Morning Brief, Monday, September 10

Asia

CARL DE SOUZA/AFP

Former PM Nawaz Sharif landed in Pakistan, whereupon he was swiftly arrested and deported to Saudi Arabia.

Asia’s stock markets are down after a rough jobs report in the United States and accompanying declines on Wall Street.

China employs some 30,000 Internet snoops.

Middle East

U.S. Gen. David Petraeus will reportedly call for patience regarding major troop cuts in Iraq. Americans trust military leaders like Petraeus far more than they do Bush or members of Congress. But Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post suggests that the upcoming testimony of Amb. Ryan Crocker may ultimately be more significant.

For his part, Iraq’s prime minister says he has halted his country’s slide into civil war, but most Iraqis think the “surge” has failed.

A deputy foreign minister of Iran hinted at the possibility that Iranian troops would invade Iraqi Kurdistan. Elsewhere in Iraq, the U.S. military is planning a new base near the border with Iran.

Europe

Many jihadists from places like Germany are getting terrorist training in Pakistan.

Poland’s prime minister dissolved parliament Friday and will stand for early elections.

Russia and the United States foiled attempts to arrest Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, a new memoir alleges.

Elsewhere 

Osama bin Laden is “virtually impotent,” according to the White House’s top counterterrorism advisor.

The outgoing head of the IMF calls the credit crunch in financial markets ia “serious crisis” but “a welcome one” as a correction of excesses.

Donald Rumsfeld emerges from seclusion to speak about Iraq and Afghanistan with Rolling Stone‘s Lisa DePaulo.

“[S]incerity and honesty is the key to everything in diplomacy,” says U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Today’s Agenda

• At 12:30 p.m., Gen. Petraeus and Amb. Crocker will testify to the joint House Armed Services/Foreign Affairs Committee.
• Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel are to meet in Meseburg, Germany.
• China hosts the Women’s World Cup.
• The International Energy Agency introduces its new executive director.