Morning Brief, Wednesday, January 23

Middle East

ABID KATIB/Getty Images News

Gazans streamed across their southern border with Egypt in search of supplies that have become hard to find during the recent blockade, while Egyptian border guards looked the other way. (More on this later.)

Many Sunnis in Iraq fear the new de-Baathification law will be used to purge them.

The permanent five members of the U.N. Security Council reportedly agreed on a watered-down resolution calling for a third round of sanctions against Iran.

Europe

The outlook among business leaders is grim as Davos gets underway. Speaking on a panel on the global economy, NYU economist and FP contributor Nouriel Roubini summed up the pessimistic mood: “The U.S. is going to have a protracted case of pneumonia,” adding, “The Fed cannot prevent this recession from occurring.” Martin Wolf explains how the world economy got into such trouble in today’s Financial Times.

Europe’s central bank is resisting pressure to follow the U.S. Fed and issue a rate cut.

A Greek prime minister is visiting Turkey for the first time since 1959.

Carla Bruni is not going to India with her main squeeze, French President Nicolas Sarkozy. 

Asia

The wife of ousted Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra faces corruption charges in Bangkok.

Its air quality reaching intolerable levels, Beijing is vowing to cut traffic in half for the 2008 Olympics.

A 23-year-old Afghan journalist has been sentenced to death for allegedly insulting Islam.

Bird flu is spreading in West Bengal, India.

2008 U.S. Election

Barack Obama leads Hillary Clinton by 43 to 25 percent in South Carolina, according to a new Reuters/CSPAN/Zogby poll.

Elsewhere

Australian actor Heath Ledger is dead at age 28.

A New York Times investigation found dangerous levels of mercury in local tuna sushi.

The tension continues in Kenya. 

A small wave of upper- and middle-class Venezuelans, fed up with Hugo Chávez, is moving to Florida.

Today’s Agenda

• Panel sessions at the World Economic Forum in Davos are getting underway.
• Slovenia is hosting the EU-Japan Symposium on Climate Change.
• The U.S. House holds a hearing on the new U.S. Embassy in Iraq.

Yesterday on Passport

• Davos Diary, Day 2: Snowy arrival
• Ben and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week
• Questions about “A World Without Islam”?

Web Exclusives

Generation Putin
The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, and the Russia left in its wake has long since moved past the bad old days. Or has it? Rare survey data from the four main universities that feed Russia’s Foreign Ministry reveals that the next generation of Russian diplomats may not turn out to be as “post-Soviet” as you think. By Yelena Biberman

The List: The World’s Top Spy Agencies
With the Cold War long over, the CIA no longer faces any real competition, right? Wrong. The world’s top espionage agencies are as busy as ever. This week, the FP List looks at the countries that best know how to wield a cloak and dagger.