World / Nation briefs December 5, 2011
Gas prices down 9 cents in past 2 weeks
CAMARILLO, Calif. - The average U.S. price of a gallon of gasoline has dropped 9 cents over the past two weeks.
That's according to the Lundberg Survey of fuel prices, released Sunday, which puts the price of a gallon of regular at $3.29.
Midgrade costs an average of $3.46 a gallon, and premium is at $3.57.
Diesel is down a nickel, to $3.96 a gallon.
Of the cities surveyed, Albuquerque, N.M., has the nation's lowest average price for gas at $2.84. San Francisco has the highest at $3.67.
In California, the lowest average price was $3.54 in Fresno. The average statewide was $3.62, down 13 cents.
Pivotal week for Europe's leaders and fate of euro
BRUSSELS - Europe's government-debt crisis, which has dragged on for more than two years, is entering a pivotal week, as leaders across the continent converge to prevent a collapse of the euro and a global financial panic that could result.
Expectations are rising that Friday's summit of leaders of the 27 countries in the European Union will yield a breakthrough. An agreement on tighter integration of the 17 EU countries that use the euro - especially on budget matters - would be seen as a crucial first step. That could trigger further emergency aid from the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund or some combination, analysts say.
The coming days "will decide if the euro will survive or not," Emma Marcegaglia, the head of Italy's industrial lobby, Confindustria, said Sunday.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, European Central Bank Chief Mario Draghi and even U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will star in a 5-day financial drama leading up to the summit.
If the summit is a failure, Sarkozy warned last week, "the world will not wait for Europe."
Iran says it shot down unmanned US spy plane
TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's armed forces have shot down an unmanned U.S. spy plane that violated Iranian airspace along the country's eastern border, the official IRNA news agency reported Sunday.
An unidentified military official quoted in the report warned of a strong and crushing response to any violations of the country's airspace by American drone aircraft.
"An advanced RQ-170 unmanned American spy plane was shot down by Iran's armed forces. It suffered minor damage and is now in possession of Iran's armed forces," IRNA quoted the official as saying.
No further details were published.
The U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan said in a statement the aircraft may be an American drone that its operators lost contact with last week while it was flying a mission over neighboring western Afghanistan.
A U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the classified nature of the incident, said the U.S. had "absolutely no indication" that the drone was shot down.
Questions swirl around $6 billion nuclear lab
SANTA FE, N.M. - At Los Alamos National Laboratory, scientists and engineers refer to their planned new $6 billion nuclear lab by its clunky acronym, CMRR, short for Chemistry Metallurgy Research Replacement Facility. But as a work in progress for three decades and with hundreds of millions of dollars already spent, nomenclature is among the minor issues.
Questions continue to swirl about exactly what kind of nuclear and plutonium research will be done there, whether the lab is really necessary, and - perhaps most important - will it be safe, or could it become New Mexico's equivalent of Japan's Fukushima?
As federal officials prepare the final design plans for the controversial and very expensive lab, increased scrutiny is being placed on what in recent years has been discovered to be a greater potential for a major earthquake along the fault lines that have carved out the stunning gorges, canyons and valleys that surround the nation's premier nuclear weapons facility in northern New Mexico.
Final preparations for the lab - whose the high-end price tag estimate of $5.8 billion is almost $1 billion more than New Mexico's annual state budget and more than double the lab's annual budget - also comes as a cash-strapped Congress looks to trim defense spending and cut cleanup budgets at contaminated facilities like Los Alamos. It also comes as the inspector general recommends that the federal government consider consolidating its far-flung network of research labs.
Doctors encouraged by Billy Graham's recovery
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Doctors say they're encouraged by the Rev. Billy Graham's improvement as he recovers from pneumonia but haven't set a date for his discharge from a North Carolina hospital.
Officials at Mission Hospital in Asheville said Graham also is progressing in his program of physical therapy and is walking more in the private corridor outside his room.
Graham was admitted Wednesday night after suffering from congestion, a cough and slight fever that was later diagnosed as pneumonia.
The 93-year-old evangelist was visited over the weekend by his son, Franklin Graham, and daughters, Gigi Graham and Anne Graham Lotz and her two daughters. He watched his pastor, Dr. Don Wilton, preach on television as he does at home each Sunday.
Police arrest Occupy Portland demonstrators
PORTLAND, Ore. - Authorities say riot police moved into a downtown Portland park area and arrested several anti-Wall Street protesters Saturday night after they refused to vacate the park.
Police Sgt. Pete Simpson says officers began detaining protesters at South Park blocks around 8:30 p.m., after the park was closed a half hour early.
He said several arrests were made but still doesn't have an exact count.
Occupy Portland demonstrators set up tents in a portion of the park that runs through Southwest Portland earlier in the day and vowed to stay through the winter, defying city officials who said overnight camping will not be allowed.
The protesters had been without an encampment since police swept through a downtown site three weeks ago, making arrests and dismantling tents.
- The Associated Press