Morning Brief: New information comes to light on Benghazi attack

Posted By Joshua Keating Friday, November 2, 2012 - 8:40 AM

Top news: New information continues to shed light on the circumstances around the Sept. 11 attack that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. As reported by journalists Harald Doornbos and Jenana Moussa on Foreign Policy, documents found recently at the site of the attack show concern over "troubling" surveillance of the compound on the day of the attack. One letter also shows that Stevens and his team had requested additional security from the Libyan government and did not feel it was being provided. The letters, along with other official documents, were apparently not removed by the FBI team that visited the site nearly a month ago. 

The CIA has also provided its most detailed account yet to the media of its immediate response to the attack. According to intelligence officials, the CIA rushed operatives to the Benghazi compound within 25 minutes of it coming under attack, used an unarmed military drone to map escape routes, and helped mobilize the evacuation of surviving American personnel. The new account follows weeks of political criticism of the Obama administration's response to the attack.

U.S. economy: Newly released data shows the U.S. added 171,000 jobs in October, but unemployment increased from 7.8 percent to 7.9 percent. Employment gains for August and September were also revised up. 

Middle East

  • Video footage appears to show Syrian rebels executing at least half a dozen unarmed soldiers after an attack on a checkpoint. 
  • China has presented a four-point plan aimed at resolving the violence in Syria. 
  • The U.S. is easing restrictions on the sale of medicine to Iran. 

Americas

Europe

  • A Greek journalist was acquitted on charges of violating data protection laws for publishing the names of citizens with Swiss bank accounts. 
  • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended a memorial in Toulouse, France, for those killed by a gunman at a Jewish school last march. 
  • Two suspected IRA militants were arrested in Northern Ireland over the killing of a prison guard. 

Africa

  • A new Amnesty International report accuses the Nigerian government of widespread abuses in its campaign against Boko Haram. 
  • A member of Boko Haram reportedly suggested peace talks with the Nigerian government. 
  • Mauritania's president is recuperating in France after being accidentally shot by his own troops earlier this month. 

Asia




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Morning Brief: Clinton calls for overhaul of Syrian opposition

Posted By Ty McCormick Thursday, November 1, 2012 - 8:55 AM

Top news: Speaking from Croatia on Wednesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for an overhaul of the Syrian opposition, saying that the current leadership body, the Syrian National Council (SNC), is out of touch with fighters on the front lines. "This cannot be an opposition represented by people who have many good attributes, but have, in many instances, have not been inside Syria for 20, 30 or 40 years," she said. "We've made it clear that the SNC can no longer be viewed as the visible leader of the opposition." Clinton's remarks hint at a more active role for the United States, which has expressed dismay at the opposition's lack of discipline and perpetual infighting. Next week, members of the opposition are due to gather in Doha, where their leadership will likely be restructured.

Inside Syria, violence continued Wednesday amid renewed airstrikes and clashes between rebels and forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. A bombing in the Sayyida Zeinab area of Damascus left at least six people dead. Meanwhile, Syrian rebels said they had begun arming Palestinians living in the Yarmouk enclave of Damascus against Assad and fighting between rebels and Kurds in northern Syria threatens to open a new front in the war.

Hurricane Sandy: As of Wednesday evening, roughly 6 million homes and businesses spread across 15 states were still without power.

Middle East

  • Police in Kuwait dispersed thousands of protesters outside a prison where opposition leader Musallam al-Barrack is being held on charges of insulting the emir.
  • Libya's General National Congress approved Prime Minister Ali Zidan's cabinet line-up.
  • Militants bombed a natural gas pipeline feeding Yemen's only export terminal.

Africa

  • Security guards shot dead two miners in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa.
  • Gunmen killed 20 people in the village of Kaboro in northern Nigeria.
  • CIA Director David Petraeus arrived in Cairo Wednesday for two days of meetings with Egyptian security officials.

Europe

  • Eurozone unemployment hit a new high of 18.49 million or 11.6 percent for September.
  • Italy cut the number of provinces in the country from 86 to 51 in an effort to lower administrative costs.
  • German Chancellor Angela Merkel reassured Turkey that the EU would continue "good faith" negotiations on Turkish membership in the regional bloc.

Asia

  • Roughly 120 people are missing after a boat capsized in the Bay of Bengal.
  • The U.N. called on Myanmar to halt ongoing sectarian violence and end discrimination against Rohingya Muslims.
  • A tropical storm has claimed six lives and displaced more than 100,000 people in India and Sri Lanka.

Americas

  • Argentinian authorities arrested Colombian drug lord Henry de Jesus Lopez in Buenos Aires.
  • Brazil ended a three-week military operation in the jungle regions bordering Bolivia and Peru during which it confiscated four tons of drugs.
  • Haitian authorities revised the death toll from Hurricane Sandy to 54, bringing the regional total for the Caribbean to 71.



