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Iran will soon unveil “big new” nuclear achievements, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Saturday while reiterating Tehran’s readiness to revive talks with the West over the country’s controversial nuclear program.

Ahmadinejad spoke at a rally in Tehran as tens of thousands of Iranians marked the 33rd anniversary of the Islamic Revolution that toppled the pro-Western monarchy and brought Islamic clerics to power.

Ahmadinejad did not elaborate on the upcoming announcement but insisted Iran would never give up its uranium enrichment, a process that makes material for reactors as well as weapons.

The West suspects Iran’s nuclear program is aimed at producing atomic weapons, a charge Tehran denies, insisting it’s geared for peaceful purposes only, such as energy production.

Four rounds of U.N. sanctions and recent tough financial penalties by the U.S. and the European Union have failed to get Iran to halt aspects of its atomic work that could provide a possible pathway to weapons production.

“Within the next few days the world will witness the inauguration of several big new achievements in the nuclear field,” Ahmadinejad told the crowd in Tehran’s famous Azadi, or Freedom, square.

Iran has said it is forced to manufacture nuclear fuel rods, which provide fuel for reactors, on its own since international sanctions ban it from buying them on foreign markets. In January, Iran said it had produced its first such fuel rod.

Apart from progress on the rods, the upcoming announcement could pertain to Iran’s underground enrichment facility at Fordo or upgraded centrifuges, which are expected to be installed at the facility in the central town of Natanz. Iran has also said it would inaugurate the Russian-built nuclear power plant in the southern port of Bushehr in 2012.

Iran’s unchecked pursuit of the nuclear program scuttled negotiations a year ago but Iranian officials last month proposed a return to the talks with the five permanent U.N. Security Council members plus Germany.

“Iran is ready for talks within the framework of equality and justice,” Ahmadinejad repeated on said Saturday but warned that Tehran “will never enter talks if enemies behave arrogantly.”

In the past, Iran has angered Western officials by appearing to buy time through opening talks and weighing proposals even while pressing ahead with the nuclear program.

Washington recently levied new penalties aimed at limiting Iran’s ability to sell oil, which accounts for 80 percent of its foreign revenue, while the European Union adopted its own toughest measures yet on Iran, including an oil embargo and freeze of the country’s central bank assets.

Israel is worried Iran could be on the brink of an atomic bomb and many Israeli officials believe sanctions only give Tehran time to move its nuclear program underground, out of reach of Israeli military strikes. The U.S. and its allies argue that Israel should hold off on any military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities to allow more time for sanctions to work.

Before Ahmadinejad spoke Saturday, visiting Hamas prime minister from Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, also addressed the crowd, congratulating Iranians on the 1979 anniversary and vowing that his militant Palestinian group would never recognize Iran’s and Hamas’ archenemy, Israel.

Also at the Tehran rally, Iran displayed a real-size model of the U.S. drone RQ-170 Sentinel, captured by Iran in December near the border with Afghanistan. Iran has touted the drone’s capture as one of its successes against the West.

The state TV called the drone is a “symbol of power” of the Iranian armed forces “against the global arrogance” of the U.S.

The report broadcast footage of other rallies around Iran, saying millions participated in the anniversary celebrations, many under heavy snowfall.

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Markets were in a jittery mood on Monday as talks dragged on between Greek political leaders over a fresh austerity package that is required if the debt-ridden country is to get a crucial bailout package.

The leaders of the parties backing Greece’s coalition government are set to hold a second day of emergency talks over austerity measures that rescue creditors are demanding in return for more money. Prime Minister Lucas Papademos will meet with negotiators from the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund in the afternoon and then with the leaders of the three parties backing his coalition.

The parties all publicly oppose steep cuts in private sector pay demanded by the eurozone and IMF, but their backing is needed for the government to reach a deal for the bailout, which must be approved by the Greek Parliament. The new euro130 billion ($171 billion) bailout deal is vital for Greece to avoid bankruptcy next month as it cannot cover a euro14.5 billion ($19.1 billion) bond repayment due March 20 without the rescue funds.

