In brief: Iran advances nuclear program

Iran has finished installing centrifuges at a fortified underground facility and can sharply increase production of enriched uranium to a purity that can be quickly improved to weapons grade, the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency said Friday.

According to the report by the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran has prepared 700 more centrifuges at the Fordow facility for operation since August, doubling the plant’s enrichment capacity.

If all of them produced 20 percent enriched uranium, it would cut to about three months, down from six, the time needed to accumulate enough fissile material for a nuclear bomb.

Montreal chooses Anglophone mayor

Montreal – The French-speaking city of Montreal elected an Anglophone mayor Friday for the first time in 100 years, following his predecessor’s resignation over allegations of corruption.

Michael Applebaum won a city council vote to serve as interim mayor for only a year, with a promise not to run in the next municipal election of November 2013.

Applebaum speaks French, but it’s not his first language and Anglophones in French-speaking Quebec rarely hold prominent political roles.