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Morning Brief: Syrian rebels assassinate air force commander as fighting resumes

Posted By Ty McCormick Wednesday, October 31, 2012 - 8:53 AM

Top news: Syrian state television reported that rebel fighters assassinated Gen. Abdullah Mahmud al-Khalidi, a top air force commander, on Monday in Damascus. The Free Syrian Army claimed responsibility for the attack, but there are unsubstantiated reports that the regime was behind the killing. Rumors abound that the general was preparing to defect.

Meanwhile, as the widely ignored Eid al-Adha ceasefire came to a close on Tuesday, Syrian warplanes bombed suburbs of Damascus and Homs as well as the town of Maarat al-Numan, located between Aleppo and Damascus. According to activists, at least 38 people were killed, many of them civilians.

Despite the failure of the holiday truce, U.N.-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said he will continue working for a peace agreement between rebel fighters and the government of President Bashar al-Assad. "I am terribly sorry ... that this appeal has not been heard to the level we hoped it would," he said after meeting with the Russian foreign minister in Moscow. "[B]ut that will not discourage us. It will not discourage us because Syria is very important and the people of Syria deserve our support and interest."

Iran: Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told a British newspaper Tuesday that Iran had averted a showdown between the two countries earlier this year by diverting more than one third of its medium-enriched uranium to civilian projects. The decision by Iranian authorities, he said, "allows contemplating delaying the moment of truth by eight to ten months." Also on Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continued to campaign for military action, saying that a preemptive strike on Iranian nuclear facilities would benefit the country's Arab neighbors."Five minutes after, contrary to what the skeptics say, I think a feeling of relief would spread across the region," he said.

Middle East

  • Protesters stormed Libya's national assembly on Tuesday before the body could vote on Prime Minister Ali Zeidan's new cabinet.
  • Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi ordered his interior minister to investigate more than 700 sexual assault complaints made during the Eid al-Adha holiday.
  • Clashes between Tunisian police and Salafi Muslims left one man dead.

Africa

  • A Rwandan court sentenced opposition leader Victoire Ingabire to eight years in prison on charges of treason.
  • International donors pledged more than $2 billion in development aid to Burundi.
  • German police arrested a suspect in a 2003 bombing in Casablanca.

Asia

  • The Afghan Election Commission announced that the country's next presidential election will be held on April 5, 2014.
  • Japan and the United States will hold joint military exercise in November amid heightened tensions in the South China Sea.
  • An independent audit revealed that funds promised to communities devastated by last year's nuclear crisis in Japan have been diverted to a number of unrelated projects.

Europe

  • Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the EU will "lose Turkey" if it is not granted membership by 2023.
  • The European Union may send roughly 200 troops to train Mali's army.
  • Speaking in Sarajevo, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged Bosnian leaders to work together to meet NATO and EU membership criteria.

Americas

  • The death toll from Hurricane Sandy on the East Coast has reached 48.
  • Masked men attacked and set fire to Bolivian radio journalist Fernando Vidal while he was on air.
  • Hurricane Sandy caused extensive crop damage in Haiti, according to the Haitian Ministry of Agriculture.



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Morning Brief: Sandy batters eastern United States

Posted By Uri Friedman Tuesday, October 30, 2012 - 8:34 AM

Top news: Hurricane Sandy made landfall on Monday night as a downgraded storm, claiming at least 16 lives across the United States and leaving more than seven million customers without power in 10 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, according to CNN. The storm's powerful winds may now reach Canada and as far west as the Great Lakes, as West Virginia faces heavy snow.

In New York City, several subway tunnels are flooded after what the head of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has called the most destructive storm in the subway system's 108-year history. President Barack Obama declared a federal disaster area in New York City, Long Island, and eight counties in New Jersey. 

Haiti is also struggling to recover from Hurricane Sandy, which ruined crops, destroyed homes, and caused at least 52 deaths in the country. The storm also killed 11 people in Cuba, where residents of the city of Santiago are without power and running water.   

Clinton visits Balkans: After a stop in Algeria, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has begun a tour of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo, Albania, and Croatia. In the Balkans, she and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton will urge leaders to resolve lingering ethnic and geopolitical disputes in order to integrate more fully into European institutions.

Middle East

  • Bahrain banned protests and threatened legal action against protest organizers.
  • Syrian troops and rebels clashed in a Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus as Syrian warplanes bombed rebel targets outside of Homs. 
  • Libya's prime minister presented his government to the national congress for approval.

Europe

  • International observers are criticizing Ukraine's parliamentary election, which the ruling Party of Regions appears to have won. 
  • The Swiss bank UBS announced that it will be cutting 10,000 jobs worldwide.
  • Lithuania's president blocked an effort by opposition parties to form a coalition government.

Asia

  • A man in an Afghan police uniform killed two coalition soldiers in Afghanistan's Helmand province.
  • A Vietnamese court imprisoned two musicians who wrote songs that criticized the government.
  • The wife of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has reappeared in public.

Africa

  • South African police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at striking miners near Rustenburg.
  • Gunmen killed the Somali poet Warsame Shire Awale in Mogadishu. 
  • An Iranian naval task force docked in Sudan.

Americas

  • Suspected FARC rebels killed six Colombian police officers in a southwestern province. 
  • Venezuela's defense minister is leaving his post to run for governor in the state of Trujillo.
  • Attackers set a Bolivian radio journalist on fire while he was presenting a program. 



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Morning Brief: Ceasefire in Syria collapses

Posted By Uri Friedman Monday, October 29, 2012 - 8:11 AM

Top news: Syrians are reporting air raids by military jets outside Damascus while Syrian state television is reporting a deadly car bomb in the capital -- on the fourth day of a nominal ceasefire arranged by U.N. and Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based opposition group, estimates that 420 people have been killed in Syria since Friday, when the truce came into effect to coincide with the holiday of Eid al-Adha.

"I am terribly sorry ... that this appeal has not been heard to the level we hoped it would, but that will not discourage us," Brahimi told reporters after talks with Russia's foreign minister in Moscow. The envoy, who will travel to China next, added that there are no plans at the moment to send peacekeepers to Syria.  

Also on Monday, the Turkish military returned fire after a shell from Syria landed in the Turkish village of Besaslan. No injuries were reported.

Ukraine: Preliminary results from Ukraine's parliamentary elections on Sunday suggest that President Viktor Yanukovych's governing Party of Regions has emerged victorious with more than 36 percent of the vote, while the party of jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko has secured just over 21 percent. The Communist Party appears to have come in third, with a party led by a boxing champion and an ultra-nationalist party also making significant gains. 

Asia

  • Indonesian police arrested 11 people who were allegedly plotting attacks on U.S. targets in the country. 
  • India's governing United Progressive Alliance announced a cabinet reshuffle.
  • Chinese officials abandoned plans to build a petrochemical plant in the city of Ningbo after three days of protests.

Europe

  • A Greek newspaper reprinted a list of Greeks with Swiss bank accounts after Greek police arrested the magazine editor who initially published the names.
  • Opposition parties in Lithuania are working to form a new government after winning an election.  
  • British police arrested rock star Paul Gadd in connection with the sexual abuse scandal involving television host Jimmy Savile.

Middle East

  • The Israeli military struck targets in the Gaza Strip after militants in Gaza fired rockets and mortars into southern Israel.
  • During a visit to Algiers, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pressed Algeria to support a military intervention in northern Mali.
  • A wave of attacks in Iraq during the holiday of Eid al-Adha killed at least 30 people.

Africa

  • A suicide bombing at a church in northern Nigeria killed at least seven people.
  • South African President Jacob Zuma withdrew a lawsuit over a critical cartoon in a local newspaper. 
  • Security forces in Guinea-Bissau arrested a soldier who was allegedly behind a failed coup attempt.

Americas

  • Panama's National Assembly repealed a law permitting the sale of state-owned land in the Colon region after violent protests. 
  • Only 40 percent of registered voters turned out for the first elections in Chile since voting became voluntary.
  • Fernando Haddad, a member of Brazil's governing Workers' Party, was elected mayor of Sao Paulo. 



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Morning Brief: Syria ceasefire breaks down

Posted By Joshua Keating Friday, October 26, 2012 - 8:24 AM

Top news: A planned ceasefire for the holiday of Eid al-Adha in Syria quickly broke down this morning with attacks reported from both sides. The four-day ceasefire had been urged by U.N. mediator Lakhdar Brahimi. The Syrian government and commanders of the Free Syrian Army both pledged to hold their fire, but other rebel groups dismissed it before it even began.

The ceasefire officially went into effect a 6 a.m. this morning, according to Syrian state television, but by 10:30 there were reports of rebels attempting to storm an army base in Northern Syria and clashes in the suburbs of Damascus. Three people were reportedly killed by tank fire in Hasrata, a town near Damascus, and there were reports of snipers and tank fire near the Turkish border. The army also reportedly fired rockets at a rebel-controlled area of Homs. 

A ceasefire negotiated by the previous U.N. negotiator, Kofi Annan, last April, also fell apart. 

Media: China has blocked access to the New York Times after the paper ran an article on Premier Wen Jiabao's family's wealth.  

Asia

Middle East

  • Israel has asked its officials not to comment on reports of U.S.-Iranian nuclear talks. 
  • Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party will join with ultra-nationalist Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beitenu in January's elections. 
  • Egypt says a suspect in the Benghazi consulate attack killed near Cairo on Wednesday was Libyan. 