The bailout’s implementation also depends on Greece’s progress in separate talks with banks and other private bondholders to forgive euro100 billion ($131.6 billion) in Greek debt, in exchange for a cash payment and new bonds with more lenient repayment terms.

“Time is running out,” said Lee Hardman, an analyst at The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.

Fears that a deal won’t emerge have reinforced concerns of a disorderly Greek debt default that could send shockwaves round the global economy. That’s kept investors on edge on Monday, even though market sentiment has been fairly buoyant of late following a run of strong U.S. economic data, notably last Friday’s forecast-busting jobs figures for January.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 0.5 percent at 5,871 while Germany’s DAX fell 0 personal business card.7 percent to 6,720. The CAC-40 in France was 1.3 percent lower at 3,384.

Wall Street was also poised for a lower opening following its rally on Friday, when government figures showed the U.S. economy generated a bigger than expected 243,000 jobs in January, pushing the unemployment rate down to 8.3 percent. Dow futures were down 0.4 percent at 12,744 while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 futures fell 0.6 percent at 1,332.

The euro was also under pressure as investors awaited developments in Athens _ the currency was trading 0.8 percent lower at $1.3041.

Oil prices tracked the broader market trends, with benchmark oil for March delivery down $1.17 at $96.67 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Greece will likely remain the focal point over the week, though a raft of corporate earnings, particularly in Europe, and a host of central bank meetings could garner some interest. The European Central Bank’s monthly policy meeting on Thursday could be crucial in determining market expectations of whether there will be further interest rate reductions. Meanwhile, many traders think the Bank of England will clear the way to inject more money into the U.K. economy in the hope of boosting lending.

Earlier Asian shares mostly traded higher as investors there had their first chance to respond to join in the advance generated by Friday’s upbeat jobs data.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose 1.1 percent to close at 8,929.20, its highest closing in more than three months but Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.2 percent to 20,709.94. Benchmarks in Singapore and mainland China also rose.

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Pamela Sampson in Bangkok contributed to this report.

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Some shareholders have sued Hecla Mining Co. for stock losses they endured after the federal government shut down the Lucky Friday Mine for safety violations.

The Bricklayers of Western Pennsylvania Pension Plan this week filed the lawsuit in federal court in Idaho against Hecla, which is based in Coeur d’Alene.

Hecla announced on Jan. 11 that the mine will be closed for a year to make the changes ordered by federal regulators after two miners died in separate accidents last year.

The lawsuit contends the closure caused Hecla’s stock price to fall 21 percent to $4.61 per share on Jan. 11 and that the company prior to that had made false and misleading statements that artificially inflated the price of its stock.

“Defendants lacked a reasonable basis for their positive statements about the company’s operations and its expected silver production,” the lawsuit said, accusing the company of fraud.

Officials for Hecla said the company’s comments on its financial prospects were appropriate and the company will defend itself.

“This lawsuit has no merit,” said spokeswoman Melanie Hennessey, adding such lawsuits were common when a stock price dropped.

The company’s stock has since rebounded to more than $5.30 per share.

In January, Hecla announced that the Mine Safety and Health Administration had ordered it to remove sand and concrete material that had built up in the main elevator shaft of the Lucky Friday, one of the nation’s deepest underground mines. The company said the work would take up to a year, and the mine would be closed during that time.

The closure prompted Hecla to reduce its estimated silver production for 2012 from more than 9 million ounces to about 7 million ounces, all from its remaining Green’s Creek mine in Alaska.

Production is expected to resume in early 2013.

The mine has been shuttered since mid-December, when a rock burst injured seven miners.

Federal regulators have been conducting a close inspection of the mine because of the series of 2011 accidents. They decided they wanted the sand and concrete material removed because it can break off and fall down the shaft, injuring people or damaging the elevators.

The silver mine is located about 50 miles east of Coeur d’Alene in a region called the Silver Valley.

Miner Brandon Lloyd Gray, 26, was buried in rubble while trying to dislodge jammed rock last Nov. 17, and died two days later.

On April 15, miner Larry “Pete” Marek was crushed when his work area collapsed.

Federal inspectors found company safety failures led to his death.

