Europeans say $3.3M nuclear sale foiled
VIENNA -- Austrian and Moldovan authorities have broken up an organized crime ring suspected of smuggling nuclear materials, the European police agency said Friday.
Europol, which coordinated and supported the operation, said the ring was attempting to sell "radiological material to an army" for $3.33 million.
Europol said the material was purported to be uranium-235, an isotope that can be used as a fuel for nuclear power plants, or in nuclear weapons, but that results were not yet available on whether it actually was.
The ring was infiltrated by a Moldovan undercover agent, Europol said, but a spokesman said he could not specify which countries were involved and refused to comment further.
Three people were arrested Nov. 24 in Vienna, one of whom has a previous conviction related to such activities, Europol said. Photos show members of Austria's police tactical team surrounding a black sedan in a parking lot, pointing guns at the driver's side and smashing in a back window with a baton.
Moldovan police confirmed their involvement, and said the three suspects had been monitored for the past year. They did not provide further information.
Austrian authorities refused to comment on the case, and further details were not immediately available.
China adds restrictions for U.S. envoys
BEIJING -- China said Friday that it will now require U.S. diplomats to give five days' notice before holding meetings with Chinese officials and academics in retaliation for a similar restriction by Washington.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that the rule was a direct response to Washington's move in October to require all Chinese diplomats to preregister for meetings with officials down to the municipal level as well as visits to educational and research institutions.
Hua said the U.S. should "correct its mistakes, revoke the relevant decision, and provide support and convenience for Chinese diplomatic and consular staff in the U.S. to perform their duty."
The tit-for-tat restrictions come during a trade war between the world's two largest economies and U.S. allegations that Chinese telecommunications technology provider Huawei poses a security threat to Western democracies.
Protesters return to Israel-Gaza border
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Thousands of Palestinians demonstrated along the Gaza-Israel frontier Friday as the territory's Hamas rulers resumed regular protests after a three-week pause.
The renewed weekly protests came as leaders from Hamas and the smaller but more radical Islamic Jihad were in Cairo, talking with Egyptian mediators about cementing a cease-fire with Israel that is expected to ease Gaza's 12-year-old blockade.
Organizers of the marches kept them restrained Friday, with no burning tires or firebombs, and with only a few protesters approaching the fortified perimeter fence and hurling stones at Israeli troops with slingshots.
The Health Ministry said 14 Palestinians were wounded by Israeli fire, four of them with live gunshots.
The militant Hamas group had put the weekly marches on hold since mid-November after a short round of cross-border fighting with Israel.
The fighting, the worst in months, was sparked by an Israeli targeted killing of a senior Islamic Jihad commander. Over the past decade, Israel and Hamas have fought three wars and dozens of shorter skirmishes.
Hazem Qassem, a Hamas spokesman, said his movement is determined to break the blockade and that the talks in Cairo, which also include bilateral discussions with Islamic Jihad, were for this purpose.
Unconfirmed reports say Egypt has proposed a five-year truce that will include economic incentives to Gaza to sustain calm.
In the West Bank, meanwhile, Israeli forces shot a 22-year-old Palestinian near the city of Hebron. The Health Ministry said the man was in serious condition after a live bullet hit him in the chest.
Gas blast kills 11 Iranians at wedding
TEHRAN, Iran -- An explosion of a heating-gas pipe killed at least 11 people and injured 42 others during a wedding ceremony in western Iran, the country's state television reported Friday.
The report said five children and five women were among those killed in the explosion, which took place Thursday evening in the predominantly Kurdish city of Saqqez, about 255 miles west of the capital, Tehran.
Three of the injured were reported to be in serious condition. The report said the source of the explosion was a leaky pipe that was feeding the heater inside the wedding hall.
The government announced a one-day public mourning in western Kurdistan province.
Iran occasionally sees such incidents, which are mainly blamed on widespread disregard for safety measures, old and outdated equipment and inadequate emergency services.
In 2005, a fire broke out in a mosque in central Tehran during prayers, killing 59 worshippers and injuring about 250 people.
-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports
A Section on 12/07/2019