Baghdad Bombings: Is Iraq Unraveling Again?

At least five bomb attacks in Iraq in the past 48 hours have left some 140 people dead, wounded dozens more and raised fears that the country may be returning to the sectarian violence from which it has only just emerged. On Thursday three bombs in central Baghdad and areas northeast of the capital killed at least 80 people and wounded more than 100

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Analysis: Pakistan, Taliban and nuclear arms

Taliban militants made their deepest incursion into Pakistan this week, seizing control of areas that are a short drive from the capital city. A Pakistani government official said the militants fully withdrew from the Buner district on Friday, although other officials cast doubt on the extent of the pullout and how long it would last.

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Zuma, South Africa’s Next President, Now Must Prove Himself

Jacob Zuma’s election as President of South Africa, all but assured as his party took a formidable lead in early results from this week’s balloting, completes an extraordinary, triumphant comeback in which he overcame prosecutions for rape and corruption and finally toppled his predecessor, Thabo Mbeki.

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Citigroup’s Surprising Profit: Are Banks Really Out of the Woods?

Citigroup chief financial officer Ned Kelly was trying to explain an aspect of the bank’s better-than-expected first-quarter results on Friday morning when star analyst Meredith Whitney interrupted him. “Could you dumb that down for me?” she asked. It was the question of the week.

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Raúl Castro: Cuba ready ‘to discuss everything’ with U.S.

The Cuban government, long the object of a U.S. economic blockade, is prepared to meet with the Obama administration, Cuba’s leader said. “We’ve told the North American government, in private and in public, that we are prepared, wherever they want, to discuss everything — human rights, freedom of the press, political prisoners — everything, everything, everything that they want to discuss,” Cuban President Raúl Castro said Thursday at a summit of leftist Latin American leaders in Venezuela.

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Berlusconi praised despite quake gaffe

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s energetic response to Monday’s earthquake has been generally praised despite his comparison of the ordeal of survivors staying in emergency tents to a camping weekend. Berlusconi has visited the town of L’Aquila, the epicenter of the 6.3-magnitude quake, every day this week, talking to survivors and pledging government help to rebuild houses. He scrapped a visit to Russia that was planned for this week.

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New gum could mean sticky end for mess

British authorities and environmental groups were welcoming the launch this week of the world’s first biodegradable chewing gum, which they say could help save some of the millions spent on clearing up the mess ordinary gum creates. The new gum becomes non-adhesive when dry and decomposes to dust within six weeks, a spokesman for Mexico’s Chicza Mayan Rainforest Chewing Gum told CNN. The makers of Chicza say it is the first biodegradable chewing gum ever sold.

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Congress Launches Opening Gambits on Global Warming

President Barack Obama loves to talk about the great promise of energy reform, but all it takes is one glance down Pennsylvania Avenue to get a sense of the pitfalls of such ambitious designs. That was especially clear on Tuesday, as Congress ran both hot and cold on legislation to fight global warming

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