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1 | Moscow

Stalling on Sanctions

While the U.S. has threatened Iran with new sanctions over its controversial nuclear program, it has yet to secure the support of its prospective ally. During an Oct. 13 meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called a fourth round of sanctions "counterproductive" and reaffirmed Moscow's commitment to continuing diplomatic talks with Tehran. Lavrov's statement came just three weeks after Russian President Dmitri Medvedev signaled an openness to sanctions. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, declared that it was too early to scrap negotiations, telling reporters, "There is no need to scare the Iranians." Though the U.S. has insisted on keeping sanctions on the table, Clinton conceded that Russia is "not at that point yet."

2 | Guinea

China Makes A Deal

The Guinean government says it has signed a $7 billion agreement with a Chinese mining company, just one month after a massacre of protesters by government troops drew international condemnation. The unnamed firm will dig for diamonds, gold and bauxite and provide Guinea with much-needed revenue as it faces the prospect of economic isolation. The deal--which could give Guinea's $23 billion GDP a massive boost--puts China in direct competition with U.S. and Russian mining companies. China's trade interests in Africa have increased tenfold since 2001.

3 | New York City

Abortions Drop Worldwide

Increased contraceptive use fueled a decline in the number of abortions performed worldwide from 1995 to 2003, according to a new report from the Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion rights. The survey also found that abortion occurs about as often in countries where it is legal as in those that limit it. Since 1997, only three countries have tightened abortion restrictions, while 19 countries or regions have loosened them.

[The following text appears within a chart. Please see hardcopy or PDF for actual chart.]

Abortions

50 million

The total number of abortions worldwide has declined ...

30

... but the number of unsafe abortions held steady from 1995 to 2003

SOURCE: GUTTMACHER INSTITUTE

4 | Paris

Terrorism at CERN?

A French-Algerian physicist at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) was arrested Oct. 8 after French officials discovered encoded e-mails between him and members of an al-Qaeda cell based in North Africa. Adlène Hicheur, who worked at CERN's Large Hadron Collider near Geneva, allegedly offered to help the group plan attacks in France. Initial news reports focused on Hicheur's work at the high-energy research lab, prompting speculation that al-Qaeda might be attempting to create nuclear or radioactive weapons. But a spokesman for CERN said the lab has been closed since last September and that it doesn't generate enough radioactive material to justify fears that Hicheur was trying to create a dirty bomb.

5 | Pyongyang

Mixed Messages

North Korea continued its one-step-forward, one-step-back approach to diplomacy this month, encouraging and alarming nations trying to get Pyongyang to the table to discuss nuclear disarmament.

ENCOURAGING