Iran test-fires upgraded missile
TEHRAN, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- Iran has test-launched an upgraded surface-to-surface, medium-range missile that is capable of reaching Europe, state-run media reported Wednesday.
Iran's Defense Ministry said the successful launch of the solid-fuel Sejjil-2 missile is part of the Islamic republic's long-term border defense plans, the state-funded Press TV reported. Iran tested the initial version of the Sejjil-2 missile in May.
The Sejjil-2 missile has a longer range than the Shahab-3 missile and is capable of reaching targets 1,250 miles away, putting Israel and U.S. bases in the Gulf region within its range, the BBC reported.
Iranian Defense Minister Gen. Ahmad Vahidi said on Press TV the high-speed missile has "great maneuverability," CNN reported. The minister said the missile has a shorter launch time.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the launch increased the likelihood of more sanctions being imposed on Iran.
"This is a matter of serious concern to the international community and it does make the case for us moving further on sanctions," Brown said.
Climate summit produces forest-saving pact
COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- Climate change negotiators meeting in Denmark moved closer to a pact that would pay countries for preserving forests and other landscapes, negotiators said.
If signed as anticipated, the agreement for the compensation program would provide a system by which countries could be paid for conserving ebbing natural assets based on their contribution to reducing emissions, The New York Times reported Wednesday.
Environmental groups at the U.N-sponsored summit in Copenhagen, Denmark said the pact could be the biggest accomplishment of the summit.
"It is likely to be the most concrete thing that comes out of Copenhagen -- and it is a very big thing," said Fred Krupp, head of the Environmental Defense Fund.
Environmental groups support such a program because forests absorb carbon dioxide, the primary gas linked to global warming. Rain forest destruction, which releases the tree-stored CO2, is estimated to make up about 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions globally.
A final draft of the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation was to be presented Wednesday to summit participants, but likely won't be announced until the end of the week when world leaders arrive, the Times said. Yet to be resolved are how to address the rights of indigenous people living on forest land and how a forest is defined.
New immigration bill introduced in House
WASHINGTON, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- A U.S. House Democrat fired a salvo in the immigration debate by introducing a bill that would lay a path to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants.
Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., told The New York Times the bill reflects a growing impatience among a coalition of Democrats, immigration advocates and others at the slow pace immigration reform is taking.
"This says, 'Here, this is what we want; our proposal is out of the box,'" Gutierrez said.
The bill, scoffed at by Republicans and some Democrats, would beef up security, crack down on employers hiring unauthorized workers and would open the door to citizenship for illegal immigrants, the Times reported Wednesday. To gain legal status under the bill, illegal immigrants already in the United States would have to demonstrate they had been working, pay a fine, learn English and undergo a criminal background check, among other things.
The measure would require the Homeland Security Department to improve immigration jails and would kill a program deputizing local and state officers as immigration agents.
The Gutierrez bill doesn't have a temporary worker program advocated by President Obama, some Democrats and Republicans. Instead, it would create a federal commission to study the best approach for the "future flows of workers."
"In order for immigration reform to be effective, it needs to be comprehensive," said Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who worked with Gutierrez on other immigration bills but not this one. "Any bill without a temporary worker program is simply not comprehensive."
Obama has said he would take up the measure in 2010. Immigration reform efforts during George W. Bush's administration failed despite being backed by Bush and some Republicans.
Judge orders accused terrorist detained
CHICAGO, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- A federal judge in Chicago ordered a suspect in an international terror plot to remain jailed pending trial, saying he posed a flight risk if released
U.S. Magistrate Judge Nan Nolan said she made her decision Tuesday after prosecutors alleged Tahawwur Hussain Rana knew of last year's terror attack on Mumbai beforehand, the Chicago Tribune reported Wednesday.
Rana is charged with providing material support to terrorism in a planned attack on a Danish newspaper that published cartoons about the Prophet Mohammed that incensed many Muslims in 2005.
Rana is a Pakistani native with Canadian citizenship. He owns an immigration business and his net wealth is about $1.6 million, Nolan said.
"Mr. Rana, if he wanted, had the knowledge to be able to flee internationally," Nolan said.
Nolan also expressed concerned about Rana's alleged contacts with the terror organization, Lashkar-e-Toiba, the group blamed for the Mumbai assault.
Rana attorney Patrick Blegen said he had a problem with a government memo alleging Rana knew about the Mumbai attack before it occurred, saying the transcript of the conversation on which prosecutors based their allegations was unintelligible many times, the Tribune said.
Prosecutors said Rana was recorded offering congratulations to Mumbai attack planners, but Blegen said his client wasn't speaking about the assault in his remarks.
Military may add Marines to Africom
STUTTGART, Germany, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- U.S. military officials are considering adding 1,000 Marines to U.S. Africa Command, giving it a rapid deployment force, Stars and Stripes reports.
Officials with Africom and U.S. Marine commanders said no final decision has been made on the Marine Air Ground Task Force. They said the plan is being reviewed.
Experts say the Marines might increase tensions with African leaders, who are suspicious of U.S. intentions on the continent. A few months ago, Special Forces staged a raid in Somalia aimed at a suspected al-Qaida agent.
"At the moment, I would steer clear of that one until their bona fides get established, and that is not now," Richard Cornwell, who is based in South Africa as a senior research fellow at the Institute for Security Studies, told Tuesday's edition of the Army newspaper. "Africa doesn't want to get turned into a new operational zone."
Africom, established under the administration of President George W. Bush, has so far focused on working with African governments on security and training.
