What We're Reading Now
Aug 23, 2011
IRAN
Iran shows off new cruise missile
Nasser Karimi, San Francisco Chronicle -- August 23, 2011
Iran's president claimed on Tuesday the country's military can cripple enemies on their own ground as Tehran put a new Iranian-made cruise missile on display, the latest addition to the nation's growing arsenal.
Iranian pleads guilty to scientist assassination
Reuters Africa -- August 23, 2011
An Iranian man pleaded guilty on Tuesday to the murder of a scientist that prosecutors said was an assassination ordered by Israel to halt Tehran's race for nuclear technology.
NORTH KOREA
North Korea's Kim may get nuclear talks offer from Russia trip
Ilya Arkhipov and Lyubov Pronina, Bloomberg -- August 22, 2011
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il travelled through Siberia for a meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that may spur talks on the Asian state’s atomic weapons program and advance a natural-gas pipeline deal.
South Korean employees leave resort after North Korean threat
Paula Hancocks, CNN -- August 23, 2011
The last South Korean employees have left Mount Kumgang resort in North Korea resort Tuesday morning, as the struggle over the scenic mountain resort continues.
SYRIA
China criticizes foreign pressure on Syria
Reuters -- August 23m 2011
China's foreign ministry on Tuesday decried foreign pressure on Syria following calls from the United States and Europe for President Bashar al-Assad to step down, saying the country's future should be decided internally.
LIBYA
Fighting Erupts in Tripoli
The Wall Street Journal -- August 23, 2011
Fresh fighting has broken out in Tripoli hours after Col. Moammar Gadhafi's son resurfaced to thwart rebel claims he had been captured and rally supporters.
The Libya Lesson
Los Angeles Times -- August 23, 2011
Kadafi may fall, but that doesn't mean the U.S. should pursue the same strategy in, say, Syria.
TECHNOLOGY
Laser Advances in Nuclear Fuel Stir Terror Fear
William J. Broad, New York Times -- August 20, 2011
Scientists have long sought easier ways to make the costly material known as enriched uranium — the fuel of nuclear reactors and bombs, now produced only in giant industrial plants.