Morning Brief, Monday, March 12

Middle East

Halliburton is moving its headquarters from Houston to Dubai. 

U.S. President George W. Bush is seeking an additional 8,200 troops for Iraq. More Shiite pilgrims were killed in that country yesterday by Sunni Arab extremists, who also debuted a new terror tactic in a city north of Baghdad: burning houses.

This weekend’s international conference on Iraq saw no breakthroughs, but it just might pave the way for future talks between the U.S. and Iran. 

Is Libya opening up? 

Europe 

Jacques Chirac won’t seek a third term as president of France. 

NATO is concerned about Europe’s diverging views on a proposed missile defense shield. 

Kosovo talks broke down on Saturday. 

Asia 

If thousands of rural peasants riot in China, do they make a sound? Sometimes.

It’s an election year in Pakistan, so ex-premier Benazir Bhutto is back in the Western press. Inside the country itself, lawyers are striking over President Musharraf’s ouster of a senior judge.

Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, says that ending North Korea’s nuclear weapons program will be “a complex process”.

Japan had a booming fourth quarter last year.

The United States is sending Native American trackers to get Bin Laden. 

Elsewhere

President Bush left behind protests in Colombia and headed for Guatemala, where he will likely be greeted with more protests. 

Zimbabwe cracked down on opposition protesters.