Morning Brief, Thursday, February 22

STEPHEN JAFFE/AFP

Those days are over for Geffen.

2008

It’s only February … of 2007, and Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are already spatting over remarks by Hollywood mogul David Geffen.

Middle East 

Insurgents are using chlorine gas as part of bombing attacks in Iraq. That’s very bad news for anyone in the vicinity of these explosions.

Four Iraqi soldiers have apparently confessed to raping a second Sunni Arab woman, this time in Tal Afar.

The International Atomic Energy Agency is set to release its report on Iran’s nuclear activities today. Iran has moved ahead with its enrichment program, experts say.

If you’re an Egyptian blogger, you’d better be real careful about who you criticize, unless you’re ready to go to jail.

Europe 

Italy’s prime minister, struggling to hold together a shaky left-wing coalition, called it quits yesterday.

Is Britain’s withdrawal of 1,600 troops good or bad for U.S. President Bush?

British hospitals are full of germs.

Asia

North Korea’s mercurial Kim Jong Il ordered the seizure of all Japanese cars in the country after a stalled Japanese car blocked his road.

Shock treatment for Internet junkies in China.

Elsewhere 

Two officials in Somalia’s temporary government were shot and killed in Mogadishu.

Those hoping for a kinder, gentler approach to Cuba from the Bush administration will be sorely disappointed.

The U.N.’s new climate report urges action by 2020, according to the Financial Times.