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Iran displays captured US drone
It is a precious prize for the Islamic Republic. State television has been showing pictures of a US drone Iran says it forced down near the Afghan border.?�While Washington is saying little, the US press is claiming the aircraft was part of a secret American surveillance mission targeting Iran’s nuclear sites.?�Iran’s Foreign Ministry has reportedly summoned the Swiss ambassador, representing US interests in Iran, to condemn what it says was a violation of airspace.?�A huge explosion at a military base near Tehran last month also raised suspicions that foreign intelligence services could be operating in Iran.?�Some 17 Revolutionary Guards were said to have died, including the head of the elite force’s missile programme. Iran said the blast was caused by an accident.?�It insists its nuclear programme is peaceful. But a UN nuclear watchdog report last month fuelled Western concerns that Iran is seeking to develop the capabilities needed to make atomic weapons.

The internet’s: facing the opportunities and the dangers ahead
Jean-Marc Tassetto is the director of Google, France. He spoke to us of the opportunities that those forging tomorrow’s internet will be trying to create, and also about how Google and companies like it can react to the challenges thrown up by the World Wide Web.

Fraud claims overshadow Russian election
The Russian election has been marked by protests in Moscow and St Petersburg, with activists claiming the outcome was rigged by the Kremlin. The protestors denounced the banning of certain parties. Police arrested about 100 people in Moscow and around 70 in St Petersburg. Rights groups and government opponents say the authorities used legal technicalities to prevent some candidates from taking part in the election and distort the results in favour of the ruling party. Electoral officials dismissed their claims. One independent monitoring group, Golos, has accused the Kremlin of trying to intimidate it after an official investigation into its activities was launched. Golos is funded by European and US groups including the European Commission. Some media have also complained of coming under pressure from the Russian authorities. A link to what Golos calls a ‘map of violations’ was removed from the Gazeta website. One of its editors resigned in protest.

Greenpeace raid on French nuclear plants ends
Two more Greenpeace activists have been arrested by the French authorities after breaking into the grounds of a nuclear reactor in the southern town of Cruas. The men were the last of 11 to be discovered as part of a stunt staged by the environmentalists aimed at exposing the vulnerability of several French nuclear sites. Head of Greenpeace policy, Karine Gavand said it had been all too easy to break into the installations: “ The French are not prepared for a terrorist attack because it is considered that these risks are too low to be taken into consideration so they are ignored.” At another site near Paris nine activists filmed themselves slipping past security in a dawn raid. Nuclear energy has become a major issue in France in the 2012 presidential campaign. The country has been debating its safety since the Fukushima disaster in Japan. A much embarrassed French government has said although at no time were activists able to enter highly protected areas, lessons will be learned and an investigation launched.

What kind of Europe should we be building?
The mayors of Lyon and Leipzig led an interesting debate entitled ‘Should France imitate Germany?’ Gerard Collomb cited Leipzig’s economic turnaround after a long period of stagnation and stubbornly high unemployment in the wake of German reunification in 1990. As for the current mayor of Leipzig, Burkhard Jung called for a Europe build on the German federal model, with an elected Commission and genuine European political parties. (Interview in English, French and German)

European markets at close: 01.12.11
A roundup of the days markets data from euronews.net, brought to you as video on demand.

HIV kittens, progress and ignorance
HIV experts around the world are increasingly optimistic that progress is being made against the virus. As in all of subsaharan Africa, the AIDS infection rate is declining, in spite of high-risk sexual behaviour, Portuguese RTP reported. Some people are being less careful in Europe, with an increase in cases of HIV in Switzerland’s homosexual community, Swiss TSI reported. Brazil has succeeded in stabilising its HIV epidemic. The country invests a lot in fighting the virus, Swiss TSR reported. HIV research is gaining ground around the world. France 3 focused on American and French progress with genetically modified kittens.

EU considers oil sanction against Iran
The EU is considering a possible oil embargo against Iran over its nuclear programme. It was one of a raft of sanctions discussed by the bloc’s foreign ministers at a meeting Brussels. The union wants to increase economic pressure on Tehran after a report by international atomic experts said Iran had moved closer to developing a nuclear bomb. The ministers agreed to extend a list of people and entities affected by EU sanctions. They also said the energy, financial and transport sectors were among areas where new measures could be introduced after a meeting next month. The sanctions come against a backdrop of soaring tensions between the Islamic Republic and Britain after its embassy in Tehran was stormed by protesters. The UK responded by shutting Tehran’s embassy in London. It is understood the EU is divided over an oil embargo, as this could hit some member states including Greece, and push up world energy prices. Also read- The new wave of sanctions on Iran

Euro zone credit ratings threat ahead of crucial summit
US ratings agency Standard and Poor’s continued to ratchet up the pressure on EU leaders on Tuesday. As well as threatening to slash credit ratings across the euro zone it has put the European Financial Stability Facility on negative watch. Its logic is that the facility’s performance depends on the creditworthiness of six AAA rated countries that could be downgraded. They include France, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Finland and Luxembourg. S&P recognises that the accord reached between Germany and France could mean that certain euro zone states will avoid a credit downgrading. The German Finance Minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble, said S&P’s warning is a way of forcing Europe to act: “The warning by Standard and Poor’s is not based on real economic data in the AAA countries but on the insecurity in the financial markets about the euro zone as a whole. In this respect we take this assessment as further reassurance to do everything to achieve a good result on 9 December.” A “good result” could well involve closer fiscal oversight of the euro zone. In a report seen by news agency Reuters, which is to be discussed at Friday’s summit, European Commission President Herman Van Rompuy says such a policy could be enabled through minor, rapid adjustments to existing EU treaties.