Morning Brief, Tuesday, October 2
Asia Pool/Getty Images South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun met an unsmiling Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang. As expected, Pakistan’s Pervez Musharraf named Lt. Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani as his successor. Musharraf’s lawyers have said he will step down as Army chief of staff if reelected as president. A few opposition MPs have resigned in protest ...
Asia
Asia
South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun met an unsmiling Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang.
As expected, Pakistan’s Pervez Musharraf named Lt. Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani as his successor. Musharraf’s lawyers have said he will step down as Army chief of staff if reelected as president. A few opposition MPs have resigned in protest of Musharraf’s bid.
Four soldiers and six militants died in a firefight between naval commandos and Islamist fighters in the Philippines.
The U.N.’s envoy to Burma met with junta leader Than Shwe as well as democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi, but reporting suggests the crackdown proceeds apace.
Middle East
Visiting Baghdad for the first time, British PM Gordon Brown announced the withdrawal of 500 more British troops from Iraq by the end of 2007.
A new Congressional report on Blackwater harshly criticizes the security company’s conduct in Iraq and the State Department’s oversight of it. More here.
Israel freed 57 Palestinian prisoners, all from the West Bank.
Europe
Austrian police have arrested two men suspected of trying to bomb the U.S. Embassy in Vienna.
Gazprom says it will sell gas from its huge new Shtokman field to Europe.
C.J. Chivers analyzes Vladimir Putin’s bid to become Russian prime minister.
Elsewhere
Scientists are alarmed by the rapid retreat of Arctic ice.
A U.S. district court rejected a 2001 executive order from U.S. President George W. Bush regarding presidential records as “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion and not in accordance with law.”
What subprime crisis? The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a new nominal high Monday.
Today’s Agenda
- The Special Olympics begin in Shanghai.
- The founder and CEO of Blackwater testifies in a congressional hearing at 10 a.m.
- President Bush meets with Iraqi PM Nuri al-Maliki.
- Today is Gandhi’s birthday.
Yesterday on Passport
Blake Hounshell is a former managing editor of Foreign Policy.
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