MUNICH (Reuters) – Iran “will blink” if sanctions aimed at deterring it from building a nuclear bomb are imposed rapidly, meaning outside powers may never need to decide on possible armed action, an Israeli minister said on Friday.

Speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of a conference in Germany, Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon added that the key point of international concern should be the amount of enriched uranium Iran has managed to bury at a deep site at Fordow, its best sheltered nuclear site south of Tehran.

AMMAN/LONDON (Reuters) – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad looks increasingly cornered, his authority seriously wounded by rebel raids at the gates of Damascus and his ability to wield superior firepower complicated by political constraints.

On paper, the military balance remains in Assad’s favor, with army defections still relatively small. Rebel strength, estimated variously at 20,000 to 30,000, is less than a tenth of the army’s. External armed intervention in favor of the opposition is unlikely and the security services, manned mainly by members of his minority Alawite sect, remain intact.

MARRAKECH, Morocco (Reuters) – Regional rivalries and doubts about Western intervention are hampering efforts by Africa’s fragile Sahara-Sahel zone to prevent remote desert areas destabilized by Libya’s war from becoming safe havens for al Qaeda and international criminals.

Some of the world’s poorest countries such as Mali, Niger and Mauritania are scrambling to secure international expertise to shore up crumbling state authority in the face of an influx of weapons and fighters from Libya’s conflict.

LONDON (Reuters) – A backseat passenger on a motorcycle weaving through the crush of Tehran’s morning traffic reaches out and places a small magnetic device on the door of a silver-grey Peugeot 405.

When the directional bomb explodes seconds later, blasting through the sedan’s door and instantly killing nuclear scientist Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, a 32-year-old father of one, the motorcycle has already vanished, accelerating into the ranks of the Iranian capital’s rush hour.

LONDON (Reuters) – A backseat passenger on a motorcycle weaving through the crush of Tehran’s morning traffic reaches out and places a small magnetic device on the door of a silver-grey Peugeot 405.

When the directional bomb explodes seconds later, blasting through the sedan’s door and instantly killing nuclear scientist Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, a 32-year-old father of one, the motorcycle has already vanished, accelerating into the ranks of the Iranian capital’s rush hour.

LONDON (Reuters) – A backseat passenger on a motorcycle weaving through the crush of Tehran’s morning traffic reaches out and places a small magnetic device on the door of a silver-grey Peugeot 405.

When the directional bomb explodes seconds later, blasting through the sedan’s door and instantly killing nuclear scientist Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, a 32-year-old father of one, the motorcycle has already vanished, accelerating into the ranks of the Iranian capital’s rush hour.

LONDON (Reuters) – A backseat passenger on a motorcycle weaving through the crush of Tehran’s morning traffic reaches out and places a small magnetic device on the door of a silver-grey Peugeot 405.

When the directional bomb explodes seconds later, blasting through the sedan’s door and instantly killing nuclear scientist Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, a 32-year-old father of one, the motorcycle has already vanished, accelerating into the ranks of the Iranian capital’s rush hour.

LONDON (Reuters) – With its nuclear program beset as never before by sanctions, sabotage and assassination, Iran must now make a new addition to its list of concerns: One of the biggest conventional bombs ever built.

Boeing’s 30,000-pound Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), an ultra-large bunker buster for use on underground targets, with Iran routinely mentioned as its most likely intended destination, is a key element in the implicit U.S. threat to use force as a last report against Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

LONDON (Reuters) – With its nuclear programme beset as never before by sanctions, sabotage and assassination, Iran must now make a new addition to its list of concerns: One of the biggest conventional bombs ever built.

Boeing’s 30,000-pound Massive Ordnance Penetrator, an ultra-large bunker buster for use on underground targets, with Iran routinely mentioned as its most likely intended destination, is a key element in the implicit U.S. threat to use force as a last resport against Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

LONDON (Reuters) – From Los Angeles to Paris to Tehran, disparate opposition groups with little in common but an aversion to Iran’s clerical leaders are struggling to extract political gains from an escalation in Western sanctions.

Numerous dissidents have hailed Western agreement on tougher measures to compel the Islamic Republic to rein in its nuclear programme, but translating the upbeat mood into renewed opposition activity will not be easy, Iran experts say.