Several news agencies are now reporting that during Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to Latin American countries this past week, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called her the “blonde” version of her predecessor Condoleezza Rice.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the United States believes now that Iran is becoming a military dictatorship, adding that Iran’s elite military force, the Revolutionary Guard, is “in effect, supplanting the government.”

President Barack Obama called for a return to civility in American politics, as he spoke at a prayer breakfast in Washington yesterday.

Concerned voices are increasing in number as more countries join the belief that an Iran with nuclear missile capabilities would be a dangerous scenario. The issue has turned from a U.S.-led opposition to Iran’s nuclear pursuits to a global recognition of the potential risk to stability.