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Spain’s Banco Santander saw its fourth-quarter profits plunged 98 percent after it took a euro1.8 billion ($2.4 billion) charge to protect its Spanish real estate portfolio, and as it set aside cash to cover bad loans.

Europe’s largest bank by market capitalization said Tuesday it earned euro47 million for the quarter that ended in December, down from euro2.1 billion in the same period a year earlier.

Without the provision, the bank said it would have had profit of euro1.7 billion in the fourth quarter.

Spain’s banks are under heavy pressure from the government to disclose additional losses on overvalued real estate including land and apartment buildings in their holdings.

Spain is mired in an economic morass and has the highest unemployment rate in the whole 17-nation eurozone, largely because of a big construction sector crash.

A more detailed look at the quarterly earnings figures showed that the bank’s revenue rose modestly to euro11 billion from euro10.6 billion a year earlier.

For the whole of 2011, Santander’s profit totaled euro5.4 billion, down from euro8.2 billion in 2010. The bank said profits from Latin America made up the bulk of its profits during the year. It said 51 percent of the total came from its operations there.

The growing importance of Latin America was evident in the bank’s loan book during the year. Total loans during the year were up 4 percent as Banco Santander SA boosted business in Latin America that helped buffer decreasing European operations.

Santander shares rose 1.1 percent to euro6.05 each in Tuesday morning trading after the results were released.

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The U.N. nuclear agency is including two senior weapons experts on its next mission to Tehran in an unusually clear statement on the team’s prime focus _ wresting information from Iranian officials about suspicions the country has secretly worked on atomic arms.

Iran has flatly refused to discuss such allegations for more than three years, saying they were based on phony intelligence from the U.S. and others seeking to harm the Islamic Republic.

But diplomats on Friday told The Associated Press that the weapons experts were part of the U.N team and that Iran had accepted their inclusion after some initial resistance. That suggested that the Islamic Republic was being more conciliatory on the issue of secret weapons work than usual as the International Atomic Energy Agency mission prepares to fly from Vienna to Tehran Saturday.

All six diplomats interviewed said Tehran had not committed to discussing the issue. But three of them added that Iranian officials indicated openness to talking about all topics during the IAEA mission that ends early next week _ a departure from standard reluctance by Tehran to exclude give-and-take on the arms allegations.

None of the diplomats expressed confidence of a breakthrough. But the Iranian stance at least allows the mission to have some home of making a dent into Iran’s wall of silence about its alleged clandestine nuclear weapons work.

Any progress on the issue would be significant.

Tehran has blocked IAEA attempts for more than three years to follow up on U.S. and other intelligence alleging covert Iranian work on nuclear arms, dismissing the charges as baseless and insisting all its nuclear activities were peaceful and under IAEA purview.

Faced with Iranian stonewalling, the IAEA summarized its body of information in November, in a 13-page document drawing on 1,000 pages of intelligence. It stated then for the first time that some of the alleged experiments can have no other purpose than developing nuclear weapons.

Iran continues to deny the charges and no change in its position is expected during the Tehran talks with IAEA officials. But even a decision to enter a discussion over the allegations would be a major departure from outright refusal to talk about them.

The diplomats said that the IAEA team was looking for permission to talk to key Iranian scientists suspected of weapons work, inspect documents relating to such suspected work and get commitments for future visits to sites linked to such allegations.

As most often the case, the IAEA team is headed by Herman Nackaerts, the chief agency official in charge of the Iran file _ but the makeup of the rest of the team reflects the importance attached by the agency to the trip.

Two diplomats said Friday that nuclear weapons experts Jack Baute of France and Neville Whiting of Britain would accompany Nackaerts.

While both fulfill IAEA functions not directly related to nuclear arms research, they were connected to their nation’s weapons programs before they came to the agency.

One of the diplomats _ who is familiar with the thinking that went into setting up the mission _ said their inclusion was meant to send a clear signal to the Iranians. He, like the five other diplomats, asked for anonymity in exchange for discussing privileged information,

Also on the team is Rafael Grossi, IAEA chief Yukiya Amano’s right hand _ another indication of the importance the agency has attached to the trip.

The three-day visit comes as anxiety grows daily about Iran’s nuclear capacities _ and what it plans to do with them.

