Morning Brief: Bitter harvest
Top Story VOLKER HARTMANN/AFP/Getty Images Farmers fear this year’s harvest will disappoint, the New York Times reports. “The anxiety level is increasing,” an analyst at Wachovia observes, as corn farmers in Indiana are predicting lower yields at a time when grain prices have been at or near records highs. “If we have bad crops, it’s ...
Top Story
Top Story
Farmers fear this year’s harvest will disappoint, the New York Times reports. “The anxiety level is increasing,” an analyst at Wachovia observes, as corn farmers in Indiana are predicting lower yields at a time when grain prices have been at or near records highs. “If we have bad crops, it’s going to be a wild ride,” the U.S. Agriculture Department’s chief economist predicts.
Global Economy
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is now more worried about inflation than he is about an economic downturn. Many economists agree with Bernanke.
Apple’s new iPhone will be sold in 70 countries by year’s end.
Middle East and Africa
Israelis are growing disgusted with politics.
The head of Saddam Hussein’s tribe has been killed by a car bomb.
Iran warns Israel of a “very painful” response if the Islamic Republic is attacked.
Zambia’s former president is calling for a unity government in Zimbabwe.
Asia
China’s “quake lake” has begun to drain. So have its stock markets.
Lawyers are marching across Pakistan to demand that President Pervez Musharraf resign and the judges he ousted be reinstated.
South Korea’s cabinet has offered to resign over the controversial issue of beef imports from the United States.
Japan plans to cut its emissions of greenhouse gases by up to 80 percent by 2050.
Americas
Researchers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and IBM have developed the world’s fastest computer.
Hugo Chávez can shift gears when he realizes he is overreaching.
Decision ’08
Barack Obama is harshly criticizing John McCain on economic issues, while the latter jokes that Obama is running for Jimmy Carter’s second term.
Europe
On his European trip, President Bush is hoping to issue a joint U.S.-EU warning to Iran.
Spain is struggling to cope with illegal immigration.
Today’s Agenda
President Bush leaves Slovenia for Western Europe.
The United Nations is hosting a high-level meeting on HIV/AIDS.
The “Group of 77” developing countries (there are actually 130 of them now) is meeting in Côte d’Ivoire.
Yesterday on
Passport
Blake Hounshell is a former managing editor of Foreign Policy.
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The West’s False Choice in Ukraine
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The Masterminds
Washington wants to get tough on China, and the leaders of the House China Committee are in the driver’s seat.
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