A congressional report yesterday warned that the US was facing "significant gaps" in its intelligence on Iran that could be as serious as the shortcomings in its prewar knowledge about Iraq, leaving Washington ill-prepared to assess Tehran's military capabilities. The warning came as the Bush administration struggled to hold together an international coalition to force Iran to give up its nuclear programme. On Tuesday, Iran rejected a UN security council ultimatum to give up uranium enrichment by the end of this month, responding instead with a 21-page proposal for "serious talks". US diplomats said yesterday they were consulting their European allies on how to treat the proposal, in the face of Russian and Chinese reluctance to impose strong sanctions. "We acknowledge that Iran considers its response as a serious offer, and we will review it," state department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos said in a statement. "The response, however, falls short of the conditions set by ...
http://www.guardian.co.uk
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Editor - 09:02:00 08-24-06
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 Zanzibar bans mainland's bananas |
Zanzibar's government has banned the import of bananas from the Tanzanian mainland to the islands, in a move aimed at controlling diseases. The island authorities says an outbreak of a disease called banana bacterial wilt on the mainland could destroy Zanzibar's own banana crop. The disease can cause up to 90% crop losses. The banana import ban is to continue indefinitely. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5282196.stm
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Editor - 08:53:00 08-24-06
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| Washington state declares wildfire emergency |
Gov. Chris Gregoire declared a statewide wildfire emergency as several large fires burned in Washington state and forecasters predicted more storms with high winds."Numerous wildfires across Washington pose a serious threat to homes, infrastructure, businesses and natural resources ... and our firefighting resources have begun to grow scarce," Gregoire said Wednesday following a helicopter tour of the largest fire, in the north-central part of the state.The proclamation allows state agencies to send money and resources to help local jurisdictions battle the blazes.As the governor flew over the 200-square-mile fire complex, flames leaped 100 feet into the air. Nearly 3,000 firefighters were assigned to the area....
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/08/24/washington.wildfires.ap/index.html?section=cnn_us
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Editor - 08:51:00 08-24-06
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| Top U.S. general hails progress in Baghdad clampdown |
The top U.S. general in the Middle East praised a major security clampdown in Baghdad on Thursday and said Iraq was far from civil war. On a day when three car bombs and two roadside bombs killed four people and wounded 24 in the capital, General John Abizaid told reporters: "I think there has been great progress on the security front in Baghdad recently. We are very optimistic that the situation will stabilize." The U.S. military has sent reinforcements to Baghdad to help the government take back the streets from sectarian militias and death squads, who have been blamed for the killing of thousands in violence that has raised fears of civil war. Abizaid, who met General John Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said comments he made earlier this month before the U.S. Senate in which he said the sectarian violence in Iraq was the worst he had seen had been misrepresented ...
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2352002
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Editor - 08:47:00 08-24-06
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| 3 U.S. Soldiers Among at Least 13 People Killed in Iraq, Despite Assurances on Security |
A series of attacks across Iraq killed more than a dozen people, including three U.S. soldiers, authorities said Thursday. The killings came despite assurances from U.S. officials that progress was being made to improve security in the capital. At least 13 Iraqis, including civilians, soldiers and police, were killed in bombings and shootings, becoming the latest casualties in the country's ongoing sectarian and political violence. One soldier was killed on Thursday afternoon in the capital when his patrol was attacked by gunmen, the U.S. military command said in a statement. Another American soldier died Thursday when his vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb south of Baghdad, the military said. The identities of both soldiers were withheld pending notification of their families. And another soldier was killed south of Baghdad on Wednesday during a raid to capture "foreign terrorists," the U.S. command said, adding that "two terrorists were also killed during the firefight."...
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2352069
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Editor - 08:45:00 08-24-06
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| Bomb, gunfire kills 2 U.S. soldiers in Baghdad U.S. Army creates employment to keep youths out of sectarian gangs |
Two U.S. soldiers were killed in Baghdad on Thursday, a day after another U.S. soldier died in fighting to capture “foreign terrorists,” the U.S. military said. One soldier was killed on Thursday afternoon in the capital when his patrol was attacked by gunmen using small arms fire, the U.S. military command said in a statement. Earlier in the day, another soldier was killed when an improvised explosive device, the Army’s term for a roadside bomb, hit the vehicle in which he was traveling, the military said. Another soldier died on Wednesday south of Baghdad “when his unit came in contact with enemy forces,” said an earlier statement by the U.S. command. It said two terrorists were killed during the fire fight. “The unit was conducting operations to rid Iraq of foreign terrorists known to be operating in the area,” the statement said. It gave no other details. ...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14499338/
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Editor - 08:43:00 08-24-06
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