The world at a glance . . . International

Pyongyang, North Korea

Another bomb: In an effort to push the U.S. into bilateral talks, North Korea announced this week that it had completed reprocessing spent nuclear fuel for use in a bomb. The country is already believed to have weaponized enough plutonium for six to eight bombs, and the new fuel would add to that stockpile. “We have no option but to strengthen our self-defense nuclear deterrent in the face of increasing nuclear threats and military provocations from hostile forces,” the official state news agency said. It said the country would “go its own way” unless the U.S. agreed to bilateral talks. The U.S. has been pressing for North Korea to instead return to multilateral talks, which include Russia, China, Japan, and South Korea.

Beijing

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Making snow: An attempt to relieve a severe drought in China has apparently worked too well. Meteorologists this week shot silver iodide into clouds near Beijing, hoping to cause rain—but what they got was an 11-hour blizzard that buried the capital in snow, stranding millions of commuters. Still, the Weather Modification Office declared its action a success. Scientists in other countries were skeptical. The effectiveness of cloud seeding is disputed, because nobody can prove that it wouldn’t have snowed or rained even without the silver iodide.

South Waziristan, Afghanistan

On the trail of al Qaida: Pakistani authorities have found evidence that a major figure in the 9/11 plot may be hiding out in Pakistan. In the course of its push against Taliban militants in South Waziristan, the Pakistani military found the passport of Said Bahaji, a German citizen of Moroccan extraction who is believed to have been a key member of the Hamburg terror cell whose members included Mohamed Atta and other 9/11 hijackers. The passport shows that Bahaji entered Pakistan Sept. 4, 2001, exactly a week before the attacks. Pakistani officials said the discovery indicates that top al Qaida members are working with the Pakistani Taliban.

Tehran

The opposition lives: Iranian protesters braved tear gas and baton-wielding riot police this week to demonstrate against the disputed June presidential election. Such demonstrations have been banned, but the protest was planned to coincide with official anti-American rallies marking the 30th anniversary of the takeover of the U.S. Embassy. Anti-government protesters yelled “Death to dictators,” in direct defiance of a warning that anyone chanting anything except “death to America” would be arrested. Meanwhile, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, rejected a new U.S. offer of talks, saying that negotiating with America would be “naïve and perverted.”

Baghdad

Foreigners chafe at booze restrictions: The Iraqi government has banned sales of alcohol in Baghdad’s Green Zone, the London Times reported this week. The heavily fortified zone is home to most of the foreigners living in Baghdad, including diplomatic staffs and journalists. Many were appalled by the new restriction. “Baghdad is hard enough when you’re medicated,” said one European diplomat. Those who want to drink in the Green Zone can still do so legally—as long as they can land an invitation to an embassy party. Embassies are considered foreign territory and are exempt from the alcohol ban. Some observers say Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki may have enacted the ban to curry favor with devout Iraqis ahead of the upcoming elections.

Jerusalem

American arrested in terror attacks: An American living in Israel has been charged with a string of terror attacks against Arab, gay, and leftist targets. Jack Teitel, 37, the son of a U.S. Marine, is a religious extremist who lives in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank. Teitel has reportedly confessed to numerous attacks, saying he was acting on direct orders from God. Police say he is responsible for the murder of two Palestinians in 1997, two 2008 letter bombings that left a professor and a 15-year-old boy wounded, an attack on a police station meant to disrupt a gay-rights rally, and many other attempted assaults. “He is like a serial killer,” said Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld. “This guy was a Jewish terrorist who targeted different types of people.”