Word: westernness
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Like many of Western civilization's finest achievements, the long and scrumptious history of waffles can be traced to ancient Greece, when Athenians cooked obelios - flat cakes between two metal plates - over burning embers. The word waffle is related to wafer, as in the communion wafer - one of the only victuals that early Catholics could eat during fasting periods since wafers didn't contain animal fats, eggs or dairy products. During the Middle Ages, when bakeries decided to compete with monasteries in the wafer market, the secular - and considerably tastier - waffle was born. (See the top 10 food trends...
North and South Korea's navies exchanged gunfire for the first time in seven years, raising tensions between the rivals shortly before President Barack Obama visits the region. Both countries reported no injuries from the Nov. 10 skirmish along their western maritime border, though the North Korean vessel sustained heavy damage. Officials in Seoul said the shooting was triggered by a North Korean patrol boat that had strayed more than a mile into South Korean territory; the North said the South was the aggressor. Analysts did not expect the incident to spark further conflict, suggesting that Pyongyang may be seeking...
Five months after Lebanon's parliamentary elections, Prime Minister--designate Saad Hariri managed to form a unity government. Though the resolution to what had been a contentious political stalemate left Hariri's Western-backed coalition with the most ministerial posts, the opposing faction led by the Iranian-backed militia Hizballah--which the U.S. considers a terrorist organization--gained crucial Cabinet positions. The power-sharing agreement was welcomed by the U.N., but critics admonished Hariri for conceding to Hizballah's demands and potentially legitimizing its military presence in the country...
...Russian position is technically correct: Iran hasn't formally responded, but for the Western powers, that's the whole point - the proposed deal was negotiated weeks ago with Iranian representatives in Vienna, and Iran's government was asked to endorse it within a couple of days. But the plan faced a firestorm of criticism from across the political spectrum in Tehran, prompting the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to backtrack. The aspect of the plan that most appeals to the West - removing from Iran most of a uranium stockpile that could hypothetically be turned into a weapon, and returning...
Such arrangements are anathema to the key Western powers, of course. But the key leaders in Tehran don't appear to feel a wall at their backs on the nuclear issue. Mottaki's insistence that Iran accepts the "framework" of the deal and Ahmadinjead's declaration last weekend that the Islamic Republic is committed to "nuclear cooperation" with the international community suggests that they know they'll have to show flexibility and deal, but they may still believe they can strike a more favorable agreement - or withstand the level of pressure the U.S. and its allies can muster...