four of the incidents involved the same man and the most recent intrusion occurred last month when Tareq and Michaele Salahi crashed President Obama's first White House state dinner, The Washington Post reported Monday.

Overall, intruders breached Secret Service checkpoints at least 91 times since 1980, secret service and federal homeland security officials said.

The secret service, however, last year alone successfully protected 34 key U.S. officials and 222 United Nations dignitaries at myriad locations throughout the world, agency spokesman Edwin Donovan said.

Richard Weaver, a California minister, evaded detection four times in 1991, 1997, 2001 and 2003 to infiltrate events for Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, The Post reported.

"I believe God makes me invisible to the security, undetectable," Weaver told reporters after one his arrests.

China's emissions-cut pledge unverifiable

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- China's efforts to reduce its carbon emissions aren't binding and won't be subject to international verification, Chinese officials said.

Climate change specialists said a key to success at the two-week U.N.-sponsored climate change summit that began Monday in Copenhagen, Denmark, would be whether China, the United States, India and the European Union could strike an accord to reduce their combined carbon emissions, The Washington Times reported Monday.

Observers said they expect negotiations would lead to individual countries pledging to lower carbon emissions and an agreement to keep discussions open in 2010.

China, the world's biggest carbon emitter, will be responsible for about 29 percent of total global emissions by 2030, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said.

China announced Nov. 26 it would cut carbon emissions per unit of its gross domestic product by between 40 percent and 45 percent by 2020, compared with 2005 levels.

Xie Zhenhua, vice director of the National Development and Reform Commission, China's top planning body, said the country's carbon-intensity goals would be subject to an as-yet unspecified domestic accountability systems, and wouldn't be internationally binding or subject to foreign international scrutiny, the Times said.

China will "reduce the speed of our emissions rise," but still needs to balance environmental and economic factors, Xie said.

India announced last week a goal of reducing emissions by 20 percent to 25 percent from 2005 to 2020, which also would be tied to the country's gross domestic product.

A PricewaterhouseCoopers report released Dec. 1 indicated the United States, the European Union, China and India would account for 63 percent of global carbon emissions between 2000 and 2050.

Poll: Chinese view warming threat as low

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Chinese residents say they see the least threat from global warming while the Japanese see the greatest threat, results from a global Gallup survey indicate.

Public opinion about climate change in the 128 developed and developing countries surveyed by Gallup in 2007-2008 indicated similarities and differences in awareness and the perceived level of threat global warming poses, the Princeton, N.J., polling agency said Monday. China, the United States, India, Russia, and Japan account for more than half of the world's greenhouse gas emissions.

In China, a top greenhouse gas emitter, the 62 percent who are aware of climate change falls roughly at about the world's average. However, China's citizens perceive global warming as a relatively low threat, the survey said.

Of the top five greenhouse gas-emitting countries, India had the lowest level of awareness, with about a third of adults saying they know something about climate change, Gallup said. However, Indians are more likely to say the issue is serious to them than the Chinese.

The Japanese were the most likely to say global warming represents a serious threat to themselves and their families.

Gallup surveys indicate almost all U.S. citizens aged 15 and older are aware of climate change, but 35 percent said do not believe climate change is a serious threat.

Despite high awareness among Russians, 39 percent who indicated they were aware of global warming said it presents a serious threat.

Gallup said it interviewed 206,193 people for its survey.