美国国防部长回绝阿富汗撤军策略提案

盖茨说，为美军撤出阿富汗制定时间表是一个策略性的错误。盖茨还说，在阿富汗的任何一个失败将有可能导致灾难性的后果，包括刺激伊斯兰极端份子和启动基地组织的招聘及活动。奥巴马总统正重新检视美国在阿富汗的策略，国防部也在考虑阿富汗美军最高指挥官麦克里斯特尔上将有关向阿富汗增兵的要求。盖茨说，如果总统选择增加驻阿富汗的美军人数，那么到明年1月之前美军将无法撤退。

伊朗在核谈前试射远程导弹

伊朗表示已经成功试射两枚远程导弹。这两枚固体燃料为动力的导弹有能力袭击以色列和欧洲南部。这次演习是为了显示这个伊斯兰共和国的防御能力。美国国务卿希拉里星期天说，伊朗将“接受考验”，在星期四在日内瓦举行的谈判上披露其核项目活动的信息。她说，如果谈判失败，将实行制裁。

美国防部长称可能对伊朗实施金融制裁

盖茨指出，美国等国际社会可能会对伊朗进一步采取金融制裁和石油相关设备及技术出口的限制。盖茨称“不排除任何可能的选择。但现阶段来看军事选择只能赢得时间。”他表示，“尚有余地通过外交努力和经济制裁劝说伊朗停止核武器开发。”

中国总理温家宝将访问朝鲜

金正日可能在与温家宝会晤时表态放弃核项目，并提出相关的具体弃核方案。

金正日：有心尝试好好建设社会主义

据记者28日获悉，就今年4月修改的朝鲜新宪法中去掉“共产主义”一词，金正日说：“对共产主义没有把握，但对社会主义我想好好尝试一下。”

朝媒：若社会主义崩溃 干部将沦为失业者

朝鲜内阁官报《民主朝鲜》27日在题为“建设新社会需恪守阶级原则”的文章称：“部分社会主义国家引进资本主义以后，担任国家要职的人都被赶下台，变成无业游民，落到四处找工作的境地。”

谷垣祯一当选自民党总裁

日本自民党28日下午举行总裁选举，前财务相谷垣祯一（64岁）战胜前法务副大臣河野太郎（46岁）和前外务政务官西村康稔（46岁）当选第24代总裁，任期将到2012年9月底。在全部499张选票中，谷垣获得300票，河野获得144票，西村获得54票。

日本外相希望中国尽早开展东海油气田条约交涉

冈田克也在28日的日中外长会谈中表示，希望中方尽早开展有关缔结共同开发东海油气田条约的交涉。

默克尔赢得又一届四年连任

德国议会选举初步结果显示，默克尔总理将继续留任，不过很可能会组建一个新的联合政府。默克尔从2005年开始担任德国总理。上一届政府中与默克尔所属的基督教民主联盟结盟的社会民主党在这次选举中严重受挫。

德国选民再次选举默克尔担任总理。议会选举初步结果显示，她所属的基督教民主联盟赢得大约三分之一选票，在所有参选政党中，得票率最高。默克尔宣布赢得这次大选。

默克尔表示将和自由民主党组建联合政府。自由民主党主张改革，在这次选举中战绩也颇为显著，赢得大约14%的选票。自由民主党被认为是亲商界，主张低税收和减少政府参与的政党。

澳大利亚限制外国投资

今年大宗商品价格的强劲反弹和债券市场的解冻令澳大利亚资源业出现了复苏，寻求海外资金改善资产负债状况或为新项目融资的矿业公司数量也减少了。这促使澳大利亚监管机构对进入该国的海外投资采取了更强硬的立场。

澳大利亚政府一直坚决执行重点考虑购买少数股权而非全盘收购的海外投资者的做法。澳大利亚Foreign Investment Review Board上周四表示，希望海外投资者将它们计划收购的澳大利亚大型资源类公司的股份比例限制在不超过15%。在新项目上的投资应最高不超过50%。

市场人士说，这是政府一段时间以来暗中传递的信息，中国投资者现在看来已认识到这点，在过去一年里削减了交易规模，以满足政府将澳大利亚矿产公司持股比例降至50%以下的偏好。

但最近中国提出的许多交易都超过了50%的关口。一位投资银行家说，澳大利亚外国投资审查委员会的评论可能是澳大利亚希望向中国传递不会再批准这类交易的讯息。这位银行家说，他们一直私下向中国人表示这点，而中国方面仍继续把目光投向要求50%以上股份的交易，因此他们现在可能决定公开表明这点，以说服中方不要再这样做。

