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<B>Britain votes to stay nuclear despite revolt</B>
Britain’s parliament backed Prime Minister Tony Blair’s plans to renew the country’s nuclear arsenal as opposition votes helped Blair survive a major rebellion by members of his own party. Eighty-seven politicians from Blair’s Labour Party voted against his plan to spend 15 to 20 billion pounds on new nuclear-armed submarines to replace ones that go out of service in about 2024. It was the biggest rebellion against Blair since a 2003 vote backing war in Iraq and the largest rebellion on a domestic issue in Blair’s decade in power.The revolt could have overturned Blair’s 67-seat majority in the 646-member lower house of parliament, but backing from the opposition Conservatives helped Blair secure a 409-161 vote in favor of renewing the Trident nuclear weapons system.The rebellion was a further blow to Blair’s authority over the party as he prepares to step down in the next few months.
Palestinian factions agree on unity cabinet </B>
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas agreed on the make-up of a unity government and will submit it to parliament for approval on Saturday, officials said.
Palestinians hope the deal will end fighting between secular Fatah and Hamas Islamists, as well as ease a crippling aid embargo of the Palestinian Authority, though it is unclear whether either goal will be accomplished. A Hamas official named the new interior minister as Hani Al-Qawasmi, an academic with no known political affiliation.
Big powers reach tentative deal on Iran sanctions </B>
Ambassadors from six major powers reached a tentative deal on imposing sanctions on Iran that they hope to introduce to the 15-nation UN Security Council yesterday, providing their governments agree. The text, obtained by Reuters, includes a ban on Iranian arms exports, an assets freeze on individuals and firms involved in Tehran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs and a call to nations and institutions to bar new grants or loans.
The measure, which may be adopted next week, would penalize Tehran for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment, which can be used in nuclear bombs or for peaceful ends.
Woman’s voluntary death relaunches euthanasia debate in Spain</B>
The voluntary death of a paralyzed woman who had breathed with the help of a machine for a decade relaunched a debate about euthanasia in Spain yesterday.
Inmaculada Echevarria, 51, died Wednesday night at a hospital in the southern city of Granada after her breathing machine was switched off. The Andalusian regional authorities had approved the procedure on the advice of an ethics commission and of a counselling judicial organ. The authorities argued that Echevarria’s death would not constitute euthanasia – illegal in Spain – but a simple refusal of medical treatment. The Catholic Church, however, opposed the decision, with Cardinal Antonio Canizares describing it as a case of euthanasia and as an “attack against dignity and human life.” The church’s disapproval prevented Echevarria from dying at the Catholic hospital where she had been bed-bound for a decade and where she had wanted to pass away.
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