US fire 'kills 15 Iraqi civilians'An attack on a US military patrol followed by heavy US gunfire left 15 Iraqis dead and 17 wounded in a town west of Baghdad, residents have said...
al-Jazeera
Il Romanaccio at 3:14 PM
IAEA Draft resolution warns TeheranIAEA drafts Iran nuclear reactionThe IAEA is set to hold a final day of crisis talks in an effort to agree on what action to take following Iran's decision to resume nuclear activities...
BBCIran opposes UN Council interventionAn Iranian official has warned Europe and the United States against referring Iran to the UN Security Council over the resumption of operations at its uranium conversion plant...
al-JazeeraDraft resolution warns IranThe U.N. nuclear watchdog is debating a draft resolution submitted by the European Union which asks Iran to fully suspend its nuclear activities and expresses "serious concern" about the country's nuclear program...
CNN
Il Romanaccio at 2:03 PM
Iraq: Sixteen Killed By Insurgents
Rebel fighters have repeatedly attacked the cities of Baghdad and Baquba between Monday and Tuesday, killing at least 16 people. Ten Iraqi National Guards were among the victims, as well as a US soldier.
On Tuesday afternoon a suicide bomber attacked a US military convoy in the central Tayaran Square in Baghdad,
killing one American soldier and three other people. A military spokesman confirmed the death toll later and said also that 50 civillians were injured in the same attack.
During the morning, says CNN, a string of drive-by shooting attacks killed ten Iraqi policemen and wounded six others. This series of attacks took place between 7:30 and 9:30 in the morning (14:30 and 16:30 Washington Time).
A Shiite mosque near the capital was targeted by mortar rounds on Tuesday. Two civillians died and four others were wounded. A US troop, assigned to the 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, was killed on Monday by small rifle wounds received during a combat operation in Ramadi, as the US military bulletin reported.
Iranian BombsMeanwhile,
US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld announced that some of the bombs that the insurgents were using were made in Iran. Even if Rumsfeld avoided theorizing a full involvment of Teheran's government in the issue, he seemed to be sure about the source of the bombs: "clearly, unambiguously from Iran."
"It's notably unhelpful for Iranians to be letting those weapons cross the border," he added, underlining how these new bombs are far more powerful than any possible "handcrafted" grenades or explosives the insurgents were frabricating by themselves.
Major of Baghdad Fired
Alaa al-Timimi was fired as the Major of the capital by the provisional council on Monday. Ex- provincial governor Hussein al-Tahaan will replace him temporarily, until another Major can be elected. Al-Timimi will resign on Wednesday in front of the Council of Ministries.
CNNALSO IN BLOGGERNEWS
Il Romanaccio at 11:02 AM
War Press Report InternationalCar bombs? In Iraq’s Kurdish zone, almost a jokeBy Luke BakerSULAIMANIYA, Iraq, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Asked when he last had to treat victims of a car bomb, Iraqi doctor Arif Anwar, an emergency room surgeon at Sulaimaniya’s main hospital, dismisses the question with a smile and then starts to laugh.
"Car bomb? Are you joking?" he chuckles, as his white-coated colleagues in the doctors’ lounge join the chorus of amusement...
Kurdishmedia
Il Romanaccio at 3:17 PM
Ex-U.N. Program Director May Face ChargesBy EDITH M. LEDERER and NICK WADHAMSNEW YORK -- The former head of the United Nations oil-for-food program in Iraq could face charges after a U.N.-backed committee investigating the scandal-tainted program said it had found enough evidence of a kickback scheme to support prosecution...
Newsday.com
Il Romanaccio at 3:14 PM
UN Inspectors in IranA group of UN inspectors from the IAEA arrived in Iran yesterday in order to monitor the uranium conversion facility at Isfahan. It will take a few days to complete the installation of the cameras and carry out the first inspection, a US spokesman has confirmed.
As announced by UN spokeswoman for the atomic agency, Melissa Fleming, in Vienna on Monday,
"Nothing's changed. The IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) team still needs until the middle of this week to get the inspection system set up and in place before the facility could be restarted."
"We continue our request to Iran to refrain from breaking any seals until the safeguards are in place," she also said.
Meanwhile, Iranian authorities continue to repeat that the nuclear energy would only be an alternative to electricity and hope to be able to start the conversion of enriched uranium within the next days.
The so called "Big Three",
Great Britain, France and Germany have already set a meeting with the IAEA which could pass the issue over to the UN Security Council. The risk of possible sanctions is not a problem, according to what Iranian authorities recently said. A state television has reported that the Isfahan plant will resume the conversion of uranium around twelve o'clock (0730 GMT) on Monday.
This scenario will bring the UN and Teheran into a close diplomatic fight. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has already said that they will not give up the development of nuclear energy in his country because it is considered a right.
Months ago, his predecessor, Uhmar Karami, had searched for the support of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who answered positively and offered his help.
al-JazeeraALSO IN BLOGGERNEWS
Il Romanaccio at 12:46 PM
