Morning Brief, Monday, January 8

Iraq and Middle East

Iraqi PM Nuri al-Maliki announced his new security plan for Baghdad, which looks remarkably similar to the old plan. Will he go after Shiite militias this time?

The U.N. wants al-Maliki to delay the executions of two Iraqi officials, but the Iraqi government vows to move ahead. 

All charges against Saddam have been dropped, but the trial of six other defendants in the Anfal case continues.

Radical junior cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani met in Najaf yesterday to discuss “the security and political situation.” 

Washington 

Democrats issued a pre-emptive strike on President Bush’s plan for a troop surge in Iraq, which will be unveiled later this week.

It’s a good time to be rich in America, says a new study by the research arm of Congress. 

Europe

Cheeky Belarus has cut oil supplies to Poland, Germany, and the Ukraine, escalating its feud with Russia.

Europe’s trade commissioner says talks over a global free trade agreement, the Doha round, are “on a knife’s edge.”

Asia

Kazakhstan’s prime minister steps down, but it’s President Nazarbayev who’s really in charge anyway.

Thailand looks headed for a chaotic year characterized by violence and power struggles.

China is upset that Taiwan’s president was allowed to stop in California on his way to Nicaragua.

The South Korean president’s solution to a territorial dispute with Japan? Name the contested body of water the “Sea of Peace.”

Elsewhere

Bill Gates unveils Microsoft’s “Sync,” its new Knight Rider-esque partnership with Ford at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

There’s a promising new stem cell technology in the works, using amniotic-fluid stem cells.