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The killing of an Iranian nuclear scientist this week marked the fifth time in two years that assassins have targeted scientists in Tehran. Weekends on All Things Considered takes a look at what this new level of diplomatic strain means for the Middle East and the U.S. economy.

Two former News Corp. editors, Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks, have been charged with crimes involving a phone hacking scandal. Coulson is also a former aide to the Prime Minister. There had previously been charges with interfering with the police investigation, but the new charges are directly involved with interfering with the phone messages at the heart of the scandal.

Mitt Romney flies to Israel this weekend on the second leg of his overseas tour. He'll meet with top Israeli officials as well as the Palestinian prime minister. The Republican presidential candidate is using the trip to court the Jewish vote, which went overwhelmingly for Barack Obama in 2008.

The Justice Department and the intelligence community say reauthorizing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Amendments Act, which expires at the end of the year, is their top national security priority. But an interesting mix of senators are sounding alarms about whether the government is secretly gathering too much information on innocent Americans, and keeping it for far too long. They cite a newly declassified letter that exposes an incident where even the Obama administration acknowledges it went too far.

As the guessing game continues about Mitt Romney's choice of a vice presidential running mate, Ohio Sen. Rob Portman invariably comes up as a top contender. With a wealth of experience in Washington and beyond, the well-liked Portman would be considered a safe pick.

The opposition in Syria delivered a powerful blow to President Bashar Assad's regime Wednesday. A bomb attack killed the country's top security officials. Renee Montagne talks to Liz Sly of The Washington Post about the ongoing clashes.

A meal in a Tripoli restaurant prompts questions about how to cook camel and its history as a food.

Rebels appear to be in control of large parts of the city of Aleppo. Government forces responded with heavy fire, killing dozens of civilians. But rights groups criticized rebels after a video reportedly showed they summarily killed four government loyalists. NPR's Anthony Kuhn talks to Steve Inskeep about the latest.

The wife of disgraced Chinese leader Bo Xilai has gotten a suspended death sentence for killing a British businessman. Gu Kailai was convicted after confessing to killing Neil Heywood. Her accomplice, a family employee, was sentenced to nine years in prison.

The British bank accused of using its New York branch to launder money from international transaction has agreed to pay New York's top banking regulator $340 million. Regulators said the bank schemed to hide more than 60,000 financial transactions totaling $250 billion for Iranian clients. The bank denied the charges. Audie Cornish talks with Jim Zarroli.