Zimbabwe Standard, August 21 – CHAOS was the order of the day throughout the country yesterday as Zimbabweans changed over from the old bearer cheques to the new ones.
Even before the expiry of the deadline for use of the old bearer cheques, shop owners, supermarkets and transport operators were refusing to accept them, leaving many people stranded.
TEHRAN, Aug 19, 2006 (AFP) – Iranian armed forces held a massive military maneuver Saturday to test new weapons and tactics against a potential enemy, state television reported.
The first stage of "Zolfaghar Blow" commenced in the restive southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan. The maneuvers will continue in 15 other provinces in northeastern, northwestern, western and southern Iran.
SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq, Aug 18, 2006 (AFP) – Kurdish rebels on Friday accused Iranian forces of shelling several villages inside northern Iraq, killing two civilians and forcing many to flee the region after two days of strikes.
BEIRUT, Aug 18, 2006 (AFP) – Hezbollah on Friday began distributing tens of thousands of dollars to residents in battered southern Beirut whose homes were hit during Israel’s month-long offensive targeting the Shiite militia.
JERUSALEM, Aug 19, 2006 (AFP) – The Israeli army on Saturday confirmed it carried out a commando operation in Lebanon, saying the raid was to prevent arms being delivered to Hezbollah by Iran and Syria.
"Israeli army special forces operated deep inside Lebanon last night to foil terrorist operations against Israel," an army spokesman told AFP.
Gulf News, August 18 – Abu Dhabi police have intensified efforts to make the city’s beaches safe for swimmers and visitors with a crackdown on reckless young jet skiers.
TEHRAN, Aug 18, 2006 (AFP) – Top Iranian cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani warned the United States Friday not to seek confrontation with Tehran over its nuclear program and to learn from the war in Lebanon.
"We expect America to have learned enough (from the Israel-Hezbollah war) not to enter another game and upset the security of the region," Rafsanjani said in his Friday prayer sermon carried live on state radio.
BEIRUT, Aug 18, 2006 (AFP) – UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is to visit Lebanon next week for talks on the implementation of the truce resolution that ended a month of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, a UN source said.
A Lebanese government source confirmed the visit, saying that Annan would also visit Israel, Syria and Iran for talks on the truce.
Tehran and Damascus, the main foreign backers of Hezbollah, were left out in the cold by Washington in the talks that led to the Security Council resolution.
TEHRAN, Aug 17, 2006 (AFP) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed Thursday to stand by the country’s nuclear work, insisting the UN Security Council cannot deprive Iran of its "rights", state news agency IRNA reported.
"The Iranian people stand by their rights with solidarity. They cannot deprive Iran of its undeniable rights with these sessions and paper-shuffling," he said in remarks aimed at UN Security Council members.
The West, led by the United States, suspects Iran of trying to build nuclear weapons. Tehran denies those charges, saying its atomic program is for peaceful purposes.
TEHRAN, Aug 17, 2006 (AFP) – Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hailed Hezbollah’s "victory" over Israel in a message to the Lebanese Shiite militia’s chief Hassan Nasrallah, state television reported on Thursday.
"Your victory was a triumph for Islam… you imposed your military supremacy on the Zionist regime," Khamenei said after a UN-brokered ceasefire ended the month-long Israeli offensive against Lebanon aimed at crippling Hezbollah.
