UN rejects Iraq’s offer on nuclear site
VIENNA – The U.N. nuclear agency on Thursday turned down an offer by Iran to visit a site, saying access to it would not help advance its probe of suspicions Tehran worked on atomic arms.
Iran has said since 2012 that experts of the U.N’s International Atomic Energy Agency are free to visit Marivan, an area near the Iraqi border that the agency originally suspected might have been the location of high-explosive experiments linked to setting off a nuclear charge. Those initial suspicions were not borne out, however, and more recently, the IAEA shifted its interest to Parchin, southeast of Tehran.
Diplomats have said that Iran first suggested a visit to Marivan instead of Parchin two years ago and the agency has repeatedly refused any tradeoff. But Thursday appeared to be the first time it did so publicly.
Hong Kong activists vow to continue fight
HONG KONG – Hong Kong authorities demolished a protest camp Thursday at the heart of the city’s 2 -month pro-democracy movement but scores of activists taken away by police vowed their fight for genuine elections wasn’t over.
Hundreds of police officers armed with chain saws and bolt cutters methodically dismantled barricades, tore down canopies and removed banners in a daylong operation to shut the protest site sprawled across a normally busy highway next to the specially administered Chinese city’s financial district.
Police said 209 people were arrested for unlawful assembly and obstructing police officers.
The operation was peaceful and unmarked by the violent clashes seen in previous confrontations between protesters and police.
Associated Press
