Why China Isn't Willing to Get Too Tough on Iran

From left: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao


China's government, as President Barack Obama by now no doubt knows, loves to talk about climate change. But it's an issue that exists for Beijing at 30,000 ft., far from earthly, everyday concerns. So President Hu Jintao can play the responsible global citizen by making vague commitments, as he did at the U.N. this fall, to reduce his country's carbon gas emissions by a "notable amount" at some point in the future without actually doing anything that might disrupt China's economy. But he doesn't have the same luxury of deferring action on the increasingly urgent global concerns over nuclear developments in Iran and North Korea.

Obama's sense of urgency over Iran is pretty apparent. Before arriving in Beijing, he conferred on the issue with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev at the APEC summit in Singapore and warned that "time is running out" for Iran to accept a deal to send its uranium to Russia for reprocessing into reactor fuel. The implicit message was clear: unless Iran accepts the plan, the U.S. will press for further sanctions against Tehran, this time possibly seeking restrictions on investment in Iran's vital energy sector.

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Amanda Peet: ‘I’ll Sag no Matter What’

AMANDA Peet says she tries to keep her sexy body in check — but she often wonders why she bothers.



The 37-year-old actress — who stars opposite John Cusack in the brilliant new movie 2012 — admits she realizes she can’t stop her body from aging.

“It’s not really working,” Peet told Parade magazine. “I have an inner conflict. I’ll be at the gym and I’ll start thinking, ‘What am I doing? I’m going to sag no matter what I do.’

“I’ve certainly taken my clothes off on camera, but you have body make-up and special lighting.

“I mean, someone with a figure like Jennifer Aniston has a trainer, a cook spinning out some version of the latest diet, and probably a stop at the tanning salon. Then teenage girls go, ‘God, I wish I could look like that.’ Maybe they wouldn’t if they knew what it took.’”

Peet — who has a daughter, Frances Pen, with her screenwriter husband David Benioff — then opened up about returning to New York after living in Los Angeles.

“I feel very vulnerable even though I grew up here,” she said. “I mean, it’s a huge crowded city where 9/11 happened. Sometimes if they raise the alert level or something I walk down the subway steps and wonder if I’m going to be in danger.

“I guess I think about it most when I’m on the subway. But I always say to myself, ‘Just get on the train and don’t give in to this sh**.’”

The actress also revealed that she’d like to do a romantic comedy with Cusack.

“2012 is our third film together and at least we sort of got to be lovers more than we ever have been before. John has this kind of vulnerability, this kind of Tom Hanks everyman quality, but he’s a little more edgy with this great dry sense of humor. I just think he’s wonderful.”