Free Internet Press Newsletter - Tuesday September 18 2007 - (813)

Tuesday September 18 2007 edition
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United Nations: Drift Into War With Iran Out Of Control 2007-09-17 22:41:31 The United Nation's chief nuclear weapons inspector Monday warned against the use of force against Iran, in what U.N. officials said was an attempt to halt an "out of control" drift to war. His outspoken remarks, which drew a parallel between Iran and Iraq, appeared to take aim at the U.S. and Britain. They followed comments on Sunday night by the French foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, who said: "We have to prepare for the worst," adding "the worst is war". Article continues "I would not talk about any use of force," Mohamed ElBaradei told reporters at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters in Vienna, Austria. "There are rules on how to use force, and I would hope that everybody would have gotten the lesson after the Iraq situation, where 700,000 innocent civilians have lost their lives on the suspicion that a country has nuclear weapons." There has been a string of reports out of Washington, D.C., that the Bush administration is running out of patience with diplomacy and is intensifying its plans for air strikes as a means of halting Iran's disputed nuclear program. Read The Full Story Rice Apologizes For Blackwater Shootings In Baghdad 2007-09-17 22:41:02 Movement to prevent Iraq from expelling U.S. security contractor. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice apologized to the Iraqi government Monday in an attempt to prevent the expulsion of all employees of the security firm Blackwater USA. Iraq's Ministry of Interior Monday made the decision to expel Blackwater after eight Iraqi civilians were killed and 13 wounded in Baghdad when shots were fired from a U.S. State Department convoy on Sunday. Diplomats, engineers and other westerners in Iraq rely heavily on protection by Blackwater. The Iraqi decision created confusion on the ground, with uncertainty over whether protection was still available and whether Blackwater staff should leave the country immediately. Article continues Rice called the prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, to apologize for the shooting. They agreed to run a "fair and transparent investigation", according to a statement from Maliki's office. It added: "She has expressed her personal apologies and the apologies of the government of the United States. She confirmed that the United Sates will take immediate actions to prevent such actions from happening again." The office did not specify whether the apology was sufficient to reverse the expulsion decision. Read The Full Story European Court Uphold $690 Million Anti-Trust Fine Against Microsoft 2007-09-17 15:27:18 A European Union court Monday rejected Microsoft's appeal of a European antitrust order requiring it to share software information with rivals and pay a record $690 million in fines for quashing competition. Consumer advocates and Microsoft officials said the ruling by the European Court of First Instance would have far-reaching implications for high-technology companies and other industries around the world. European Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes, who led the effort to force Microsoft to share technology rather than obligate consumers to buy only Microsoft software, said the decision "set an important precedent in terms of the obligations of dominant companies to allow competition, in particular in high-tech industries." Microsoft senior vice president and general counsel Brad Smith called the court ruling disappointing, but added that the software giant is "committed to complying with every aspect" of the decision. Read The Full Story	Spread Of Banking Panic In Britain Forces Government Guarantee Savings 2007-09-17 22:41:17 Fears over others banks; intervention too slow, say critics. The British government Monday night issued an emergency pledge to Northern Rock savers that their money is safe, after a third day of queues outside branches threatened to spread across the banking system. Northern Rock's shares shed a third of their value Monday and the sense of crisis heightened as shares in rival mortgage lenders dropped sharply - Alliance & Leicester by a third and Bradford & Bingley by 15%. The falls raised fears that the contagion from Northern Rock was starting to spread through the financial system. Amid criticism that the government reacted far too slowly to the first run on a major bank in over a century, the chancellor Alistair Darling announced a government guarantee of all deposits in Northern Rock - thus overturning the system for dealing with bank collapses which the Labor Party introduced six years ago. He intervened just after news of the Alliance & Leicester's mauling started to emerge. Darling said the guarantee would apply to other banks in trouble, but he insisted no other had so far followed the Northern Rock and applied to the Bank of England for emergency funding. Read The Full Story Iraq Government Revokes Blackwater License 2007-09-17 15:27:35 The Iraqi government said Monday it has revoked the license of Blackwater USA, a private security company that guards U.S. Embassy personnel in Iraq, following a shootout in downtown Baghdad on Sunday that left at least nine people dead. Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul-Karim Khalaf called the episode the "last and the biggest mistake" committed by Blackwater, whose black sports utility vehicles and agile "Little Bird" helicopters escort diplomatic convoys throughout Baghdad. He said the decision of the Iraqi government meant that Blackwater "cannot work in Iraq any longer, it will be illegal for them to work here." "Security contracts do not allow them to shoot people randomly," said Brig. Gen. Khalaf. "They are here to protect personnel, not shoot people without reason." Read The Full Story O.J. Simpson Faces Six Felony Charges In Alleged Robbery 2007-09-17 15:26:57 Las Vegas police arrested O.J. Simpson Sunday and charged the former football star with six felony counts in connection with an alleged hotel-room robbery, placing Simpson in his most serious legal jeopardy since his acquittal on double murder charges in 1995. Simpson, 60, was arrested yesterday morning, three days after two sports-memorabilia dealers told police that Simpson and five other men burst into their room at the Palace Station Hotel and Casino, several of them brandishing guns, and seized various mementos, including several items autographed by the NFL Hall of Famer. Police charged Simpson with two counts of robbery with a deadly weapon, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, and one count each of conspiracy to commit burglary and burglary with a firearm. He was booked last night in the Clark County Detention Center; a judge ordered him held without bail. At a news conference last night, police said there were no indications that Simpson was carrying a weapon during the alleged robbery, nor was there evidence of physical harm to anyone in the episode. Read The Full Story
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