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The diagnosis: a stress fracture.
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Obama's preference for talks with Iran faces test in Baghdad, amid election pressure at home
• WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama's preferred path to end the Iranian nuclear standoff faces a stern test this week when world powers sit down with Iran in another bid to press it to meet international demands to prove it is not trying to develop nuclear weapons. Failure will strengthen calls for military action.
• Wednesday's talks in Baghdad come at a critical juncture in the almost decade-long effort to persuade Iran's government to halt its enrichment of uranium and allow unfettered access to international inspectors, with Israel continuing to speak of a possible attack. Republican rival Mitt Romney also has derided Obama's engagement efforts, putting pressure on the president to deliver progress soon.
• The chief of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, Yukiya Amano, was in Tehran on Monday, hoping to reach a deal that would allow the International Atomic Energy Agency to resume a long-stalled search for evidence that Iran worked secretly to build nuclear arms. Amano, on his first visit to Iran since becoming IAEA head in 2009, said his initial meetings were held in a "good atmosphere," suggesting a breakthrough may not be impossible.
• At the same time, however, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose country sees Iran as a threat to its very existence, reminded world powers they need to be tough.
• "Iran wants to destroy Israel, and it is developing nuclear weapons to fulfill that goal," he said. Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.
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Rutgers webcam sentence renews questions about application of hate crime laws
• NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP) -- A week before Dharun Ravi was sentenced to jail for using a webcam to spy on a gay college roommate who later killed himself, supporters rallied in his support, arguing that New Jersey laws should be changed so that someone in his situation could not be found guilty of a hate crime.
• In sentencing Ravi to 30 days in jail when he could have gotten years, the judge said he does not consider the case a hate crime, even though the most serious charge, bias intimidation, is the legal name for what most people -- and legislators (Continued on page 38)
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