Will Clinton’s Overture Get Iran to Cooperate?

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s announcement that Iran would be invited to a summit on Afghanistan has been greeted as a possible icebreaker in the tense relationship between Washington and Tehran. Iran is weighing whether to accept the invitation, its foreign minister said Friday, and will deliver its response next month. The overture should be consistent with the new Washington ethos: seeking Iran’s cooperation on stabilizing Afghanistan — a goal both sides desire — can help end the nuclear standoff between the two countries

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Israel denies reports of Hamas negotiations

Israel’s prime minister denied media reports that it is negotiating with the militant group Hamas, which controls Gaza, but said there will be Israeli "consultations" Sunday "regarding the situation in the south." “Should a decision of any kind be required, it will be made only via a meeting of the Security Cabinet and after taking into account all of the new political circumstances that have been created in the wake of the recent Israeli elections,” Yanki Galanti, the media adviser for Ehud Olmert, said Saturday night in a statement. The consultations are to take place among Olmert, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. Israel held elections Tuesday which resulted in a near-tie between Livni’s centrist Kadima party and the right-wing Likud party, led by Benjamin Netanyahu.

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Beth Teitell: On Not Looking Old

Author Beth Teitell has decided to take on the malady that often afflicts American women: “Fear of looking our age.” Teitell, who is 47 and writes regularly for the Boston Globe, spent a year exploring the American obsession with youth — the Botox Industrial Complex — for her new book, Drinking Problems at the Fountain of Youth .

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