Americas

  • Hurricane Sandy has hit the Bahamas after causing widespread damage in Cuba, Haiti, and Jamaica. It is expected to combine with a winter snow storm to create a "superstorm" in the eastern United States next week. 
  • Cuba says it will welcome back citizens who fled the country after 1994.
  • The crew of an Argentine naval ship seized as part of a debt dispute in Ghana have returned home. 

Europe

Africa

  • Sudan says it will report Israel to the U.N. over an alleged attack on a weapons plant this week. 
  • South African miners have agreed to a pay deal that could end a long-running trade dispute.  
  • A new report says gold is now the main source of income for militants in Eastern Congo. 



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Morning Brief: Syrians await government announcement on ceasefire

Posted By Ty McCormick Thursday, October 25, 2012 - 8:50 AM

Top news: Lakhdar Brahimi, the U.N. and Arab League envoy to Syria, announced a ceasefire Wednesday for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. Within hours, however, the Syrian government distanced itself from the announcement, saying that it was still studying the proposal and would make a final decision Thursday. It remains unclear how the planned ceasefire, which is voluntary in nature, would be enforced since the U.N. ordered the withdrawal of its observer mission over the summer. 

As of Thursday morning, less than a day before Brahimi's ceasefire is due to come into force, fighting between rebels and forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad was still underway in the city of Harasta, northeast of Damascus. According to Russian officials, however, Assad has indicated that he will accept the ceasefire.

Israel: Sudan accused Israel of bombing a munitions factory in Khartoum. Israel, which has hit targets inside Sudan before, did not comment publicly on the strikes.

Middle East

  • Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip killed at least four militants and injured others.
  • One of the suspects in the Benghazi consular attack was killed in Cairo on Wednesday.
  • Militants fired 79 rockets from the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli officials.

Africa

  • The African Union lifted Mali's suspension ahead of military action to reclaim the northern region of the country from Islamist militants.
  • Guinea-Bissau requested the extradition of former prime minister Carlos Gomes Junior on charges of ordering the assassination of a former president.
  • Nigerian authorities broke up a major kidnapping ring in the southeastern Anambra state.  

Asia

  • Burmese authorities imposed a curfew in parts of the Rakhine state as sectarian clashes spread.
  • China ended its moratorium on new nuclear plants as part of a plan to reduce oil and coal dependence.
  • Pakistan announced that it will purchase bulletproof buses in order to entice foreign cricket teams back to the country.

Europe

  • Greece has been granted an extension on its austerity targets by international creditors, according to the country's finance minister. 
  • Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi confirmed that he will not run again in 2013.
  • German Chancellor Angela Merkel opened a memorial for Roma Holocaust victims in Berlin.

Americas

  • Hurricane Sandy made landfall in Cuba early Thursday morning with winds as high as 105 mph.
  • Ecuador requested that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, currently hiding in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, be granted safe passage to the hospital.
  • Panama scrapped plans to sell public land in Colon after violent protests. 



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Morning Brief: UN envoy says Syrian government will agree to ceasefire

Posted By Uri Friedman Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - 7:37 AM

Top news: At a press conference in Cairo on Wednesday, U.N. and Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi announced that the Syrian government had agreed to a ceasefire during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, which begins Thursday evening. "Other factions in Syria that we were able to contact -- heads of fighting groups -- most of them also agree on the principle of the ceasefire," Brahimi added, without specifying how long the truce would last. Syrian officials say they will make a final decision on Thursday about whether to embrace the truce.

Reuters points out that a ceasefire could prove difficult to implement, since a previous truce in April collapsed, a fierce battle is underway in the northern town of Maarat al-Numan, and international observers won't be monitoring and enforcing the deal. Brahimi hopes to use the temporary halt in hostilities to negotiate a long-term ceasefire and launch political talks. 

On Tuesday, the Syrian military shelled a bakery in the flashpoint city of Aleppo, killing at least 20 people.

Immigration: A new report by Mexico's Colegio de la Frontera Norte and the University of Southern California's Tomas Rivera Policy Institute has found that the "recession-induced decline of undocumented migration from Mexico appears to have stopped in the first half of 2012 amid tentative signs of a renewed northbound flow."  

Middle East

  • An Israeli airstrike in Gaza killed a Palestinian militant as militants fired a barrage of rockets into southern Israel. 
  • Iran's oil minister threatened to halt all oil exports if Western sanctions against the country are 
  • An Egyptian court referred a case on the legality of the country's constitutional committee to a higher court.

Asia

  • An HSBC report suggested that Chinese manufacturing rebounded in October.
  • Four children died in a firefight between the Taliban and coalition forces in eastern Afghanistan.
  • Japan's prime minister appointed a new justice minister following a political scandal.

