For exporting countries, in the short-to-medium-term, high oil prices will generate budget surpluses and boost their economies. Things, however, are quite different in the long-term for oil revenues will ebb, due to reduction in reserves, causing dramatic political and economical upheavals. Because oil revenues for top oil producing countries represent the main source of their [...]

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Tit-for tat diplomacy over murder of Alexander Litvinenko
British prosecutors say former spy Andrei Lugovoi carried out the killing
Moscow called the British move ‘immoral’ and ‘provocative’

Key quote
“When a murder takes place, when a number of innocent civilians were put at risk … when an independent prosecuting authority makes it absolutely clear what is in the interest [...]

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There are about 8,500 Chinese working in Pakistan, almost three times the size of Americans in the country. Of these, 3,500 are engineers and technicians assigned to a variety of Sino-Pakistani projects. The remaining 5,000 are engaged in private businesses. China’s investment in Pakistan has jumped to an all-time high of $4 billion. Its companies [...]

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ROME, 16 lug (Velino) - It may not be a Cold war yet, but it’s clear that Russia and the West have returned at the very least to the era of rivalry. The Kremlin statement accompanying the decree with which President Vladimir Putin unilaterally revoked the Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE), refers expressly [...]

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Boeing along with industry teammates and its government customer, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, successfully completed a key Airborne Laser (ABL) flight test Friday, demonstrating the weapon system’s ability to actively track an airborne target, compensate for atmospheric turbulence and fire a surrogate for its missile-killing high-energy laser.
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Iranian official says country manufacturing centrifuges for uranium enrichment independently.
Iran is producing centrifuges for refining uranium domestically, a senior adviser to the country’s supreme leader said on Tuesday, limiting the impact of United Nations sanctions on its contested nuclear program.
“All parts of centrifuges are built inside Iran. Each part is built in various parts of [...]

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New book by Israeli journalist on Iranian nuclear program takes reader behind the scenes
When Iran’s President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, told a Tehran radio station in 2005 that his father, an ironmonger, died in 1993 “due to an accident,” the Iranian president was lying.
In fact, his father was still alive, and would only die a [...]

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Russian President Vladimir Putin was supposed to be a pro-American reformer. So what went wrong?
It is hard to imagine such happy scenes today—let alone Putin’s congratulating Iraqis on their “liberation.” True, Putin still enjoys Bush-family hospitality, dining last month on lobsters at Bush’s parents’ home in Kennebunkport, Maine. But though his shy smile remains the [...]

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FSM Contributing Editor Warner Todd Huston describes a tragedy that resulted when a Navy Seal Team serving in Afghanistan responded to lethal Taliban tactics in a politically correct way. The story underscores the fact that “wars of the head” not wars of compassion, result in victory.
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One axiom, however, can be applied equally to all of [...]

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The company at first said it was just a small fire. But the blaze at Vattenfall’s Krümmel reactor has since become a political wildfire. Now, Germany’s pro-nuclear-energy politicians have gone into hiding. more…

Atomic Errors: Merkel Furious about Nuclear Mishaps
Atomic Safety in Germany: Reactor Affected in Nuclear Power Plant Fire
Energy Summit: Merkel Nudges [...]

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A violent crackdown ended the Red Mosque siege in Islamabad and allowed Musharraf to reestablish his authority over Pakistan — for the time being. With al-Qaida vowing reprisal attacks, the conflict with Islamic fundamentalists threatens to throw the country into turmoil. By Rüdiger Falksohn, Padma Rao and Tobias Schreiter more…

Red Mosque Martyr: Thousands [...]

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China’s growing ties to the world economy and its dependence on imported oil and raw materials are driving it to strengthen its military power, especially its long-neglected navy.
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But as China’s navy becomes better equipped and farther ranging, it is causing alarm bells to ring in Washington, Tokyo and Taipei. The U.S. is strengthening its forces [...]

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Hear Islamic leaders in London: ‘Queen Elizabeth, go to hell!’
Across town from the site of the recent attempted car-bomb attacks, several thousand Muslims gathered in front of the London Central Mosque to applaud fiery preachers prophesying the overthrow of the British government – a future vision that encompasses an Islamic takeover of the White House [...]

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