Morning News Roundup (23 Aug)

Another quick one as I re-acclimate myself to the homestead...

Middle East Sturm und Drang

• Let's review: UN Security Council countries plus Germany told Iran in June that they'd hold talks on the country's nuclear future if Iran agreed to suspend its uranium enrichment program first. Cut to two months and one war later, and Iran replies that sure, it would love to hold talks, but it'll have to pass on that suspension proposal. Already, the chips are falling - predictably - this way:

  The United States, Britain, France and Germany planned to meet Wednesday to discuss the Iranian proposal and the prospect of drawing up a sanctions resolution. But it is notable that the meeting will not include Russia and China.

  A new report from Britain's Chatham House says the war on terror and the war in Lebanon has left Iran in a position of considerable strength. [Foreign Policy's Passport]
  
  
• The US-led "war on terror" has bolstered Iran's power and influence in the Middle East, especially over its neighbour and former enemy Iraq, the Chatham House thinktank said today, which also noted the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan had removed Iran's main rival regimes in the region.
  [...]
  The study said Iran had been swift to fill the political vacuum created by the removal of the Taliban in Afghanistan and Saddam Hussein in Iraq. The Islamic republic now has a level of influence in the region that could not be ignored. [The Guardian]
  
  
• The UN and the United States have called on Europe to rush troops to Lebanon to enforce the week-old cease-fire between Israel and Hizbullah fighters. But European leaders are hesitating, saying they don't want to send their soldiers into such a treacherous situation unless their mission and means are more clearly defined.
  [...]
  The UN cease-fire resolution adopted earlier this month calls for up to 15,000 multinational troops to fortify UNIFIL, the existing UN observer force that has operated in Lebanon for the past 28 years. The new force would assist the Lebanese Army in taking control of south Lebanon where Hizbullah has ruled for years.
  
  Because of opposition from the Lebanese government, which includes Hizbullah cabinet ministers, the resolution did not give the force broad rules of engagement that would have allowed peacekeepers to take offensive action. [CSM]

Enviro news

• Just last summer, hybrid cars didn't make much financial sense. One year and 35 cents a gallon later, they still might not, but they're getting much closer, according to a recent study from car-buying research Web site Edmunds.com.
  
  With help from a hefty tax credit, consumers driving their vehicle 15,000 miles a year completely recover the premium paid for on the Ford Escape Hybrid and Toyota Prius within three years. For other cars, like the Honda Civic Hybrid, Saturn VUE Green Line and Toyota Camry Hybrid, the break-even point takes six years to reach, the study showed. Keep in mind, however, that the full tax credit is only given to buyers until shortly after the manufacturer sells 60,000 hybrids. After that, the credit gets cut in half.
  
  
• Seventy-four percent of Americans “are more convinced today that global warming is a reality than they were two years ago.” The majority of those polled believe global warming has influenced the summer’s heat wave (65 percent), severe hurricanes (68 percent), wildfires (58 percent), droughts (69 percent), and decreased snowfall (68 percent). [ThinkProgress' ThinkFast]
  
  
• SB 1, California's Million Solar Roofs bill, was signed into law by Governor Schwarzenegger yesterday. For those new to the story, this bill -- which some have called humankind's last, best hope for surviving global warming -- failed to pass out of the legislature three years running, until the California Public Utilities Commission enacted the meat of the measure -- $3.2 billion in rebates for one million solar roofs -- through a regulatory process last January. This bill codifies that funding into legislation, and fills in several very important missing pieces. [Gristmill]

Domestic Potpourri

• Dear Leader's propaganda machinery is working overtime to dispel that whole "idiot" image, according to US News (& World Report):
  

  Maybe it was the influence of his wife, Laura, a former librarian, or his mother, Barbara, a longtime promoter of literacy. Or perhaps he was just eager to dispel his image as an intellectual lightweight. But President Bush now wants it known that he is a man of letters. In fact, Bush has entered a book-reading competition with Karl Rove, his political adviser. White House aides say the president has read 60 books so far this year (while the brainy Rove, to Bush's competitive delight, has racked up only 50).
  [...]
  Bush's critics aren't buying. A man who so regularly mangles the English language and seems to disdain complexity couldn't possibly be so cerebral, they argue. But portraying Bush as a voracious reader is part of an ongoing White House campaign to restore what a senior adviser calls "gravitas" to the Bush persona. He certainly needs something. Only about 34 percent of Americans approve of his job performance-and 58 percent say Bush "seems in over his head," according to Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg.