Far and Wide

Iran is sanctioned

The Bush administration is cracking down on Iran.

(AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced the harshest sanctions against Iran since the takeover of the U.S. embassy in 1979. The charge: Tehran is supporting terrorism in the Middle East, exports missiles and is engaging in a nuclear  buildup.

Rice said the unilateral sanctions are not an indication that the United States is heading toward an armed conflict with Iran. AP Writer Matthew Lee reports administration officials hope the sanctions will pressure Iran into agreeing to a deal that would give it economic incentive to drop its nuclear program.

The sanctions:

• Will cut off more than 20 Iranian entities, including individuals and companies owned or controlled by the Revolutionary Guard, from the American financial system.

• Iran's Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and its Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics were designated proliferators of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile technology. This means that any assets found in the United States belonging to the designated groups must be frozen. Americans are also forbidden from doing business with the designated organizations.

• Companies outside the United States are put on notice that doing business with the designated groups could put them at risk of U.S. financial penalty.

-- Howie Rumberg

Blast in Pakistan

A wave of violence that has undermined the Pakistani government's control of a swath of territory along the northwestern border -- where sympathizers of Taliban and al-Qaida hold sway -- claimed more lives Thursday.

The Associated Press reports at least 18 people were killed and 30 wounded, when a suspected suicide bomber attacked a truck carrying troops.   

New troops have been deployed to Swat, a mountain valley popular with tourists until violence flared there this summer, to quell Maulana Fazlullah, who has called for Taliban-style rule and holy war against Pakistani authorities.

For more, check out this AP story by Riaz Khan.

-- Jaime Holguin

In the news Thursday

(AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Straight from the AP wires:

Calif. fires may be at a turning point
Military may get control of contractors
Iraqi delegation to visit Turkey
Looking for an excuse? Company has many
Red Sox cool off Rockies 13-1 in Game 1

-- Jaime Holguin

Wars may cost U.S. $2.4 trillion over decade

(AP Photo/Sgt. Timothy Kingston, U.S. Army)

The number crunchers at the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office have tallied how much the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will cost over the next decade: $2.4 trillion.

Just to be clear, that's $2,400,000,000,000.

WHITE HOUSE REACTION:

"It's just a ton of speculation," said White House press secretary Dana Perino. "We don't know how much the war is going to cost in the future."

SPENDING SO FAR: According to the analysis, the U.S. has spent about $604 billion on the wars, including $39 billion in diplomatic operations and foreign aid.

For more on the spending forecast, read this report filed today out of Washington by Anne Flaherty.

Caption: Two U.S. Army soldiers from Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 10th Artillery Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division dismount from the back of a Bradley Fighting Vehicle earlier this month to conduct a cordon and search at a brick factory in Narahwan, Iraq.

--Paul Chavez

INSIDER INSIGHT: The buzz at NowPublic

More fires in California, and a citizen journalism experiment in Canada.

That's what's dominating the attention of contributors to NowPublic, the "crowd-powered media" site The Associated Press is working with to selectively incorporate citizen journalism -– especially photos and video -– into its news report.

Listen to this audio clip to learn more from NowPublic's Brian Kennedy.

-- Eric Carvin

-- Eric Carvin

-- Eric Carvin

Top photos from The Associated Press

The following are some of the top photos today from The Associated Press:

(AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)


(AP Photo/Sang Tan)


(AP Photo)


(AP Photo/Jens Meyer)

From top to bottom:

• Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, right, is confronted by CodePink member Desiree Sairooz, her hands painted red, as she arrives to testify on Capitol Hill in Washington, before the House Foreign Relations Committee hearing regarding US policy in the Middle East. Rice spoke about Iraq, Iran, and the Israel-Palestinian conflict. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
• Campaigners wearing masks of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi demonstrate outside the Chinese Embassy in London to mark her 12th anniversary of house detention by the Myanmar ruling military regime. (AP Photo/Sang Tan)
• A Belarusian soldier of the Interior Ministry special unit negotiates an obstacle course during training near the village of Volovshchina, west of Minsk, Belarus. (AP Photo)
• The first visitors walk in the famous Rococo hall of the historical Duchess Anna Amalia library after the re-consecration ceremony  in Weimar, Germany. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)

-- Bernadette Tuazon

INSIDER INSIGHT: The world in focus

(AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
The California wildfires are dominating the top images in the AP photo report at the moment, according to AP International Photo Editor Michael Feldman, who highlighted some of the best pictures at this morning's AP global news meeting.

The photo above shows a back fire on a hillside in Jamul, Calif., while the one below was shot in the Santiago Canyon hills in Silverado.
(AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
See below for more of Feldman's top photos picks.

-- Eric Carvin

China steps up its space game

(AP Photo/Greg Baker)

One down, two to go.

China launched its first lunar probe Wednesday, marking the first step of a three-stage moon mission.

The Associated Press reports the Chang'e 1, named after a legendary Chinese goddess who flew to the moon, is expected to transmit its first photo back to China in late November, and to conduct explorations of the moon for a year.

In the second phase of China's moon mission there will be a moon landing with a moon rover in 2012. About five years later, another rover will land on the moon and return to Earth with soil and rock samples.

For more, check out this AP story by Audra Ang.

-- Jaime Holguin

In the news Wednesday

(AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Straight from the AP wires:

Calif. firefighters hope winds slacken
Rice says Iran an obstacle to U.S. goals
Bush touting Cuban life after Castro
Turkey shells Kurd rebels in Iraq
World Series opens tonight in Boston

-- Jaime Holguin

Castro says Bush is bad

(AP Photo/Javier Galeano)

Fidel Castro wrote a statement attacking President Bush a day before the White House was to announce new plans to get Cuba away from communism.

Castro wrote: "The danger of a massive world famine is aggravated by Mr. Bush's recent initiative to transform foods into fuel."

Read more in this story by the AP's Will Weissert.

In the photo: A polling station during Cuba's municipal elections in Havana on Sunday: the first cycle without Fidel Castro in charge.

-- Hillary Rhodes