Since the discovery in 2002 that Iran was secretly working on uranium enrichment, the nation has expanded that operation to the point where it has thousands of centrifuges churning out enriched material _ the potential source of both nuclear fuel and fissile warhead material.

Iran says it is enriching only to generate energy. But it has also started producing uranium at a higher level than its main stockpile _ a move that would jump start the creation of highly enriched, weapons grade uranium, should it chose to go that route. And it is moving its higher-enriched operation into an underground bunker that it says is safe from attack.

Israel in particular is concerned by Iran’s expanding enrichment capacities _ and increasing evidence of secret nuclear weapons work.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Friday the world must quickly stop Iran from reaching the point where even a “surgical” military strike could not block it from obtaining nuclear weapons.

Amid fears that Israel is nearing a decision to attack Iran’s nuclear program, Barak said tougher international sanctions are needed against Tehran’s oil and banks so that “we all will know early enough whether the Iranians are ready to give up their nuclear weapons program.”

The United Nations has imposed four rounds of sanctions against Iran, but veto-wielding Russia and China say they see no need for additional punitive measures. That has left the U.S. and the European Union to try to pressure other countries to follow their lead and impose even tougher sanctions.

“We are determined to prevent Iran from turning nuclear,” Barak told reporters during the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum.

“It seems to us to be urgent, because the Iranians are deliberately drifting into what we call an immunity zone where practically no surgical operation could block them,” he said, alluding to increased Iranian efforts to move their enrichment work deep underground.

Separately at Davos, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon urged a resumption of dialogue between Western powers and Iran on the nuclear issue. He said Friday that Tehran must comply with Security Council resolutions and prove conclusively that its nuclear program is not directed at making arms.

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George Jahn can be reached at http://twitter.com/georgejahn

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Listen up, beer lovers — you may soon be able to get your suds in grande form. At Starbucks.

Starbucks said Monday that it would begin offering beer and wine at select locations in Atlanta and Southern California by the end of this year, to go along with several locations in the Chicago area that have previously been announced.

Starbucks (, Fortune 500) began the initiative in the Pacific Northwest in late 2010.

"As our customers transition from work to home, many are looking for a warm and inviting place to unwind and connect with the people they care about," Clarice Turner, Starbucks’ senior vice president for U.S. operations, said in a statement payday loan lenders.

"We’re pleased with the response of our customers to the introduction of wine, beer and premium food at several of our stores in the Pacific Northwest, and we’re excited to see how the idea translates to other markets."

The "enhanced menu" at these locations will also include savory snacks, small plates, and hot flatbreads, Starbucks said. The wines and beers on offer "will be hand-selected to reflect local customer tastes and preferences," the company added. 

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A multiple sclerosis drug made by industry giant Novartis is under investigation after at least 11 patients taking the medicine died.

The drug, Gilenya, was licensed last year in the European Union to treat patients with a severe type of multiple sclerosis.

The deaths raise concerns Gilenya could trigger heart problems after patients take their first dose, according to a statement issued Friday by the European Medicines Agency. The agency, which is now investigating the drug, said it isn’t clear if it caused the deaths.

One of the deaths was in the U.S., where a patient died within 24 hours of taking the first dose.

The European agency said it didn’t know where the other 10 deaths occurred, but that they were reported to its drug database, which monitors side effects from medicines in the European Union.

A spokeswoman at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it also is conducting a data analysis but has not made any definitive conclusions and does not know when its review will be complete.

More than 30,000 patients have taken Gilenya worldwide payday loan. The European Medicines Agency advised doctors to increase their monitoring of patients after the first dose of the medicine. The agency said the risk of a slow heart rate after the first dose of Gilenya was known when it was approved.

Novartis AG said it was advising doctors of new recommendations on using Gilenya. They had previously recommended all patients be monitored for six hours after their first dose, but are now tightening that to include continuous heart monitoring using electrocardiograms and measuring blood pressure and heart rate every hour. In certain patients, that monitoring should be extended, the drug maker said in a statement.

This new guidance applies only to patients taking their first dose, Novartis said in a statement.

The EU drug regulator hopes to finish its review of the drug by March.