对中国投资者来说，澳大利亚外国投资审查委员会的表态阐明了一些外国投资的审查过程。过去，有人一直批评这个过程缺乏透明度，充满不确定性。

政府重新采取强硬路线让兖州煤业Yanzhou Coal Mining Co. 以38亿澳元收购煤炭企业Felix Resources Ltd. 100%股份的交易成为关注的焦点。Felix股票上周五下跌3%，收于16.75澳元，并未比兖州煤业16.95澳元的报价低多少，对出现竞购对手所抱的希望也在某种程度上支撑了股价。

在过去18个月里，澳大利亚外国投资审查委员会共审核了90项来自中国的投资计划，总价值为340亿澳元。

澳大利亚外国投资审查委员会上周四就展示了其强硬立场，拒绝了中国有色金属有限公司(China Nonferrous Metals Co.)收购稀土开发商Lynas Corp. 51.6%股份的计划。

澳大利亚外国投资审查委员会希望有国家背景的中国有色金属有限公司收购不超过50%的股份，并将董事数量降至董事会总人数的一半以下，但这些修改对中方是不能接受的，于是他们选择了放弃。

澳大利亚外国投资审查委员会的科尔默说，具体情况将按照其价值进行判断，政府将采取灵活态度，这点可以由许多股份超过50%的交易获得批准得到证实。

但在其中很多情况下，矿业公司都深陷大宗商品价格暴跌及债券市场冻结加剧的融资问题引发的现金流危机，因此迫切希望获得来自中国的资金，这让政府更容易做出批准的决定。

中国占据稀土世界主导地位

几乎所有高科技产品都不能离开稀土。镧、钆等17种特殊金属元素广泛运用于玻璃抛光和陶器、汽车触媒转化器、电脑显示器、照明、电视以及药品。如果没有这些元素，我们将不再有电视屏幕、电脑硬盘、光纤电缆 、数码相机和大多数医疗成像设备。你还得告别航天发射和卫星，全球的炼油系统也会停转。

中国占有全球约97%的稀土产量，中国也消耗了全球约60%的稀土。

在创造新的绿色经济、拯救地球于气候变化灾难的尖端科技领域，稀土也发挥著关键的作用。如果全球市场稀土供应吃紧的话，那么“绿色”未来也就无从说起，只会有“有限”未来。丰田汽车领先市场的混合动力车Prius的电动马达电池需要10-15公斤镧，还用了1公斤钕，这是生产永久磁铁的合金的重要成分。钕是可形成强力永久磁铁的唯一元素。强力磁铁是美国国防库存中所有导弹的定向系统中至关重要的因素。镧数十年来一直是石油加工的一个重要材料。

由于在稀土产量方面占主导地位，中国现在和将来开发许多技术时都会拥有压倒性的优势。凭借对市场的这种束缚，将限制对外出口，同时关闭国内污染严重的矿山。中国正在集中供应。

就像力拓(Rio Tinto)和土耳其的Eti Mine通过控制硼酸盐市场能够有效遏制任何竞争对手的生产那样，我相信中国有能力而且也会对新出现的生产商采取同样做法。中国对在今后几十年里控制全球稀土市场，并以此控制21世纪的能源技术制定了周详的计划。中国政府似乎还在迫使使用稀土元素的生产厂商迁到中国。想从中国获得稀土元素的公司能够如愿。它们只不过必须将生产设备转到中国。

中国已经采取行动，收购世界各地的其他稀土资源。两家澳大利亚公司Lynas Corp.和Arafura Resources计划未来几年开发稀土矿，产量合计将相当于全球稀土年产量的四分之一。去年信贷市场崩溃后，两家公司都失去了融资来源。中国察觉到机会，插手进来，让国有矿业公司提供资金，供这两家公司完成矿井和矿石加工厂的建设。作为交换条件，出资的中国公司获得了Lynas和Arafura的股份，比例分别为51.7%和25%。

中国政策采取的是长期策略。虽然中国稀土产量未来几年尚可支撑，但几乎可以肯定在那之后会出现下降。中国能够垄断稀土市场的原因是，过去十年里它能够将价格压得比任何人都低。中国稀土行业也是咽下了环境方面的恶果才得以实现增长。许多稀土元素都有巨毒。由于中国在环境安全方面监管松弛，未来还会出现环境方面的噩梦。

世行行长将呼吁改革国际货币体系

世界银行27日预先公布了行长佐利克将于28日在华盛顿发表演讲的主要内容。佐利克将在演讲中指出“理所当然地认为国际货币体系只能构筑在美元基础上是错误的。今后美元以外的选择也将不断出现。”

美国财长盖特纳刚在24日宣布将继续维持美元的基础货币地位。佐利克的演讲目的可能是为了呼吁奥巴马政府在经济和货币政策上坚持国际协调路线。

佐利克将提及苏联解体和中国、印度的经济发展等过去20年来的经济环境变化，并作出分析称“这种短时间内的急剧变化是重大机遇，但也同时动摇著20世纪构筑的国际货币体系”。他将强调有必要构筑一个能反映多极化世界经济现状的政治经济体系。

关于定期举行的金融峰会，佐利克将表态称“金融峰会不应仅仅是20个国家和地区的会议”，呼吁峰会成员国更多地听取发展中国家的呼声。

U.S. Is Seeking a Range of Sanctions Against Iran

The administration also is seeking to build a broader coalition of partners for sanctions so that it may still be able to act against Iran even if China and Russia were to veto harsher measures proposed in the United Nations Security Council.