Europe

  • The chairman of the BBC Trust defended the BBC's independence in the face of a sex scandal.
  • The head of Italy's disaster commission resigned to protest the sentencing of seven colleagues over a 2009 earthquake.  
  • EU ministers struck a deal to overhaul Europe's Common Fisheries Policy.

Africa

  • The South African gold mine Gold Fields fired more than 8,000 striking workers.
  • A state prosecutor in Benin said the government had foiled a plot to poison the president.
  • An explosion rocked an arms factory in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum.

Americas

  • Panama's president canceled plans to sell state-owned land in the Colon region after deadly clashes between protesters and security forces.
  • A Guantanamo detainee accused of organizing the USS Cole attack boycotted a pretrial hearing.
  • Sweeping labor reform legislation suffered a setback in Mexico's Senate.



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Morning Brief: Syrian violence spreads to Lebanon, Jordan

Posted By Ty McCormick Tuesday, October 23, 2012 - 9:15 AM

Top news: Lebanese and Jordanian authorities took action Monday to prevent violence from spreading to their respective countries from Syria. In Lebanon, the military deployed to Beirut and Tripoli to end sectarian fighting that left at least six dead following the death of Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hassan in a car bomb on Friday. In Jordan, one soldier was killed in a shootout with militants attempting to cross into the country from Syria. The border violence comes immediately after Jordanian authorities broke up a terror plot involving munitions diverted from Syria.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Air Force raided a district in northern Aleppo as fighting continued across the country. The new U.N. and Arab League peace envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi, has proposed a ceasefire for the holiday of Eid al-Adha, but neither side appears interested in ending hostilities.  

Iran: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused the head of Iran's judiciary of protecting "certain individuals" from corruption charges in a letter published by the Iranian media. The public row suggests that the regime's unity may be crumbling under the weight of sanctions and deepening economic crisis, according to the New York Times.

Americas

  • President Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney faced off for the third and final presidential debate.
  • U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton travelled to Haiti for the launch of a $300 million industrial park.
  • Doctors in Peru ended a 33-day strike after securing better wages from the government of President Ollanta Humala.

Africa

  • The International Maritime Bureau reported that the number of attacks by Somali pirates fell sharply this year.
  • Sudanese rebels shelled the city of South Kordofan on Tuesday, killing 10 civilians.
  • Nigerian authorities arrested 15 Russian sailors on suspicion of arms smuggling.

Middle East

  • A Jordanian soldier was killed by militants attempting to cross into the country from Syria.
  • Two Palestinian militants were killed in air strikes in the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli officials.
  • Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Than, the emir of Qatar, visited the Gaza Strip on Tuesday to inaugurate a $250 million reconstruction project.  

Asia

  • A hospital fire in Taiwan killed 12 people and injured more than 60.  
  • At least 10 Afghan forces died in a battle with the Taliban in the Herat Province.
  • Japan's justice minister resigned over past ties to organized crime.

Europe

  • The European Commission backed a tax on financial transactions in order to address the debt crisis.  
  • Police clashed with protesters in Kosovo following last week's talks aimed at improving ties between Serbia and Kosovo.
  • A court in Italy sentenced six scientists and a former government official to prison for their statements prior to the 2009 earthquake in L'Aquila that killed 309 people.



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Morning Brief: Army seeks to contain violence in Lebanon

Posted By Uri Friedman Monday, October 22, 2012 - 8:04 AM

Top news: Lebanese troops fanned out across Beirut on Monday in response to deadly sectarian clashes following the assassination of a top intelligence official, Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hassan, in a car bomb in the capital on Friday. Hassan, a Sunni Muslim, was a vocal critic of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a member of the Shiite-based Alawite sect. Some opposition figures in Lebanon have blamed the attack on the Syrian government.    

The violence and political instability in the country has renewed concerns about the civil war in Syria spilling over into Lebanon. In a statement on Monday, the Lebanese army promised to "take decisive measures, especially in areas with rising religious and sectarian tensions, to prevent Lebanon [from] being transformed again into a place for regional settling of scores." 

Meanwhile, in Damascus, a car bomb killed 13 people on Sunday according to Syrian state media, as U.N. and Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the capital. Brahimi is trying to establish a ceasefire in the country during the upcoming Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.   

Iran: On Saturday, the New York Times, citing anonymous Obama administration officials, reported that Iran and the United States had "agreed in principle for the first time to one-on-one negotiations over Iran's nuclear program" and that Iranian officials are demanding that the talks take place after the U.S. presidential election. The White House denied that a final deal had been struck but said it was open to a bilateral meeting, while the Iranian Foreign Ministry dismissed the report.   

