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“This action has raised regional tensions and increased the risk of accidents and miscalculation.”

Vice President Joseph Biden, expressing U.S. opposition to China’s declaration of a new air defense zone Article, this page

Thai protests to halt for king’s birthday

BANGKOK - Anti-government protesters in Bangkok said they will suspend street rallies Thursday to mark the birthday of Thailand’s king, before resuming a push to oust Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

“From Dec. 6 we will resume the fight every day, every hour and every minute until we achieve victory,” protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban told supporters late Tuesday in Bangkok.

He has called for the government to be replaced by an unelected council to combat corruption and destroy the political network of Yingluck’s brother, ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was toppled by a military coup in 2006.

Protesters entered the grounds of Yingluck’s office and Bangkok’s police headquarters Tuesday without facing any resistance, as security forces moved to ease tensions after more than two days of violent clashes.

Thai financial markets are closed Thursday to mark the 86th birthday of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world’s longest-reigning living monarch.

Iran official: Deal left Netanyahu forlorn

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran’s foreign minister said Tuesday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has become desperate after the Islamic Republic agreed last month to cap its nuclear program in return for eased Western sanctions.

A report by the semiofficial ISNA news agency quotes Mohammad Javad Zarif as saying Netanyahu had deceived the world for a long time but “he is desperate now and he does not know what to do.”

Iran agreed to freeze parts of its nuclear program in return for relief from Western sanctions while the sides try to negotiate a final settlement in the next six months. Netanyahu has sharply criticized the deal as not being tough enough on Iran. Israel and the West suspect Iran’s nuclear program has a military dimension. Iran denies the charge.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrives in the region today to discuss the Iran deal with Netanyahu and to advance Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

1% of NSA files printed, U.K. editor says

LONDON - The editor of British newspaper The Guardian said Tuesday that his newspaper has published just 1 percent of the material it received from former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, and denied that the paper had placed lives or national security at risk.

Under questioning by lawmakers on Parliament’s Home Affairs Committee, Alan Rusbridger accused British authorities of trying to intimidate the newspaper and warned of “national security being used as a trump card” to stifle debate.

The Guardian helped create a global debate on privacy and security by publishing a series of stories based on leaks from Snowden disclosing the scale of telephone and Internet surveillance by spy agencies in the U.S. and Britain.

Rusbridger said the leak amounted to about 58,000 files, and the newspaper had published “about 1 percent” of the total. “I would not expect us to be publishing a huge amount more,” he said.

Assistant Chief Commissioner Cressida Dick told the committee that London’s police force was investigating possible breaches of terrorism laws and Britain’s Official Secrets Act, but declined to say whether The Guardian is under investigation.

Polonium didn’t kill Arafat, French lab says

PARIS - Extensive reports by French scientists into Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s death have ruled out poisoning by radioactive polonium, his widow said Tuesday. The results contradict earlier findings by a Swiss lab and mean it’s still unclear how Arafat died nine years ago.

Scientists from several countries have tried to determine whether polonium played a role in his death in a French military hospital in 2004. Palestinians have long suspected Israel of poisoning him, which Israel denies.

After a 2012 report that traces of radioactive polonium were found on Arafat’s clothing, Arafat’s widow filed a legal complaint in France seeking an investigation into whether he was murdered.

As part of that investigation, French investigators had Arafat’s remains exhumed and ordered genetic, toxicology, medical, anatomical and radiation tests on them. Suha Arafat and her lawyers were notified Tuesday of the results.

She told reporters in Paris that they exclude the possibility of poisoning by polonium, a rare and extremely lethal substance. She said the French investigators don’t rule out the possibility that he died of natural causes.

Front Section, Pages 6 on 12/04/2013

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