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BY: Julian Borger | The Guardian
The very existence of the technology, known as a "two-point implosion" device, is officially secret in both the US and Britain, but according to previously unpublished documentation in a dossier compiled by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iranian scientists may have tested high-explosive components of the design. The development was today described by nuclear experts as "breathtaking" and has added urgency to the effort to find a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear crisis.
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BY: Ehud Yari | The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Israel's options vis-a-vis Iran's nuclear ambitions are frequently discussed by experts and analysts abroad. A vast body of literature already has been produced by U.S. scholars debating whether Israel should, could, or finally would choose to mount a preemptive strike against Iran's key nuclear installations in an effort to disrupt the Islamic Republic's pursuit of atomic weapons.
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BY: Ethan Bronner and Mark Landler | The New York Times
The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, warned on Thursday that he would not seek re-election, the latest sign that the Obama administration’s drive to broker a Middle East peace accord, one of President Obama’s key foreign policy goals, has fallen into disarray.
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BY: Ahmed Al-Haj | Associated Press
Saudi Arabia sent fighter jets and artillery bombardments across the border into northern Yemen on Thursday in a military incursion apparently aimed at helping its troubled southern neighbor control an escalating Shi'ite rebellion, Arab diplomats and the rebels said.
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BY: Benjamin Joffe-Walt | The Media Line
A group of Saudi women have launched an international campaign against the kingdom's male guardianship law, on the anniversary of a prominent protest, in which dozens of Saudi women publicly drove their cars through the country's capital.
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BY: Timothy Williams and Sa'ad Izzi | The New York Times
The Iraqi Parliament failed again on Thursday to approve a law to regulate a national election in January, deepening doubts about whether the nation can hold the vote on schedule.
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BY: Ernesto Londoño and Qais Mizher | The Washington Post
Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell signed a deal with the Iraqi Oil Ministry on Thursday to develop a major field, marking the first foray by a U.S.-led consortium into Iraq's promising but uncertain oil industry.
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BY: Stanley Reed | Der Spiegel
Global oil companies are finding it harder to resist the huge volume of crude in Iraq. But their change of heart could increase tensions in OPEC.
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BY: Alexandra Zavis | Los Angeles Times
The Afghan president risks losing the support of the international community, Kai Eide warns. He calls on Karzai to fight corruption, bolster the judiciary and end the culture of impunity.
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The Economist
The world agrees to pretend he won; not all Afghans suspend disbelief.
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BY: Dion Nissenbaum | McClatchy Newspapers
A week after pre-dawn attack killed five members of its Kabul staff, the United Nations on Thursday announced plans to scale back its operations in the city temporarily while it re-evaluates dangers in the country.
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BY: John Perra | World Politics Review
A recent crop index insurance program developed by Columbia University's International Research Institute for Climate and Society sought to provide a better product. The innovation of the program, which is managed by Oxfam, is that it makes payments based not on crop yields, but on the weather alone: If a rainfall gauge -- or, in the case of the pilot program, satellite data of estimated rainfall amounts -- falls below a previously determined threshold, the insurance pays out.
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BY: Celia W. Dugger | The New York Times
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai of Zimbabwe announced at the conclusion of a gathering of southern African leaders late Thursday night that his party had called off its boycott of cabinet meetings with President Robert Mugabe, but it was unclear what Mr. Tsvangirai received in return for backing down.
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BY: John Thorne | The National
From a rococo white villa near the presidential palace, Radio Zitouna beams out a tolerant, state-approved brand of Islam that officials are touting as an antidote to extremism. But the government also wants support from a pious generation of young people such as Ms Ferchichi, say analysts, while moderate Islamists warn that religiosity is no substitute for the democratic reform that many Tunisians crave.
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BY: Valentina Pop | EU Observer
EU military chiefs are nervous that their advice will not carry the same weight once the new Lisbon Treaty is in place and that the planned diplomatic service will not contain enough experienced military personnel.
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BY: Victor Mauer | ISN Security Watch
ey parameters of German foreign and security policy during the Cold War are still in place – with some distinct differences. Indeed, policymakers' quest to balance tradition with transformation remains ongoing.
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BY: Pavel Felgenhauer | Eurasia Daily Monitor
Clearly, the Russian legal system is totally corrupt and politically controlled by the authorities. Challenging electoral fraud in court is futile.
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International Herald Tribune
To Myanmar’s military government this rebel region is an irritating piece of unfinished business and an impediment to the long-cherished goal of national unity. Myanmar’s generals are demanding that the Wa disband their substantial army here and fully subjugate themselves to the central government, a call that has so far gone unheeded. Both sides are bracing for potential conflict.
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Asia Sentinel
The leadership of the opposition is passing from Anwar's Parti Keadilan to Parti Islam se-Malaysia, the fundamentalist Islamic party with its roots in the rural, poor northeast of the country. It is PAS, as the party is known, that has the political infrastructure, manpower and stamina for the long haul.
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BY: Farhan Sharif and Naween Mangi | Bloomberg News
Police in Pakistan’s commercial capital of Karachi say it may take at least two months after the end of the country’s northern offensive against Taliban militants to root out terrorists hiding in the city.