Morning Buzz: Feb. 14, 2008

Diplomats told the Associated Press this morning that the United States has shared information with the International Atomic Energy Agency showing Tehran was trying to make a nuclear weapon. The United States is allowing the IAEA to show some of the evidence to Iran to pressure the Islamic republic into admitting it had focused some of its nuclear efforts on developing weapons.

Waterboarding isn't legal and has been eliminated as a technique, a senior Justice Department official was to tell the House Judiciary Constitution subcommittee this morning. "The set of interrogation methods authorized for current use is narrower than before, and it does not today include waterboarding," Steven G. Bradbury, the acting head of the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, said in prepared remarks. This will be the first time the Justice Department has expressed such an opinion publicly. Congress is trying to enact legislation that would prohibit the CIA from using this technique and other harsh tactics against suspects. The president threatened to veto any legislation that restricts CIA questioning.

Yahoo is attempting to partner with media giant News Corp. to avoid being taken over by Microsoft, which bid $44.6 billion for the slumping Internet company. If Microsoft continues to pursue Yahoo, its offer may have to go higher, now that talks are in the works between Yahoo and News Corp., which already owns MySpace, the Internet's largest social networking site. Microsoft put in an unsolicited bid to buy Yahoo two weeks ago, viewing it as the best way to compete against Web giant Google.

Tags: Iran | International Atomic Energy Agency | waterboarding

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