Middle East

  • Fighting in the Libyan town of Bani Walid has killed at least 22 people in the last week.
  • Jordanian authorities arrested 11 people who were allegedly plotting a series of terrorist attacks.
  • Municipal elections in the West Bank produced mixed results for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah Party.

Europe

  • Two convicted members of the Russian band Pussy Riot have reportedly been sent to prison camps.
  • Spain's governing People's Party won regional elections in Galicia but lost to nationalist and separatist parties in the Basque Country.
  • Russian security forces killed 49 rebels in the North Caucasus region.

Americas

  • The official Cuban website Cubadebate published an article by Fidel Castro and photos of the former leader to dispel rumors about his poor health.
  • FARC rebels killed five Colombian soldiers amid peace talks between the rebels and the government. 
  • Thousands of striking doctors in Peru announced that they will return to work.

Asia

  • South Korean police prevented activists from dropping leaflets over the border with North Korea.
  • A group of Chinese leftists requested that parliament not expel former Communist Party leader Bo Xilai.

Africa

  • Islamist militants reportedly launched a deadly attack on Nigerian soldiers in northeastern Nigeria.
  • Argentina ordered more than 300 sailors to evacuate a ship that authorities in Ghana seized in a debt dispute.
  • An attack on a military airbase in Guinea-Bissau reportedly left six people dead.



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Morning Brief: Syrian government levels rebel-held town as Turkey backs ceasefire plan

Posted By Joshua Keating Friday, October 19, 2012 - 8:23 AM

Top news: The Syrian government launched airstrikes against the northern town of Maarat al-Noaman, which was captured by rebel forces just last week. Videos footage indicated that large sections of the town were destroyed and likely dozens were killed. Analysts say the attack reflects a new strategy by the Syrian government -- leveling towns captured by rebels rather than attempting to capture and govern them.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has baked calls for a four-day ceasefire for the Eid al-Adha holiday which begins on Oct. 26., a proposal by new U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi.

China: Reuters reports that Chinese leaders have come up with preferred candidates for next month's leadership transition. 

Middle East

Asia

Europe

Americas

Africa




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Morning Brief: Iran and Turkey back Syria envoy's peace plan

Posted By Uri Friedman Thursday, October 18, 2012 - 7:24 AM

Top news: On Wednesday, Iran's state-run press quoted President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as saying he supported U.N. and Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi's plan to implement a ceasefire in Syria during the three-day Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, which begins at dusk on Oct. 25, as a first step in resolving the crisis. Turkey's foreign minister has also expressed support for the proposal, in what the New York Times calls a "rare moment of accord between two of the regional powers backing opposite sides in the 19-month conflict." Brahimi will meet with Syria's foreign minister in Damascus on Saturday.   

"The crisis cannot remain within Syrian borders indefinitely," Brahimi warned after meeting with Lebanese leaders in Beirut. "Either it will be addressed or it will increase ... and be all-consuming."

Syrian officials have expressed skepticism that the rebels will honor a truce, but Brahimi claims they will "if the government stops using violence."

Libya: Libyan officials have reportedly identified Ahmed Abu Khattala, a leader of the Islamist group Ansar al-Sharia, as a commander in the deadly attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi. Meanwhile, in the former Qaddafi stronghold of Bani Walid, fighting on Wednesday killed at least five Libyans. 

Europe

  • Greek workers are launching a nationwide strike against austerity measures as EU leaders begin a summit in Brussels.  
  • Russian police arrested opposition leader Sergei Udaltsov for allegedly organizing "mass disorders" and plotting "terrorist acts."  
  • Twitter blocked access in Germany to a neo-Nazi account at the request of the German government.

Americas

  • Uruguay's Senate passed a bill that approves abortions during the first trimester of pregnancy. 
  • The Colombian government and FARC rebels are holding their first direct talks in a decade.
  • The FBI arrested a Bangladeshi man for attempting to bomb the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. 

Asia

  • Japanese opposition leader Shinzo Abe visited a controversial war shrine in Tokyo.
  • China's economic growth slowed to 7.4 percent in the third quarter of 2012.
  • The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force confirmed that three Afghan children died in a coalition strike in Helmand Province. 

Middle East

  • A suspected U.S. drone strike in Yemen killed at least seven suspected al Qaeda militants.
  • U.S. troops have started arriving in Israel to participate in a missile-defense exercise with the Israeli military.
  • An Israeli court forced the Israeli government to release a study on the number of calories Palestinians in the Gaza Strip need.

Africa

  • South African President Jacob Zuma urged miners to return to work and business leaders to freeze their salaries after a series of strikes.
  • Gunmen kidnapped six Russians and an Estonian in an attack on a French ship off Nigeria's coast.
  • Somalia's parliament approved Abdi Farah Shirdon as the country's new prime minister.



