Morning Brief, Tuesday, October 30

Asia WARRICK PAGE/Getty Images News A suicide bomb in Pakistan killed at least seven people. The blast happened at a police checkpoint 2 kilometers from Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf’s headquarters in Rawalpindi. A new influx of foreign fighters is pouring into Afghanistan from Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Chechnya, the Arab world, and elsewhere, U.S. officials tell the ...

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598464_071030_pakistan_05.jpg
RAWALPINDI, PAKISTAN - OCTOBER 30: A policeman stands next to a wall peppered with shrapnel at an army checkpoint, October 30, Rawalpindi, Pakistan. At least six people were killed and 11 injured in a suicide bombing 2km from Pakistan's President Musharraf's HQ. Musharraf was in his office at the time of the blast but was not hurt. The attack comes only days after the army launched an assault against Taliban supporters in Swat Valley in Northern Pakistan, and less than 2 weeks after the bombing of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's homecoming convoy in Karachi, which killed 139. Tensions have been rising throughout the country since July when Gen Musharraf ordered troops to storm the hard-line Islamic Red Mosque in Islamabad that left hundreds dead. (Photo Warrick Page/Getty Images)

Asia

Asia

WARRICK PAGE/Getty Images News

A suicide bomb in Pakistan killed at least seven people. The blast happened at a police checkpoint 2 kilometers from Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf’s headquarters in Rawalpindi.

A new influx of foreign fighters is pouring into Afghanistan from Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Chechnya, the Arab world, and elsewhere, U.S. officials tell the New York Times.

Burmese warlord and former drug kingpin Khun Sa died in Rangoon.

Middle East

Iraq’s Mosul Dam is at risk of collapse, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers warned in a 2006 report, calling the structure, “the most dangerous dam in the world.”

A U.S. brigadier general was wounded by shrapnel from a roadside bomb in Iraq.

Authorities in Azerbaijan say they foiled an impending terrorist attack against the U.S. Embassy in Baku.

Europe

European steel companies are pushing for tariffs on imports of Chinese steel.

Nicolas Sarkozy stormed out of a 60 Minutes interview Sunday in a huff after being asked about his wife Cécila, saying “No, no, this is stupid” and calling his aide an “imbecile”.

U.S. diplomats are putting together a package of incentives in the hopes of getting Russia to cooperate on Kosovo, Iran, and the Conventional Armed Forces treaty.

Elsewhere 

A new study finds that AIDS may have entered the United States via a Haitian immigrant as early as 1969, far earlier than previously thought.

Pirates off the coast of Somalia captured a South Korean cargo ship, while a U.S. destroyer chases pirates who recently captured a Japanese ship loaded with benzene.

The FBI is complaining that Blackwater guards involved in a Sept. 16 shooting in Iraq received immunity from the State Department, making prosecution difficult.

Please don’t blame us for $93 oil,” Qatar’s oil minister said, referring to OPEC.

Today’s Agenda

  • Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah is to be officially welcomed by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth.
  • Russia’s foreign minister is making a surprise trip to Iran.
  • Uganda’s president visits U.S. President George W. Bush at the White House.
  • They’ll be dancin’ on the streets of Rio when Brazil is chosen today as host of the 2014 World Cup.

Yesterday on Passport

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