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BY: Russell Sticklor | Diplomatic Courier
From a Pakistani perspective, one of the main reasons for distrusting the U.S. actually has little to do with Afghanistan. Instead, it stems from the U.S.’s increasingly tight relationship with one of Pakistan’s perennial enemies—India.
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BY: David E. Sanger | The New York Times
Just before international inspectors on Sunday were guided for the first time into an Iranian nuclear enrichment plant whose existence was a state secret until recently, the speaker of Iran’s Parliament warned his countrymen to beware of American efforts to “cheat” Iran out of the nuclear fuel that has become the country’s currency in reasserting its power.
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BY: Richard Boudreaux | Los Angeles Times
The rioting is said to have erupted over the presence of a group of Jewish settlers at the Al Aqsa mosque compound, but Israel says no Jewish civilians had entered the area at the time.
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BY: Suha Philip Ma’ayeh | The National
Jordan and Israel mark 15 years of peace today, but ties between both countries are cooler than ever. Since the right-wing Israeli government of Benjamin Netenyahu took office in May, Jordan has been left further disappointed with its neighbour.
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BY: Ben Lynfield | The Independent
Bitter enemies Iran and Israel, whose normal discourse is that of threat and counter-threat, engaged in a rare face-to-face exchange of views at a nuclear disarmament conference in Cairo.
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BY: Timothy Williams | The New York Times
Two synchronized suicide car bombings struck at the heart of the Iraqi government here on Sunday, severely damaging the Justice Ministry and provincial council complexes, leaving a scene of carnage that raised new questions about the government’s ability to secure its most vital operations.
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BY: Craig Nelson | The National
Just when you thought that Iraq was the sideshow and Afghanistan the main event, the far-too-familiar sound of sirens screeching and the bereaved wailing in the streets of Baghdad remind you otherwise.
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BY: Joshua Partlow and Pamela Constable | The Washington Post
The challenger to President Hamid Karzai is considering boycotting the upcoming runoff if his demands are not met to remove the leaders of Afghanistan's election commission who he believes are biased against him, campaign officials said Sunday.
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BY: Jean MacKenzie | Global Post
Shouting “Down with America!” and “Death to the infidels!” hundreds of protesters made their way from Kabul University, on the western outskirts of the capital, to the center of the city on Sunday. They were reacting to rumors, vigorously denied by the U.S. Forces-Afghanistan, that American troops had burned several copies of the Koran in a province close to Kabul.
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BY: Lauren Gelfand | World Politics Review
One voice that has opted against singing from the international hymn book, however, is arguably Guinea's most important interlocutor: China. Instead of opprobrium, Beijing appears to have offered Guinea incentive, in the form of a multi-billion dollar investment in oil and minerals -- the latest installation of the checkbook diplomacy that has allowed China to surpass both former colonial power France and the United States to become Guinea's top trading partner.
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BY: Anes Alic | ISN Security Watch
Ethno-nationalism rears its ugly head and ends in bloodshed over a Bosnian football match; but the political undertones belie something that goes beyond mere hooliganism.
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BY: Delia Lloyd | Politics Daily
Until now, most of the hand-wringing and speculation over the future of the EU has remained within Europe. Which only prompts the question: What about America? Does the United States government care if the European Union is in jeopardy?
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BY: Ellen Barry | The New York Times
A longtime opposition figure in the republic of Ingushetia was killed Sunday morning when his car was strafed with gunfire as he drove along a federal highway, adding another name to the list of activists who have been killed recently in the Northern Caucasus.
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BY: Jacob W. Kipp | Eurasia Daily Monitor
Over the last two decades, the oceanic navy that Russia inherited from the Soviet Union has declined in size and quality. There were repeated calls from naval officers over the last decade for new construction and a revival of the navy.
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BY: Ana-Maria Tolbaru | European Voice
Moldova's presidential elections, which were scheduled for today, have been postponed and leading legislators today warned that the election may be delayed until next year.
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BY: Alex rodriguez | Los Angeles Times
With most of Swat back in the hands of the government after a military operation that drove the Taliban into hiding, thousands of Pakistanis in towns like Kanju have been banding together to form lashkars, or tribal militias, to help keep trouble from coming back.
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BY: Todd Crowell | Asia Sentinel
Base Relocation Tests Hatoyama's Alliance Management Skills US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates last week staked out a hard-line position over the relocation of the Futenma Marine Air Station in Okinawa to another location on the southern island during his recent trip to Japan to prepare the way for President Barack Obama's expected visit next month.
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The Economist
At some point the West will need to address its shame of not facing up to the abuse sooner and more viscerally. In the meantime President Barack Obama hardly sent the right message by taking eight months to appoint his special representative for human rights in North Korea.
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BY: Stephen Shu-hung Shen | World Press
Global Warming caused by human activity is one of the toughest challenges the world is facing. In the past two decades, Taiwan has been working in cooperation with the international community to implement advanced policies and technologies into its environmental protection infrastructure.
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BY: Sara Miller Llana | The Christian Science Monitor
Polls show that former leftist rebel José Mujica is expected to gain the most votes in Sunday's election, but could fall short of defeating Luis Alberto Lacalle outright, sparking a run-off.