Morning Brief, Friday, January 19

Middle East U.S. forces nabbed one of Moqtada al-Sadr’s aides as Secretary of Defense Bob Gates arrived in Iraq. Sadr told an Italian newspaper that the Americans are trying to destroy Islam. Mahmoud Ahmadinejed is messing up the game on Iran’s nuclear program, making top figures in the convoluted Iranian hierarchy upset. Europe Hurricane Kyrill ...

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Middle East

Middle East

U.S. forces nabbed one of Moqtada al-Sadr’s aides as Secretary of Defense Bob Gates arrived in Iraq. Sadr told an Italian newspaper that the Americans are trying to destroy Islam.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejed is messing up the game on Iran’s nuclear program, making top figures in the convoluted Iranian hierarchy upset.

Europe

Hurricane Kyrill struck Poland after tearing through Britain, the low countries, and Germany.

Asia 

The North Koreans believe that a deal was reached during bilateral talks in Berlin, but the top U.S. negotiator, now in South Korea, doesn’t know what they’re talking about.

China became the third nation to successfully test an anti-satellite missile. Japan, Australia, and the United States condemned the move.

Where’s Mulllah Omar? A captured Taliban prisoner says his leader is in Quetta, under the protection of Pakistani intelligence.

Elsewhere 

Castro is on his way to a “slow but progressive” recovery, says his Spanish doctor.

Some Somali warlords have begun turning in their guns.

The Business Roundtable, a group of 160 top CEOs, told President Bush that it likes free trade.

Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft agreed to work with human rights groups to develop a code of ethics that promotes privacy and freedom of speech. 

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