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French President Nicolas Sarkozy bluntly declared Monday that a harsh downgrade by Standard & Poor’s of France’s formerly top-rung debt rating “changes nothing” for the eurozone’s No. 2 economy.

Sarkozy, in a testy exchange with a journalist at a Madrid news conference, suggested that a solid investor demand for a French debt auction Monday and a reaffirmation from rival ratings agency Moody’s of France’s triple-A sovereign debt had offset S&P’s much-publicized downgrade.

“We have to react to this with calm, by taking a step back,” he told reporters during a visit with Spain’s new prime minister, Mariano Rajoy. “At the core, my conviction is that it changes nothing.”

The S&P downgrade Friday _ which Sarkozy’s own finance minister called “bad news” _ came just 100 days before the president faces what is expected to be a tough re-election campaign.

The news conference began combatively when Sarkozy refused to answer a question about whether France’s downgrade would affect its ability to lead Europe out of the crisis _ and if the move prompted the postponement of a crisis summit for him and the leaders of Germany and Italy next week.

Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have taken the lead in proposing solutions to the crisis and major decisions are often hashed out at their meetings ahead of European summits.

“You don’t have the latest information,” Sarkozy retorted to a reporter who asked about the downgrade and the summit. Sarkozy refused to answer even after the reporter rephrased his question twice.

The French leader later confirmed that the three-way summit would take place in February and downplayed the S&P downgrade, but never gave a clear answer as to why the summit was rescheduled.

Sarkozy did manage to win much-needed political support from Rajoy _ notably for his pet project for a financial transaction tax that could help ailing European state coffers get out of the red.

France, which has long enjoyed relatively low borrowing costs and had S&P’s top-tier AAA rating uninterrupted since the mid-1970s, on Friday was the largest of nine eurozone members hit by S&P downgrades _ dropping one notch to AA+. The agency also kept a negative outlook on French state debt.

Analysts said Sarkozy’s denial that the downgrade meant much was wishful thinking guaranteed payday loan.

“The fact that there is a negative outlook, it means that there is a probability _ a quite high probability _ of further downgrade in 2012, 2013,” said French economist Norbert Gaillard. “So it’s bad news for France.”

But in a vindication of sorts for Sarkozy, France sold euro8.6 billion ($10.9 billion) in short-term debt on Monday. The yields _ or the interest rates charged by investors on the debt _ fell, a sign investors still see the country as a good bet.

Spain was also hit by an S&P downgrade, from AA- to A+, but Rajoy said that blow and downgrades for other European nations shouldn’t be seen as a sign they will have trouble emerging from the financial crisis.

Rajoy’s Socialist predecessor also supported the financial transaction tax, but Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero was ousted from office by Spaniards angry about the country’s hurting economy and high unemployment.

The European Commission has estimated that the tax could raise as much as euro57 billion ($72.2 billion) a year, funds that could be used to help reduce the substantial budget deficits crippling European economies.

Moody’s cited France’s economic strength as a reason for affirming its top rating, but said bleak growth prospects in France and the region present “risks to the French government’s fiscal consolidation plans.”

Moody’s said it would again review French debt later in the first quarter as part of a broader look at sovereign debt within the EU _ meaning a decision is likely close to France’s two-round presidential vote in April and May.

Sarkozy’s challengers for the presidency _ including Socialist nominee Francois Hollande _ have seized on the S&P downgrade as evidence that his policies are wrong-headed and ineffective.

It will be a bruising election battle for Sarkozy, a dynamic leader who has a strong international profile but is widely disliked at home. Leftists say he has coddled the rich, while many of those who supported him in his 2007 campaign say he hasn’t fulfilled his promises.

And Hollande is currently leading in the polls.

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Rescue crews say a rescue operation on a cruise ship that ran aground and capsized off Tuscany has been suspended after the Costa Concordia shifted a few inches (centimeters) in rough seas.

Fears are mounting that if the ship shifts significantly, the 500,000 gallons of fuel may begin to leak into the pristine waters around the island of Giglio.

