Morning Brief, Friday, October 20, 2006

North Korea

China's envoy gets results. 

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il told visiting Chinese envoy Tang Jiaxuan that Pyongyang planned to conduct no further nuclear tests, South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted a diplomatic source in China as saying on Friday.

Japan mulls how far it can go in tightening the screws on the North.

The United States has its eyes on a ship that left North Korea recently. The vessel has reportedly carried military equipment in the past. 

Iraq

U.S. commanders admit what they cannot deny.

The United States military command in Iraq acknowledged on Thursday that its 12-week-old campaign to win back control of Baghdad from sectarian death squads and insurgents had failed to reduce violence across the city.

Sadr makes a dramatic move in the south, flattening police stations in Amarah. 

The latest target in Baghdad? Palestinians.

Under the regime of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, Palestinians were perceived as receiving preferential treatment. But, since Saddam's overthrow in 2003, they have become targets.

Iran

Ahmadinejad breathes more fire at the West, this time at Iran's "Jerusalem Day" festivities.

You imposed a group of terrorists…on the region. It is in your own interest to distance yourself from these criminals…This is an ultimatum. Don't complain tomorrow.

He also had ominous words for Europe, which is reportedly backing a new UN sanctions resolution.

We have advised the Europeans that the Americans are far away, but you are the neighbours of the nations in this region. We inform you that the nations are like an ocean that is welling up, and if a storm begins, the dimensions will not stay limited to Palestine, and you may get hurt.

Elsewhere

Russia tells 100 foreign NGOs to freeze their work. Apparently in a jocular mood, Putin admits he joked about the rape scandal surrounding Israel's president. And in Finland, Russian and European diplomats are discussing energy supplies and human rights—probably in that order.

China's biggest bank makes a splash on international markets. Meanwhile, the Chinese pensions investigation widens.

Sudan wants the UN's nettlesome envoy out. He reported recently on Sudanese military defeats in Darfur or, as Sudanese authorities put it:

He conducted "psychological warfare on the armed forces by propagating erroneous information that casts doubts about the capability of the armed forces in maintaining security and defending the country."

In Moscow, Sudan's FM asked for a loan to buy more military equipment. 

OPEC draws a line in the sand. $60 a barrel, and not a penny less.