Morning Brief, Tuesday, July 3
Americas Getty Images U.S. President George W. Bush commuted the sentence of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby. Libby’s conviction stands; he won’t be going to prison but will still have to pay a $250,000 fine. Short of a pardon, this closely held decision is likely to satisfy nobody. A full pardon is still an option, however. ...
Americas
Americas
U.S. President George W. Bush commuted the sentence of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby. Libby’s conviction stands; he won’t be going to prison but will still have to pay a $250,000 fine. Short of a pardon, this closely held decision is likely to satisfy nobody. A full pardon is still an option, however.
Before leaving Kennebunkport, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared his country ready for “an entirely new level” of cooperation with the United States over its proposed missile shield.
Europe
Doctors of death: Five of the eight suspected terrorist operatives tied to the Glasgow bombings are doctors born outside of the United Kingdom. And at least one lives in Australia.
Is the European Union uploading soft porn to its YouTube channel? You be the judge (NSFW).
The murder of the son of Chad’s president was caught on videotape in Paris.
Asia
Chinese officials excised parts of a World Bank report finding that 750,000 Chinese die each year from pollution.
Japan’s defense minister resigned after making insensitive comments about the atom bomb attack on Nagasaki.
North Korea will permit “containment and surveillance” of its nuclear facilities by U.N. inspectors, according to a deal reached with the IAEA.
One Pakistani trooper was killed during a raid on a fundamentalist mosque in Islamabad that, according to Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf, contains suicide bombers with al Qaeda ties.
Middle East
A suicide car bomb killed seven Spanish tourists in Yemen. Guess I’ll have to cancel those summer vacation plans.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates anticipates troop drawdowns in Iraq to allow for a sustainable long-term presence in that country, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Iraq’s cabinet moved the country one step closer to having a new oil law. The Iraqi parliament begins debate on the key reform tomorrow.
Elsewhere
Despite rumblings about new regulations from U.S. lawmakers, hedge funds are plowing ahead with IPOs.
The price of machetes has dropped by half in Nigeria since April’s elections.
Textbook economics in action: Store shelves are empty in Zimbabwe after President Robert Mugabe’s edict that prices for all basic goods be slashed in half.
Today’s Agenda
- France’s new prime minister, François Fillon, introduces himself and his government’s priorities to the French parliament.
- There’s not much else going on. Everyone must be getting ready for those 4th of July barbecues.
Yesterday on Passport
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The Endless Frustration of Chinese Diplomacy
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The End of America’s Middle East
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