Iran: Where Politics is a Distraction from Making Money

Judging by the front pages of Persian language newspapers neatly laid out at every Tehran newsstand, political scandal is in the air. President Ahmadinejad’s closest aides, including right-hand man Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, are being accused of embezzlement, cronyism, collaboration with opposition forces, and even pagan rituals thrown in for shock value.

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Iran: Dog Ownership to Be Outlawed Under Lawmakers’ Plan

For much of the past decade, the Iranian government has tolerated what it considers a particularly depraved and un-Islamic vice: the keeping of pet dogs. During periodic crackdowns, police have confiscated dogs from their owners right off the street; and state media has lectured Iranians on the diseases spread by canines.

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Gaddafi: Obsessed By a Ruthless, Messianic Vision

In the movie reel of his imagination, he sees himself standing alone in the desert, silhouetted against the moon, swathed in traditional Bedouin robes, a farsighted prophet of Islam and the mighty creator of the Great Arab Nation, stretching from the warm Persian Gulf to the dark Atlantic Ocean–a nation that would eclipse the West in power and glory and purity.

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Army base shuts down for anti-suicide event

A major United States military base is shutting down for three days following a rash of suicides, the base announced. Fort Campbell, home of the Army’s 101st Airborne Division, is holding a three-day “suicide stand-down training event” starting Wednesday — the second one it has held this year, a base spokeswoman told CNN. At least 11 deaths of Fort Campbell soldiers this year are confirmed or suspected suicides, spokeswoman Kelly Tyler said.

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Pirates hijack two chemical tankers off Somalia

Pirates have hijacked two European-owned chemical tankers off the coast of Somalia in the past 24 hours, the European Union Maritime Security Center said Thursday. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will represent the United States at the United Nations meeting Tuesday in The Hague, the State Department said earlier. It is not clear who Iran will send to the conference.

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Iran to send envoy to U.S.-backed Afghanistan summit

Iran will send an envoy to a U.S.-backed international conference on Afghanistan, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported Thursday. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will represent the United States at the United Nations meeting Tuesday in The Hague, the State Department said earlier

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