Morning Brief, Monday, September 24

ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images

Middle East

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has arrived in New York. The Bush administration is “trying to hype the atmosphere” regarding Iran, according to former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski. For his part, President Ahmadinejad says that U.S. troops are within the range of Iranian missiles. In Tehran, however, the U.S. focus on Ahmadinejad puzzles Iranians.

Syria may attend a U.S.-sponsored Middle East peace conference, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said. 

Israel plans to release 90 Palestinians tied to Fatah, the party of Palestinian President Mahoud Abbas.

Europe

German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with the Dalai Lama in Berlin, to the chagrin of Chinese leaders. 

French mime Marcel Marceau dies.

French railroad unions are planning a strike to protest President Nicolas Sarkozy’s proposed pension reforms. As for Sarkozy, he staked his claim to lead Europe in a lengthy interview with the International Herald Tribune.

Asia

The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad issued “unusually sharp” criticism of Pakistan’s crackdowns on people protesting against President Pervez Musharraf. 

Likely Japanese PM Yasuo Fukuda is already building his cabinet team.

Burmese monks are escalating their protests against the ruling junta.

Elsewhere

U.S. President George W. Bush plans to skip all U.N. climate-change events Monday except the dinner.

Militants in Nigeria’s delta region have called off their truce, vowing fresh attacks on oil workers and facilities.

Today’s Agenda

• Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks at Columbia University and the National Press Club.
• The trial of former aides to Saddam Hussein, including the infamous “Chemical Ali,” resumes in Baghdad.
• U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon convenes a high-level event on climate change in New York.
• Britain’s Labour Party holds its annual conference.