Morning Brief, Wednesday, January 31
Iraq This just in: the United States is wasting millions of dollars in Iraq. Europe The investigation into the murder of former Russian spook Alexander Litvinenko wraps up as Scotland Yard passes the baton to the Crown Prosecution Service. ABC’s Brian Ross reports that it’s because British police discovered “a ‘hot’ teapot at London’s Millennium ...
Iraq
Iraq
This just in: the United States is wasting millions of dollars in Iraq.
Europe
The investigation into the murder of former Russian spook Alexander Litvinenko wraps up as Scotland Yard passes the baton to the Crown Prosecution Service. ABC’s Brian Ross reports that it’s because British police discovered “a ‘hot’ teapot at London’s Millennium Hotel with an off-the-charts reading for Polonium-210, the radioactive material used in the killing.” Ross says that the Russian government will be fingered for the hit.
Germany has issued warrants for the arrest of 13 CIA operatives accused of wrongly grabbing Khalid al-Masri, a German citizen, and dumping him in prison of Afghanistan.
Turkish police arrested 47 suspected al Qaeda operatives on Monday. (More terrorism-related arrests in Britain.)
Washington
Republican Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham are leading rearguard actions to salvage the Bush administration’s troop surge in Iraq.
Asia
China’s stock market may be headed for a crash, warns the Financial Times. The country’s main stock index dropped nearly 5 percent on the news.
Elsewhere
Human Rights Watch says Nigerian officials are squandering oil riches. Shocking. Full report here.
Hackers and “script kiddiez” around the world are gunning for Vista, Microsoft’s new operating system. Bring it on, says Bill Gates (more or less).
Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez appeared together on Cuban state TV. Castro looks healthier.
Blake Hounshell is a former managing editor of Foreign Policy.
More from Foreign Policy
Chinese Hospitals Are Housing Another Deadly Outbreak
Authorities are covering up the spread of antibiotic-resistant pneumonia.
Henry Kissinger, Colossus on the World Stage
The late statesman was a master of realpolitik—whom some regarded as a war criminal.
The West’s False Choice in Ukraine
The crossroads is not between war and compromise, but between victory and defeat.
The Masterminds
Washington wants to get tough on China, and the leaders of the House China Committee are in the driver’s seat.
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