News for December 5, 2012 - in VOA SPECIAL ENGLISH

From Washington here is the news in VOA SPECIAL ENGLISH
December 5, 2012
Egyptian riot police fired tear gas outside the presidential home Tuesday as large crowds of opponents of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi protested. Protest leaders called the demonstrations a final warning to Mr Morsi to withdraw presidential support for a mostly Islamist version of the constitution. A committee approved the version last week. The committee was boycotted by secular, leftist and Christian members. A vote on the proposed constitution is expected on December 15.

NATO has agreed to deploy Patriot missiles to the Turkish border to help defend Turkey against threats from Syria. NATO foreign ministers said in a statement Tuesday that NATO would supply air defense in order to defend the population and territory of Turkey. Turkey first asked for help after Syrian army shells landed near rebel areas on the Turkish side of the border in October. NATO's top official says the international community would react strongly if the Syrian government used chemical weapons. NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Tuesday that Syria's possible use of chemical weapons would be completely unacceptable. Syria's Foreign Ministry repeated that it would not use chemical weapons if it had them against its own people.

A powerful wind and rainstorm is hitting the southern Philippines, killing at least 70 people. It is one of the biggest storms to hit the area this year. The typhoon has winds of around 200 kilometers per hour. It is knocking down trees, blowing off roofs and sending thousands of people fleeing to government shelters. The storm struck land early Tuesday off the southern island of Mindanao. Weather experts say they expect the storm to weaken by Thursday.

More than 100 Nobel Prize winners are urging China's next President Xi Jinping to free Chinese dissident and Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo. One hundred thirty-four Nobel winners from around the world sent a letter to Mr Xi Tuesday. They asked him to immediately and unconditionally release Liu Xiaobo. He is serving an 11-year prison sentence for inciting anti-government activities. The Nobel Prize winners also want Liu Xiaobo's wife, Liu Xia, freed from house arrest. She was placed under house arrest after her husband won the Nobel Prize in 2010.