Morning News Roundup (28 Apr)

• Patrick Fitzgerald's grand jury is meeting again today, but don't expect any indictment news just yet. While Fitzgerald is apparently thinking hard about perjury charges against the president's top political advisor, both the New York Times and Bloomberg News are suggesting that a decision could still be a couple of weeks away. [Salon's War Room]
  
  
• Despite a formal request from the U.N. Security Council, Iran has not provided international inspectors with new information about the country's nuclear program and has accelerated, rather than curbed, uranium-enrichment activities, according to sources familiar with a report the inspectors plan to issue today.
  
  On Monday, diplomats from the United States, Britain and France will begin pushing for a resolution that would legally obligate Iran to abide by the council's demands, officials said. If Iran balks, the trio would then pursue international sanctions, either through the Security Council or with like-minded allies. [WaPo]
  
  
• Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says his country "does not give a damn" about UN resolutions seeking to curb Tehran's nuclear programme. The BBC's Frances Harrison in Tehran says that in the past few days Iranian rhetoric has intensified as it has become clear the nuclear watchdog's report on Tehran will not be positive. [BBC]
  
  
• As Americans contemplate the misery of a summer of $3-per-gallon gas, drivers in Britain and much of continental Europe look on with resigned envy. High taxes long ago created some of the world's most expensive gasoline on this side of the Atlantic, where a family car is deemed more a luxury than a necessity and many people rely instead on extensive public transportation networks.
  
  Drivers in 11 European countries are now paying an average of more than $6 a gallon for gasoline, according to Britain's AA Motoring Trust. European governments have long used gasoline taxes not only as an important source of revenue, but as a policy tool to drive down oil consumption and reduce pollution. [WaPo]
  
  
• Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, Iraq's most revered Shiite Muslim cleric, urged Prime Minister-designate Nouri al-Maliki to deal quickly with sectarian militias blamed for widespread killings, and to ensure that Iraqi police and soldiers remain loyal to the country and not to political factions. Shiite militias such as the Mahdi Army, led by the firebrand cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, and the Badr Organization, which is tied to Iraq's largest political party, dominate many Iraqi police and army units and have been accused by Sunni Arab leaders and U.S. officials of operating death squads. [WaPo]
  
  
• Iraqi security forces were battling insurgents in and around Baquba despite a curfew after rebels launched massive attacks on checkpoints to seize control of the restive city. Baquba, a mainly Sunni city 60 kilometers (35 miles) north of Baghdad, has seen a surge in violence in the past few months as rebels exploit a political vacuum with the country still without a new government four months after a landmark election. [AFP]
  
  
• Rice and Rumsfeld stumped by a reporter’s excellent question: “A full 10 seconds of silence passed after a reporter asked Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld what the intense secrecy and security surrounding their visit to Iraq signified about the stability of the country three years after the U.S.-led invasion. Rice turned to Rumsfeld to provide the answer. Rumsfeld glared at the reporter.” [ThinkProgress' ThinkFast]
  
  
• The Sudanese government has launched a new military assault in southern Darfur, attacking villages and displacing thousands of civilians before a deadline for the conclusion of peace talks. The report comes as the actor George Clooney has added his voice to calls for action to stop the violence. He joined US senators in Washington yesterday to call for more international efforts to stop the violence. The actor and his father recently returned from a fact-finding trip to Darfur. [The Independent]
  
  
• Ten states, joined by environmental groups, sued the Environmental Protection Agency over its decision not to regulate carbon dioxide pollution as a contributor to global warming. They are New York, California, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin. Also suing the government are the cities of Washington and New York, as well as Environmental Defense, Natural Resources Defense Council and Sierra Club. [AP via Wired News]
  
  
• U.S. residents can breathe a bit easier than they did a decade ago, as the number of days that air quality was deemed unhealthy has fallen, according to a report by the American Lung Association Thursday. The report found real improvement in air quality over much of the United States, due in part to reduced emissions from power plants. [Reuters via ENN]
  
  
• Gunner Palace is still sitting in my Netflix queue, but I'm ready for what sounds like the next big Iraq War--The War Tapes premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival (via Wired News):
  

  Shot by soldiers on consumer-grade digital video cameras, the documentary offers an immersive, sobering and often shocking slice of life (and death) in Iraq.
  
  Director Deborah Scranton described War Tapes as the result of a "virtual embed." She gave cameras to 10 Iraq-bound soldiers, and then used e-mail and instant messaging to provide them with advice on technique and technical issues.
  [...]
  One of its main targets is KBR, a Halliburton-owned military contractor that the soldiers suspect of war profiteering.
  
  "Why the fuck am I out here guarding this truck full of cheesecake?" asked Mike Moriarty, another of the film's central subjects. "The priority of KBR making money outweighs the priority of our safety."