Morning Brief, Monday, May 7

Europe

Eric Bouvet/Getty Images News

France’s new president: conservative Nicolas Sarkozy, who defeated Socialist Ségolène Royal by a healthy margin in Sunday’s turnout-heavy elections. Will he rescue France from its doldrums, or offer more of the same? And will the defeated Socialists fall apart?

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul withdrew his divisive presidential bid Sunday. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan wants good relations with France despite Sarkozy’s campaign rhetoric.

Middle East

Twelve U.S. soldiers died during what was a tough weekend in Iraq.

Four years into the occupation, Iraq’s oil production still falls far short of targets. 

Hamas forcefully rejected a U.S. proposal to remove Israeli checkpoints in exchange for Palestinian promises on security. 

Asia

A member of the Afghan national army shot and killed two U.S. soldiers who were guarding a prison east of Kabul. Meanwhile, the Afghan government is moving to tighten restrictions on the media.

Pakistan’s Supreme Court intervened to take charge of an inquiry into alleged wrongdoing by its former chief justice. 

Chinese cities are to go carless for the day on September 22. 

Elsewhere

The Pope arrives Wednesday in Brazil, a bastion of the liberation theology he so vigorously opposed as a Cardinal.

A World Bank panel is likely to find that Bank President Paul Wolfowitz broke ethics rules.

Some 18,000 Mexicans stripped naked for a photo shoot in Mexico City’s historic Zocalo square.

Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez is setting his sights on an Argentinian steel company and U.S. and Spanish banks, sparking an exodus of capital.

Today’s Agenda

• The Queen visits the White House for her official welcome.
• Subsidiary bodies of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change begin two weeks of meetings in Bonn, Germany, to discuss ways of tackling global warming.