Tuesday,  December 04, 2012 • Vol. 13--No. 139 • 31 of 36 •  Other Editions

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• The draft constitution has been criticized for not protecting the rights of women and minority groups, and many journalists see it as restricting freedom of expression. Critics also say it empowers Islamic religious clerics by giving them a say over legislation, while some articles were seen as tailored to get rid of Islamists' enemies.
• The country's privately owned TV networks are planning their own protest Wednesday, when they will blacken their screens all day.
• ___

Iran state TV: Revolutionary Guard captures another US drone

• TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran's state TV said Tuesday that the country's Revolutionary Guard has captured a U.S. drone after it entered Iranian airspace over the Persian Gulf.
• The report quoted the Guard's navy chief, Gen. Ali Fadavi, as saying that the Iranian forces caught the "intruding" drone, which had apparently taken off from a U.S. aircraft carrier.
• Fadavi said the unmanned ScanEagle aircraft was now in Iran's possession.
• "The U.S. drone, which was conducting a reconnaissance flight and gathering data over the Persian Gulf in the past few days, was captured by the Guard's navy air defense unit as soon as it entered Iranian airspace," Fadavi said. "Such drones usually take off from large warships."
• He didn't provide any further details nor said when the incident happened. The U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, based in Bahrain, said it was "looking into" the Iranian claims but had no immediate comment beyond that.
• ___

Offices of Japan tunnel operator searched after deadly cave-in raises infrastructure concerns

• TOKYO (AP) -- Police investigating an expressway-tunnel ceiling collapse that killed nine people searched the offices of the tunnel operator Tuesday to see if there is any evidence that the company neglected safety.
• Hundreds of concrete slabs collapsed Sunday deep inside the Sasago Tunnel west of Tokyo, falling on three moving vehicles. The accident is raising calls for more spending on Japan's aging infrastructure.
• The tunnel, a major link between Tokyo and central Japan, opened in 1977 at about the peak of the country's postwar road construction boom. Central Nippon Ex

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