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Morning Brief: Report shows Iran's oil industry struggling under sanctions

Posted By Ty McCormick Wednesday, October 17, 2012 - 9:09 AM

Top news: New data released by the International Energy Agency (IEA) suggest that the U.S. and EU sanctions against Iran have substantially impacted the country's oil industry, on which it is heavily reliant. Over the last three months, the country's exports have been slashed by nearly a third and in September, oil deliveries dropped to a new low of 860,000 barrels per day. The IEA report noted that restrictions on tanker insurance, in particular, have been crippling for Iran.

Sanctions have also taken a toll on the Iranian rial, which lost 40 percent of its value this month alone. And as the New York Times reports, the restrictions may also prevent Iran's central bank from printing its way out of the crisis because Europe's bank note industry, which has historically served Iran, is barred from doing business there.

The situation in Iran will likely worsen as a result of a new round of sanctions, approved by EU foreign ministers on Monday, which target Iran's banking, energy, and shipping sectors. But as the Washington Post reports, Turkey, which was exempted from the latest round of U.S. sanctions, will likely continue to keep Iran afloat in the coming months.

Election 2012: President Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney went head to head last night in the second presidential debate, structured as a town hall discussion with "undecided voters." Although the debate gave foreign policy wonks more to talk about as the candidates mentioned Afghanistan, Iraq, and Osama bin Laden in passing, only one question - on Libya - was primarily devoted to foreign policy.

Middle East

  • More than 5,000 people demonstrated in Kuwait over potential election law changes.
  • Qatar announced a $254 million plan to modernize the Gaza Strip.
  • Iraq sacked the head of its central bank over allegations of financial wrongdoing.

Africa

  • A U.N. report said Rwanda and Uganda continue to support the M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
  • South Sudan approved a border and oil agreement with Sudan on Tuesday.
  • Fighting between Nigerian troops and Boko Haram killed at least 24 people in the northern city of Maiduguri on Tuesday.

Asia

  • Taliban violence has gradually returned to Bamiyan, long one of the safest provinces in Afghanistan.
  • Japanese police arrested two U.S. sailors on charges of rape.
  • China plans to turn the site where it detonated its first atomic bomb into a tourist attraction.

Europe

  • The EU commissioner for health resigned over allegations that he attempted to influence tobacco legislation.
  • British authorities refused to extradite Gary McKinnon, a hacker accused of infiltrating Pentagon computer networks.
  • Switzerland has frozen roughly $1 billion that is linked to rulers or former rulers in Syria, Libya, Tunisia, and Egypt.

Americas

  • Cuba will eliminate onerous travel restrictions imposed on its citizens since 1961.
  • Colombia's government and FARC rebels will begin peace talks Wednesday in Oslo.
  • The Inter American Press Association said that violence and authoritarianism are the two biggest challenges to the independent press in Latin America. 



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Morning Brief: Peace envoy appeals to Iran for Syria cease-fire

Posted By Ty McCormick Tuesday, October 16, 2012 - 8:54 AM

Top news: Lakhdar Brahimi, the new U.N. and Arab League peace envoy, appealed to top Iranian officials for assistance on Monday to broker a cease-fire in Syria in advance of the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha. Brahimi, who was in Tehran as part of a regional tour, said a temporary cessation of violence could "allow a political process to develop." Iran is Syria's lone regional ally and is thought to be supplying President Bashar al-Assad's forces with weapons and training.

Meanwhile, the EU imposed its toughest round of sanctions yet against Iran in an effort to halt the country's nuclear program. The new measures, which target Iran's banking, industrial, and shipping sectors, represent a significant shift for the EU, which has so far shied away from blanket industry bans on humanitarian grounds.

Benghazi: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told CNN, "I take responsibility" for the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi that left Amb. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans dead last month. Her comments come one day before the second presidential debate and were likely intended to end what has become an embarrassing political debacle for the administration.

Middle East

  • More than 100 inmates escaped from prison in the Libyan capital, Tripoli.
  • Israel announced that it will hold parliamentary elections on January 22, 2013.
  • The United States is speeding up efforts to built an elite Libyan commando force to combat terrorism.

Africa

  • Gunmen attacked infrastructure targets in the Ivory Coast's capital, Abidjan, on Monday.
  • For the third time in four years, the Mo Ibrahim Foundation did not award its multimillion-dollar good-governance prize for African leaders. 
  • Gunmen kidnapped six people, including four aid workers, in central Niger.

Asia

  • UK doctors are hopeful that Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani girl shot by Taliban militants last week, will recover.
  • A member of the Afghan intelligence service killed six people, including two Americans, in an insider attack in a remote outpost in Kandahar.
  • The government of the Philippines signed a framework agreement with the country's largest Muslim rebel group.

