Just heard a live audio report from John Simpson (shrapnel in the leg, bleeding from the ears - the bomb landed about eight to ten feet from his vehicle).

Eight cars of Kurds and press, plus two trucks full of US special forces took a near-miss from a US bomb. American special forces men are dead, the BBC's Arab interpreter is seriously injured.


Other news:

- Chemical Ali's body has been reportedly found, which is why British troops have gone in. The Basra defenders are presumably 'decapitated'.

- Saddam has imposed a curfew on Baghdad, in preparation for the US invasion. Presumably he's been spooked by yesterday's 'longest drive-by shooting in history' - dozens of US tanks swept through the south-west of the city, killing hundreds (as many as two to three thousand, according to the coalition) of Iraqi fighters. The rocket launchers and light artillery pieces have come out of the closets, but there's still little sign of all the tanks that the Iraqis should have to defend the city.