Morning Brief, Tuesday, May 15

Middle East 

SAMUEL KUBANI/AFP

The Iranians “pretty much have the knowledge about how to enrich,” according to International Atomic Energy Agency head Mohamed ElBaradai after IAEA inspectors discovered that Iran is solving its technical problems in enriching uranium. The news will make upcoming bilateral talks between the United States and Iran all the more interesting, even though they will ostensibly be limited to the Iraq issue.

Hamas militants killed as many as eight members of the rival Fatah faction in Gaza. 

Israel’s military has reportedly been conducting secret tests on hundreds of soldier volunteers in the hopes of developing an anthrax vaccine.

Europe

The EU is cracking down on illegal immigration by going after employers who break hiring laws. 

Spain’s finance minister said he expects the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, which is meeting in Paris this week, to admit Russia as a member.

Ukraine’s prime minister, once seen as a Russian stooge, has recast himself as a democrat. 

Asia

Big advertisers seeking to use Chinese athletes in their campaigns are butting up against a state control.

South Korea’s got a problem: too many English-language students and not enough test seats.

Pakistan’s financial capital was shut down yesterday as opposition groups protested the deaths of around 40 people in weekend violence and government troops imposed order. Meanwhile, near the border with Afghanistan, a U.S. soldier was killed in an ambush by tribal “miscreants.”

Elsewhere

Even as the ad hoc committee investigating the conduct of Paul Wolfowitz concluded that he broke World Bank ethics rules, U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson was furiously dialing finance ministers around the world to shore up the Bank president’s sagging position. 

Reuters and Thomson agreed on the terms of their massive merger.

Microsoft claimed that the rival Linux operating system and other open source software violate 235 of its patents. No lawsuit yet, however.

Ethiopia is eager to pull out of Somalia, but the African Union is urging Ethiopian PM Meles Zenawi to wait until its peacekeepers arrive. 

Today’s Agenda

• The executive board of the World Bank meets with Bank President Paul Wolfowitz at 5:00 pm, EST, to discuss the ad hoc committee’s report. Read the Bank’s handy FAQ to catch up.
• U.S. President George W. Bush meets with the new center-right prime minister of Sweden, who plans to talk about global warming.
• Ireland’s prime minister becomes the republic’s first to address a special joint session of the British Parliament.
• NASA will present evidence today that “dark matter” is not just science fiction.

Yesterday on Passport

• What We’re Reading
• NATO floats a losing idea
• State Department resettles one Iraqi refugee