In pushing for more stringent sanctions, the administration wants to accomplish two potentially irreconcilable goals: forcing Iran back to negotiations over its nuclear program — which the United States and its Western allies suspect is meant to create a weapon — while at the same time winning the support of Russia and China, which are eager to preserve their significant economic ties to Iran.

American efforts to marshal worldwide pressure against Iran have gained traction since the revelation last Friday that Iran was operating a clandestine nuclear site.

Even Israel, which has long warned that a military strike might be the only effective response to Iran’s ambitions, now seems satisfied to let President Obama play out his strategy of offering to talk while threatening to impose painful measures if those talks go nowhere.

Iran test-fires long-range Shahab-3, Sejil missiles

The Islamic Republic of Iran has successfully tested long range Shahab-3 and Sejil missiles in the third stage of a defense drill in a bid to bolster its defense capabilities, Press TV has learned.

The missiles were launched on Monday as part of an advanced military exercise named The Great Prophet IV which was carried out by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).

The optimized Shahab-3 has a range of 1,300 to 2,000 kilometers.

The Sejil is a two-stage missile powered by solid fuel which was tested by the IRGC for the first time in the maneuver.

Both of the projectiles accurately hit their designated targets.

The IRGC successfully test-fired several models of medium-range Shahab-1 and Shahab-2 missiles during the first and second stages of military drill in central Iran Sunday night.

A number of missiles including Iranian-made Fateh-110, a short-range ground-to-ground missile and Tondar-69, a short-range naval missile, were also launched consecutively at mock targets across the country in the first stage of the military drill on Sunday morning.

According to the IRGC Air Force Commander Brigadier General Hossein Salami, the Shahab-2 missiles would hit targets at least 300 kilometers and at the most 700 kilometers away.

"The Great Prophet IV" maneuver is a sequel to "The Great Prophet III" which was carried out last year by the IRGC naval and ground forces in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz region.

Erdogan:Focus on Israeli nukes not Iran N energy program

The Turkish president has condemned Western countries' focus on Iran's nuclear program, stressing that the world should deal with Israel's nuclear weapons instead.

Turkey's "Radikal" newspaper on Sunday reported that Recep Tayyip Erdogan's strong comments against Israel's nuclear program was similar to his "one minute" stance in Davos in January when he walked out of a televised debate with his Israeli counterpart Shimon Peres.

Erdogan told reporters in New York that Iran's nuclear program is not aimed at "military ends".

The Turkish president noted that Israel has "nuclear weapons" and has used "phosphorous bombs" against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

"Why these are not on the agenda? It is always Iran…" Erdogan told reporters in New York.

"If only Iran is put on the world agenda, then we may neglect other issues such as the Gaza [conflict] that should be addressed," he said.

Erdogan, upon his arrival to Istanbul from New York, said that during his meetings in the UN General Assembly and the G20 leaders' summit in Pittsburg, no military option against Iran has been on agenda.

Iran's northwestern neighbor has also urged caution over imposing any new sanctions on Tehran, saying they will not be useful.

The Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is due to visit Tehran next month to discuss Iran's nuclear program with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Erdogan ruled out any attempts to impose sanctions on Tehran's gas industry, saying sanctions would be especially problematic for its neighbor Turkey.

The Turkish president has plans to visit Iran next month to help resolve the dispute over Tehran's nuclear program.

"I will make a trip to Iran towards the end of October... We will discuss regional problems, including this (nuclear) one," Turkey's Anatolia news agency quoted Erdogan as saying.

Israel, which is the only possessor of nuclear weapons in the Middle East and has imposed seveal wars on the region, accuses Iran of trying to develop a military nuclear program and has repeatedly voiced its determination to halt the Islamic Republic's nuclear program through military options.

Unlike Israel, Iran is a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and has been pushing for a the removal of all weapons of mass destruction across the globe.

Tehran says its nuclear program is being pursued within the framework of the IAEA and international regulations.

The UN nuclear watchdog in its previous reports had confirmed that Iran only enriches uranium-235 to a level of "less than 5 percent."

Uranium, which fuels a nuclear power plant, can be used for military purposes only if enriched to high levels of above 90 percent.