Morning Brief, Friday, October 19

Asia

CARL DE SOUZA/AFP/Getty Images

Former Pakistani PM Benazir Bhutto condemned a suicide attack on her convoy that killed at least 130 people Thursday in Karachi. Pakistani officials are pointing the finger at al Qaeda.

China has halted rail shipments into North Korea because the North Koreans have failed to return 1,800 Chinese wagons.

Twenty-three percent of China’s CO2 emissions come from producing goods exported to the West, according to a British study.

Police in Hiroshima, Japan, are investigating reports that four U.S. marines raped a Japanese teenager.

Europe

European leaders finally agreed on a new EU treaty, which still needs to be ratified by all 27 countries.

Countries in the Group of Seven plan to up the pressure on China to revalue its currency. 

In a three-hour Q&A session on Russian TV, President Vladimir Putin touched on everything from Iraq to rising food prices.

Middle East

A senior U.S. officer in Iraq stands accused of helping al Qaeda.

Anonymous officials say Syria is covering up the ruins of a nuclear facility that was bombed by Israel.

Elsewhere

The dollar hit a new low against the euro and oil prices leaped to over $90 a barrel.

Fighting broke out in eastern Chad, where a state of emergency has been declared.

DNA pioneer James Watson apologized for saying that Africans aren’t as intelligent as Europeans. His lab has suspended him for making the remarks.

At last, The Daily Show gets its own Web site.

Today’s Agenda

• The World Bank releases its annual report.
• The U.N. Security Council is scheduled to discuss Iraq in its meeting today, and Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is due to release a new report on Somalia.
• G7 finance ministers are in Washington, D.C. for their annual meeting.

Yesterday on Passport

• Offset your carbon footprint on eBay
• Britain claims territory in Antarctica and near the Falklands
• Via translation error, Syria admits nuclear facility