Morning Brief: Israel votes
Top Story Israelis head to the polls today for what looks to be a close-fought election. Binyamin Netanyahu’s conservative party had been leading in the polls, but Kadima, led by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, appears to have closed the gap in recent days. Turnout is higher than expected with more than a third of the ...
Top Story
Top Story
Israelis head to the polls today for what looks to be a close-fought election. Binyamin Netanyahu’s conservative party had been leading in the polls, but Kadima, led by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, appears to have closed the gap in recent days. Turnout is higher than expected with more than a third of the electorate having voted by 2 p.m. Haaretz’s final projections still show a majority for a right-wing coalition.
Whoever wins is likely to face a fractured coalition government with little room to maneuver.
Americas
In a prime-time television address, U.S. President Barack Obama warned that without aggressive action, the U.S. economy could be facing a “lost decade.”
The Obama administration has backed the Bush administration’s position in a renditions case.
The Houston Chronicle reports that 230 U.S. citizens have been killed in Mexico’s drug violence since 2003.
Asia
U.S. South Asia envoy Richard Holbrooke arrived in Islamabad, Pakistan.
China’s monthly auto sales surpassed the United States’ for the first time.
The Red Cross began evacuating the wounded from Sri Lanka’s war zone.
Africa
South Africa set April 22 as the date for its presidential election.
At least 10,000 Somali refugees have crossed into neighboring Ethiopia this year according to the U.N.
A Ugandan offensive against the Lord’s Resistance Army has been catastrophic for civilians.
Europe
The comatose Italian woman at the center of a political right-to-die debate has died.
EU finance ministers are irritated by a French auto bailout plan.
EU peacekeepers have intensified their search for Serbian war criminal Ratko Mladic.
Middle East
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gave a speech in which he welcomed dialogue with the United States.
Nicolas Sarkozy became the first ever French head of state to visit Iraq.
Joshua Keating was an associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating
More from Foreign Policy


A New Multilateralism
How the United States can rejuvenate the global institutions it created.


America Prepares for a Pacific War With China It Doesn’t Want
Embedded with U.S. forces in the Pacific, I saw the dilemmas of deterrence firsthand.


The Endless Frustration of Chinese Diplomacy
Beijing’s representatives are always scared they could be the next to vanish.


The End of America’s Middle East
The region’s four major countries have all forfeited Washington’s trust.