Morning Brief: What was North Korea doing in Syria?
KCNA VIA KNS/AFP/Getty Images Top Story The White House today plans to go public with what it claims is video footage of North Koreans building a plutonium reactor in Syria. According to U.S. officials, the footage was supplied by Israeli intelligence prior to Israel’s September 6 raid on a suspected nuclear site in the Syrian ...
KCNA VIA KNS/AFP/Getty Images
Top Story
The White House today plans to go public with what it claims is video footage of North Koreans building a plutonium reactor in Syria. According to U.S. officials, the footage was supplied by Israeli intelligence prior to Israel’s September 6 raid on a suspected nuclear site in the Syrian desert. Syria has preemptively denounced the disclosure, but an anonymous nuke expert described the video as “very, very damning” to the Washington Post. The key question, cautions analyst David Albright, is whether “the reactor is part of an active nuclear weapons program.” Another important concern: How will the North Koreans react to these revelations?
Asia
China’s strict new visa regulations have sent “thousands of foreign residents scrambling for black market documents,” according to the New York Times.
The Pakistani militant leader accused of ordering former PM Benazir Bhutto’s death is calling for a truce.
U.S. companies are having success outsourcing debt collection to India.
Middle East & Africa
A Chinese ship full of weapons that were headed for Zimbabwe is turning back without unloading. South African leader Jacob Zuma says it’s too early, however, to enforce an arms embargo.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is lying about Hamas, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter insists.
The U.N. relief mission in Gaza is running out of fuel.
Americas
David Talbot looks at how the $100 laptop could transform Peru.
A map of climate zones on the back of seed packets is becoming fodder in the U.S. global warming debate.
On Capitol Hill, farm subsidies remain a sacred cow despite high food prices.
Global Economy
The food crisis is getting so bad, Sam’s Club is limiting the sale of bulk bags of rice. It’s not exactly West Africa, though.
“Oil is still cheap” at nearly $120 a barrel, according to Technology Review‘s Kevin Bullis.
Europe
French President Nicolas Sarkozy plans to consult the EU before deciding whether to boycott the opening cermonies in Beijing.
The Orthodox Chuch is becoming a “de facto official religion” in Russia.
Russia’s forest fires are the worst in 30 years, according to state news agency RIA Novosti.
Today’s Agenda
U.S. President George W. Bush welcomes Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to the White House.
The governing council of the European Central Bank meets today.
China’s foreign minister is visiting Bangladesh.
European Commission President José Manuel Barroso meets with top Chinese officials in Beijing to talk trade.
Yesterday on
Passport
Blake Hounshell is a former managing editor of Foreign Policy.
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