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イラク核開発に関する記事が飛行機事故の次に（WSJ電子版上で）最もアクセスされました。正直に言って、米メディアのイラン核開発に関する情報は鵜呑みにできないと考えています。
イラン核兵器開発に新証拠、ミサイル関連金属の入手に努める
Fresh Clues of Iranian Nuclear Intrigue (WSJ.com)
WASHINGTON -- U.S. security and law-enforcement officials say they have fresh evidence of recent efforts by Iran to evade sanctions and acquire metals from China used in high-tech weaponry, including long-range nuclear missiles.
Iran's efforts are detailed in a series of recent emails and letters between Iranian companies and foreign suppliers seen by The Wall Street Journal. Business records show one Iranian company, ABAN Commercial & Industrial Ltd., has contracted through an intermediary for more than 30,000 kilograms (about 66,000 pounds) of tungsten copper -- which can be used in missile guidance systems -- from Advanced Technology & Materials Co. Ltd. of Beijing. One March 2008 email between the firms mentions shipping 215 ingots, with more planned.
The developments could present President-elect Barack Obama with an early test in responding to what many Washington security officials now say is a rapidly growing threat to the region, including U.S. allies Israel and Saudi Arabia.
intrigue: 陰謀
tungsten copper: タングステン・銅合金
12月の米消費者物価指数、中西部で史上初の前年比マイナス 全米では0.1％上昇
Midwest's Consumer Price Index experiences first year-to-year drop (Bizjournals.com)
The recession-fueled drop in gas prices caused the Consumer Price Index for the Midwest to drop in 2008, the first year-to-year decline in the index's history.
The region’s CPI decreased three-tenths of a percent in 2008 compared with the previous year, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. This annual decline — the first since the index began in 1967 — came despite higher prices in six of eight main categories measured.
The U.S. posted its smallest inflation rate in more than 60 years for 2008, mainly because of the record plunge in gas prices.
Consumer Price Index: 消費者物価指数
year-to-year: 対前年比
three-tenths of a percent: 0.3％
※The Midwest includes Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana and Ohio.
米景気刺激策、エネルギー自給の実現が危ぶまれる 高速鉄道と送電インフラへの投資額が問題
'Green' energy plan in Obama stimulus may be losing steam (LATimes.com)
Reporting from Washington -- Barack Obama portrays his stimulus plan as a quick jolt for the ailing economy and a "down payment" on his priorities as president. But those goals appear to be colliding in at least one key area: energy independence.
The stimulus package increasingly appears unlikely to include major investments in "green infrastructure" -- the wires and rails that could deliver renewable energy to Americans' homes and help end the nation's addiction to oil -- according to alternative-energy advocates who are discussing the plans with the Obama transition team.
"Before you spend billions of dollars on new lines, you have to spend millions of dollars on design work," said Michael Moynihan, the green project director of the liberal think tank NDN in Washington, who has worked extensively on green infrastructure and the stimulus. "Nobody had been thinking about this much money [becoming available]. So the planning just has not been done."
to lose steam: 勢いを失う
quick jolt: 即効性のあるカンフル剤
energy independence: エネルギー自給
ガザ侵攻、米とイスラエルがハマス再武装化阻止で合意
U.S., Israel Reach Deal on Stopping Hamas Rearmament (WSJ.com)
WASHINGTON - The U.S. and Israel signed an agreement Friday aimed at preventing the rearmament of Hamas in the years ahead, part of a bid to secure a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.
The memorandum of understanding calls for Washington to deploy technical and military assets to the Palestinian territories to help prevent the smuggling of arms into Gaza, either by land, sea or air. The U.S. also committed to gaining the assistance of its allies in the Middle East and Europe to prevent arms from reaching Gaza or the Sinai Peninsula, particularly from Iran.
Ms. Rice (Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice) indicated that the U.S. viewed a cease-fire as a means to significantly diminish Hamas's role in Gaza. The U.S. wants the Palestinian Authority, rather than Hamas, to control Gaza's border crossings. Washington also believes Mr. Abbas should control the flow of any reconstruction aid into Gaza once hostilities end.
rearmament: 再武装化
cease-fire: 停戦
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良い一日を(o^-')b