Morning Brief, Monday, November 13

Olmert comes to Washington

Israel’s PM Ehud Olmert will visit President Bush at the White House today. They’re both in political trouble domestically, which demands, writes Jackson Diehl, that they emerge from meetings today with some bold new plan for peace. With the old alliance on shaky ground, Olmert tells NBC that he’d accept direct talks between the US and Iran over Iran’s nuclear program, and Josh Bolten hinted on the Sunday shows yesterday that the US may be willing to sit down with Iran over Iraq.

News this morning that Hamas and Fatah may have agreed on a new prime minister for a unity government: Mohammed Shabir. The political crisis in nearby Lebanon worsens after another Shiite minister quits the government.

Iraq

Dozens of Iraqis gathered in front of a police recruitment center were killed yesterday by suicide bombers. Maliki announced a “comprehensive” reshuffle of his cabinet.

Moqtada al-Sadr may be becoming more of the establishment, but he’s losing his authority over his vast militia in the process. U.S. Democrats announce that they want to begin a phased redeployment of troops within months.

Elsewhere

More riots and unrest in southwest China, this time over a hospital refusing to give medical care to a child after his grandfather couldn’t pay the fees.

The UN’s top humanitarian official meets with Joseph Kony, the notorious leader of Uganda’s Lord’s Resistance Army, in the hope of securing the release of women and children enslaved for sex and fighting by Kony’s army. The attempt failed.

Two Jordanian peacekeepers were killed in Haiti over the weekend. Kenya bans all flights to Somalia. South Ossetia has voted for independence from Georgia, a development that is sure to worsen strained relations between Russia and Georgia. And protests for electoral reform continue to turn ugly in Bangladesh.