Morning Brief, Thursday, April 19
Wathiq Khuzaie/Getty Images Middle East The death toll in Baghdad from yesterday’s bombings has climbed to at least 171, and another suicide attacker rammed into a fuel truck today, killing 11. Iran’s Supreme Court overturned the convictions of six members of a volunteer militia with a history of both radicalism and ties to clerical leaders ...
Wathiq Khuzaie/Getty Images
Middle East
The death toll in Baghdad from yesterday’s bombings has climbed to at least 171, and another suicide attacker rammed into a fuel truck today, killing 11.
Iran’s Supreme Court overturned the convictions of six members of a volunteer militia with a history of both radicalism and ties to clerical leaders for killing five “morally corrupt” individuals.
Iran is operating over 1,300 centrifuges for processing uranium, higher than previous Western estimates.
Iraq may hold twice as much oil as once thought.
Europe
Nicolas Sarkozy, the likely next president of France, is a Yankee Doodle Dandy—or so the Washington Post reports.
U.S. and Russian officials will talk Thursday in Brussels on U.S. plans to install a missile shield in Eastern Europe.
Asia
The fallout from the Virgina Tech shootings continues to roil Asia. South Koreans recoil in horror at revelations that the shooter was Korean, while the Chinese government criticized U.S. media outlets, several of which originally identified a Chinese student as the murderer. And in Taiwan, two legislators falsely reported that students had been taken hostage at a top university, ostensibly to test the police’s response time.
China’s economy grew at an 11.1 percent clip in the first quarter of 2007. And more of it came from doing business with areas of the world other than the United States.
Did Yahoo! abet torture in China?
Elsewhere
Gun battles continue to rage in Somalia between insurgents and Ethiopian troops as the son of a notorious warlord, who happens to be a former U.S. Marine, announced an anti-Ethiopian alliance.
Nigeria’s military says it killed some 25 radical Islamic extremists. Nigeria’s presidential elections are slated for Saturday.
Peru’s coca growers are escalating their protests over the Peruvian government’s stepped-up eradication program.
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.
Sign up for World Brief
FP’s flagship evening newsletter guiding you through the most important world stories of the day, written by Alexandra Sharp. Delivered weekdays.
By submitting your email, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use and to receive email correspondence from us. You may opt out at any time.