Morning Brief, Tuesday, November 6

Note: Technical difficulties on the blog held up postings this morning. Our apologies for the delay.

Asia

AFP/Getty Images

Pakistan’s ousted chief justice called for Pakistanis to “rise up” against Pervez Musharraf. Clashes between lawyers and police continued for a second day as the Pakistani leader ignored a call from U.S. President George W. Bush to lift the state of emergency, hold elections, and resign as chief of staff of the Army. On Monday, unfounded rumors of a coup prompted a stock market crash in Karachi. Western diplomats, meanwhile, worry that Musharraf’s crackdown is distracting his security forces from going after terrorists and extremists.

Efforts to disable North Korea’s Yongbyon reactor are “off to a good start,” a U.S. State Department official said.

Another big IPO in China, this time for Alibaba.com, an e-commerce firm, which is now valued at 316 times earnings.

Middle East

Flush with oil revenues, Libya is going capitalist.

President Bush agreed Monday to help Turkey combat the PKK, but Turkish PM Tayyip Erdogan says a military offensive in northern Iraq is still in the cards and that “Nobody is telling us not to do an operation.”

Americans are roughly evenly divided on whether to strike Iran, a new USA Today/Gallup poll has found. 

Europe 

British PM Gordon Brown laid out a new agenda in an attempt to fend off accusations of “drift”.

The European Union is getting tough on terrorism. Al Qaeda remains the greatest threat to Europe, the EU counterterrorism chief says.

Italian authorities are searching for 20 men suspected of plotting attacks in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Elsewhere

The dollar’s continued fall means the markets are betting that the Fed will lower interest rates for a third time, Bloomberg reports.

Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan warned that it could take months before the full extent of banks’ losses from the subprime mortgage crisis become clear.

Scientists have begun to unlock the genetic secrets of dandruff.

Today’s Agenda

• King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia meets the pope at the Vatican.
• Today is the International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict. I guess the U.N.’s communications department had the day off when they settled on that name.
• French President Nicolas Sarkozy visits the White House tonight. Tomorrow, a tour of Mt. Vernon, the estate of George Washington.
• The U.N.’s envoy to Burma landed in Rangoon and began meeting with junta leaders.
• The University of Northern Iowa hosts a Republican presidential debate.
• A rejuvenated St. Pancras International rail station opens in London.

Yesterday on Passport

• What We’re Reading
• PetroChina’s big. So what?
• World’s highest-paid supermodel bets against U.S. dollar