Morning Brief, Wednesday, November 7

Europe

SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is the toast of Washington this week.

Another Serbian ultra-nationalist is going on trial for war crimes at the Hague.

The European Union is extending its “free travel zone” as far east as Ukraine and Belarus. 

Asia

Burma’s ruling junta rejected U.N. envoy Ibrahim Gambari’s offer to mediate talks with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The head of Pakistan’s ruling party, a close Musharraf ally, said he is “sure” the state of emergency there will end in “two to three weeks”. Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto plans to hold a protest rally Friday followed by a “long march” if the state of emergency isn’t lifted.

Afghanistan is still reeling from what many say is the worst suicide attack in the country’s history.

South Korea’s defense minister said that the North is still pursuing “asymmetrical weapons” and remains a threat.

Middle East

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared his country’s nuclear progress “irreversible“.

Iraqi Kurdistan’s economic ties to Turkey make war less likely, Richard A. Oppel, Jr., reports for the New York Times.

The U.S. military promised to release nine of 20 Iranians who were captured in Iraq in recent months.

Elsewhere

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization warned Wednesday that high food prices will soon lead to decreased consumption in poor countries.

Security forces tear-gassed opposition demonstrators in Tblisi, Georgia.

U.S. light crude has reached $98 a barrel.

Today’s Agenda

• U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice meets with South Korea’s foreign minister to discuss next steps in the six-party talks with North Korea.
• The European Commission releases a progress report on Turkey’s EU accession bid.
• Rangoon’s famous gems and jade auction begins today.
• Sarkozy heads to Mt. Vernon.
• Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte testifies at a 2 p.m. House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Pakistan.
• Ninety years ago today, the Bolsheviks seized power in Moscow.

Yesterday on Passport

• Quotable: Congressman lambasts Yahoo execs as “pygmies”
• FSO: Mandatory service in Iraq a “pointless waste of talent”
• Musharraf’s sinking democratic credentials