Fire department spokesman Luca Cari said the ship had shifted a few centimeters vertically and horizontally Monday because of the seas. He said an underwater search for 16 people still unaccounted for from the 4,200 on board was suspended immediately.

Six people were killed when the ship ran aground Friday. Costa has said the captain, who has been jailed, made an unauthorized deviation from the ship’s planned course.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

ROME (AP) _ The captain of the cruise ship that capsized off Tuscany made an unauthorized, unapproved deviation from its programmed course, a “human error” that led to the grounding of the vessel, the chief executive of the ship’s Italian owner said Monday. At least six people died in the incident.

The comments from Costa Crociere chairman and CEO Pier Luigi Foschi ramped up the pressure on the captain, who already is under investigation by authorities for suspected manslaughter and as well as allegations he abandoned ship before the passengers were safe, violating the Italian navigation code.

The Costa Concordia ran into a reef Friday night and capsized into the port area of Giglio, sparking a frantic evacuation of the 4,200 people onboard. Coast Guard officials have expressed concern that the ship might slip off the rocks where it is currently perched.

On Monday, the rescue operation was called off as weather worsened and a sixth body was found. Foschi said it wasn’t because the ship had shifted but because divers heard “sounds” coming from inside and didn’t know what was causing them. Sixteen people remain missing Payday Loan for Bad Credit.

Foschi said the company, which is owned by the world’s largest cruiseline, Carnival Corp., stood by the captain, Francesco Schettino, and would provide him with legal assistance. But he said the company disassociated itself from his behavior.

Costa ships have their routes programmed, and alarms go off when they deviate, the chief executive said in a press conference.

“This route was put in correctly. The fact that it left from this course is due solely to a maneuver by the commander that was unapproved, unauthorized and unknown to Costa,” he said.

Schettino has insisted he didn’t leave the liner early, telling Mediaset television that he had done everything he could to save lives.

“We were the last ones to leave the ship,” he said.

Foschi said the liner had passed all safety and technical tests in its 2011 evaluation. He added that the company’s main concern was the safety and well-being of the passengers and crew, as well as to ensure fuel doesn’t leak out from the upended hull into the pristine waters off the island of Giglio.

There were 500,000 gallons of fuel on board, in 17 separate tanks, Foschi said.

“There are no signs of pollution” to date, but officials are on high alert in case the ship suddenly shifts due to worsening weather conditions, Foschi said. Sensors have been put in place to track the movements of the ship.

Questions have been swirling about why the ship had navigated so close to the dangerous reefs and rocks that jut off Giglio’s eastern coast, amid suspicions the captain may have ventured too close while carrying out a maneuver to entertain tourists on the island.

Residents of Giglio said they had never seen the Costa come so close to the dangerous “Le Scole” reef area.

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Just as the jobs recovery seemed to be picking up, the number of Americans filing for first-time unemployment claims rose more than expected last week.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that 399,000 people filed for initial jobless benefits, up 24,000 from the week before. That’s awfully close to the 400,000 level economists often say is too high to bring the unemployment rate down substantially.

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Obama battles job crisis

Before Obama even took office, America had lost 4.4 million jobs. Track his progress since then.

But it’s too early to start worrying just yet. The encouraging news brought by last week jobs report is not off the table, economists say guaranteed fast personal loans.

"This can be a wonky period for claims," Jennifer Lee, senior economist with BMO Capital Markets said in a note. "So let’s give this a few weeks to see how it plays out."

The initial claims numbers are adjusted for seasonal trends, but economists still had expected a slight tick up last week due to temporary holiday jobs ending.

Many caution not to read too much into one week of data. They look instead to the four-week moving average, which smoothes out volatility. It also ticked up last week, but overall, has remained near the lowest levels since 2008 for about a month.

"We continue to view the labor market as gradually gaining momentum, so anticipate that claims will resume a modest downward trend in the coming months," Troy Davig, senior U.S. economist at Barclays Capital said in a research note.

Meanwhile, just over 3.6 million Americans filed continuing claims in the week ending December 31. That marked an increase of 19,000 from the week before.

The Labor Department’s monthly report released Friday showed employers added 200,000 jobs and the unemployment rate fell to 8.5% in December. (Check the unemployment rate in your state). 

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