Morning Brief, Monday, January 15

It’s Martin Luther King Day today, so posting will be light for the holiday. But the world doesn’t stop, so here’s this morning’s Brief:

Iraq and Middle East

Two of Saddam’s chief accomplices were hanged today. One of them, Saddam’s half-brother, was decapitated in an apparent freak mishap.

The new Iraq security plan will last … around six months.

Condi Rice is in the region, and she plans to meet jointly with the Israel and Palestinian premiers.

Oddly enough, Iran’s announcement that it is resuming enrichment will be reassuring to some at the IAEA. Its recent slowdown in activity had expert observers worrying that Iran has a secret program elsewhere.

Europe

France and the U.K. considering a union in 1956, the Guardian reports. Now they tell us. 

It’s Sarkozy. The center-right politician has won the nomination of Jacques Chirac’s party for the presidential race. 

Local elections in Belarus, the last dictatorship in Europe, were a sham, according to the European Commission. But at least the country is getting $5.8 billion subsidy from Mother Russia this year, eh?

Asia

Asian leaders want to promote biofuels, they announced at the East Asia Summit in the Philippines.

Five million Hindus will have bathed in the Ganges by the end of today, as part of the Ardh Kumbh Mela festival.

Elsewhere

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chávez like each other so much, they’re going to spend $1 billion jointly to combat the U.S. And Chávez is now saying he’ll nationalize the entire oil sector in Venezuela.

Bird flu is a threat to the global economy, a new study finds. 

Can doctors successfully transplant a uterus? We’ll find out soon.