Morning Brief, Friday, September 28
Asia AFP/Getty Images Dwindling, harassed crowds in Burma’s capital yelled, “F— you, army. We only want democracy” at soldiers and police, but “there was no sign of the monks,” according to Reuters. That may be because, as the AP reports, government troops have now occupied key monasteries. The civilian death toll may be in the ...
Asia
Asia
Dwindling, harassed crowds in Burma’s capital yelled, “F— you, army. We only want democracy” at soldiers and police, but “there was no sign of the monks,” according to Reuters. That may be because, as the AP reports, government troops have now occupied key monasteries. The civilian death toll may be in the dozens, according to the Australian ambassador.
Pervez Musharraf can run for president and remain army chief, Pakistan’s Supreme Court has ruled.
China has banned “sexually suggestive” advertisements. No more ads for “sex-related health supplements,” sex toys, breast enhancements, women’s underwear, and the like.
Middle East
The world’s major powers are meeting again today to discuss sanctions against Iran. Russia and China are counseling patience, while Germany insists that any sanctions take place within a U.N. framework.
Turkey and Iraq inked an agreement on cooperating against the PKK, a Kurdish group that the U.S. State Department has labeled a terrorist organization. Turkey’s claimed right of hot pursuit remains a sticking point.
A guard for Blackwater told his colleagues to stop shooting during the contractor’s recent controversial security operation in Baghdad.
Europe
Many in Croatia are outraged that a U.N. tribunal gave relatively light sentences to Serb Army officers accused of helping murder 194 people in a Vukovar hospital in 1991.
Russia issued a harsh warning about weapons in space.
The ballot in next month’s local elections in Bulgaria is six and a a half feet long.
Elsewhere
Freddie Mac rates the probability of a U.S. recession as 40 to 45 percent.
In a bid to compete with the private sector, the World Bank will reduce the interest rates it charges to middle-income countries for loans.
NATO’s top commander in Afghanistan warned that the alliance’s recent security gains may be lost, complaining, “the Afghan national security forces have not been as successful in holding as we would like them to be.”
New Zealand plans to launch a Boeing 747 powered by biofuel late next year or early 2009, but Virgin Atlantic is vowing to beat the kiwis to the punch.
Today’s Agenda
- Dominique Strauss-Kahn assumes command of the International Monetary Fund, where he hopes to address problems with the “relevance and legitimacy” of the institution.
- As mentioned above, the permanent five members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany are to meet on Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
- A key meeting between Serbian and Kosovar leaders takes place in New York.
Yesterday on Passport
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