The 2nd Thread/The Real International For 7/8/10: The Spy Swap That Will Hopefully Go Away

Photo from EPA

Please yet it be the end:

There are increasing reports that Russia and the United States are preparing a Cold War-style prisoner exchange involving 10 suspected Russian spies arrested in the US and a nuclear reasearcher jailed by the Russians.

The lawyer and brother of Igor Sutyagin, who is serving a 14-year sentence for spying for the US, said he was transferred to Moscow's Lefortovo prison earlier this week to facilitate the swap.

Please.

It seems our President loves himself some tax breaks both domestically and internationally!

The Palestinian Authority has called on President Barack Obama to end tax breaks on American donations to Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

The move would be more in line with stated US policy that settlements were an obstacle to peace, the PA argued.

The New York Times recently identified 40 US groups that have collected $200m (£130m) in tax-deductible donations over the last decade.

The gifts went to Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Al Qaeda, captured in Norway :

Three suspected al-Qaeda members were arrested Thursday in connection with what Norwegian and U.S. officials said was a terrorist plot linked to similar plans to bomb New York's subway and blow up a shopping mall in England.

The three men, whose names were not released, had been under surveillance for more than a year. Two were arrested in Norway and one in Germany. Officials would not say what country or site was the target of the latest terror threat.

Officials believe the men were planning attacks with portable but powerful bombs like the ones at the heart of last year's failed suicide attack in the New York City subway — an attack U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has called one of the most serious terrorist plots since Sept. 11, 2001.

And Hilary Clinton is encouraged by Cuba's prisoner release:

Cuba's decision to release 52 political prisoners is overdue but still a positive sign from the island's communist government, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday.

"We were encouraged by the apparent agreement between the Roman Catholic Church and the authorities in Cuba for the release of 52 political prisoners," Clinton told reporters after a meeting with Jordan's visiting foreign minister.

"We think that's a positive sign. It's something that is overdue but nevertheless very welcome."

The Real International for the day folks.