Europe

  • The Portuguese government revealed details from its 2013 draft budget, which contains harsh austerity measures.
  • The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia will begin trying its final suspect on Tuesday.
  • EU data regulators have requested that Google change the way it gathers personal information in Europe.

Latin America

  • Argentina sacked its navy chief after creditors seized a naval training ship in Ghana.
  • Mexican authorities raided three college campuses, where students have been protesting curriculum changes.
  • Judges in Argentina convicted three former navy officers of executing prisoners in 1972.



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Morning Brief: Turkey bans Syrian planes from its airspace

Posted By Uri Friedman Monday, October 15, 2012 - 7:56 AM

Top news: Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced a ban on all Syrian aircraft entering his country's airspace on Sunday, a day after Syria's foreign ministry prohibited Turkish civilian planes from flying over its territory. Davutoglu accused the Syrian government of transporting military equipment on civilian planes.

The moves, which underscore the mounting tensions between the neighbors, came after the Turkish military forced a Damascus-bound passenger plane from Moscow to land in Ankara and later claimed that it was carrying Russian munitions -- a charge both Russia and Syria deny. On Monday, Turkey permitted an Armenian plane to continue its flight to the Syrian city of Aleppo after inspecting the aircraft's humanitarian cargo.  

Also on Monday, a spokesman for Lakhdar Brahimi said the U.N. envoy to Syria had appealed to Iranian officials for help in establishing a ceasefire in Syria during a visit to Tehran. The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimates that as many as 200 people were killed in Syria over the weekend.

Pakistan: Malala Yousafzai, the 14-year-old Pakistani activist who was shot by the Taliban last week, has been flown to Britain for emergency care.

Asia

  • The government in the Philippines signed a peace plan with the rebel Moro Islamic Liberation Front. 
  • Cambodia's former King Norodom Sihanouk, who secured the country's independence from French colonial rule, died in Beijing at age 89.
  • Militants killed six security officials in an attack on a police station in the northwestern city of Peshawar.

Africa

  • Gunmen killed at least 24 people in a village in northern Nigeria.
  • Mauritania's president was flown to France for medical treatment after he was shot by soldiers in what he claims was an accident. 
  • There will be no 2012 winner of the Mo Ibrahim prize for good governance in Africa.

Middle East

  • Libya's Congress elected Ali Zidan, a human rights lawyer and former congressman, as interim prime minister.
  • Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy abandoned an effort to remove a prosecutor who has been criticized for acquitting Mubarak-era officials.
  • A series of attacks in northern Iraq left at least six people dead.

Europe

  • Preliminary results from parliamentary elections in Lithuania indicate a defeat for the conservative government.
  • The European Union will impose a new round of sanctions on Iran.
  • Montenegro's ruling alliance will have to form a coalition government after parliamentary elections.

Americas

  • Former U.S. Senator Arlen Specter died of cancer at age 82. 
  • Hundreds of Brazilian policemen conducted drug raids in two Rio de Janeiro slums. 
  • Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner broke the speed of sound by jumping out of a balloon above New Mexico. 



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Morning Brief: European Union wins Nobel Peace Prize

Posted By Joshua Keating Friday, October 12, 2012 - 8:16 AM

Top news: After a year of grim economic news and internal strife, the European Union has been given a vote of confidence by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which awarded it the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize. Committee Chairman Thorbjorn Jagland said the award was for the part the EU played in stabilizing the continent in the wake of World War II and the positive role in played in encouraging the democratization of Eastern and Southern Europe. “The stabilizing part played by the E. U. has helped to transform most of Europe from a continent of war to a continent of peace,” he said. Norway is not a member of the E.U.

EU Commission President Juan Manuel Barroso said on his Twitter feed, "It is a great honour for the whole of the EU, all 500 million citizens, to be awarded the 2012 Nobel Peace prize."

Addressing the EU's recent tensions, Jagland said,  "we want to remind us all what can happen if disintegration starts and if we let extremism and nationalism start growing". He also put the blame for the continent's financial woes squarely on the United States.  “There are many things to say about the economic crisis — where it originated for instance,” he said. “It started in the United States, and we had to deal with it.”

U.S. Election: Congressman Paul Ryan and Vice President Joe Biden clashed on Libya, Iran, and Afghanistan in last night's vice presidential debate.

Middle East

Americas

  • U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned of the possibility of a devastating cyberattack on the United States. 
  • The U.S. has designated El Salvadoran gang MS-13 as a "transnational criminal organization."
  • Guatemala has arrested a colonel and eight soldiers for the killing of protesters during a demonstration last week. 

Asia 

  • The Pakistani schoolgirl shot by the Taliban has been moved to a hospital in a more secure area. 
  • Amnesty International says forced evictions are on the rise in China. 
  • Chinese Nobel Literature Prize winner Mo Yan unexpectedly called for the release of Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo. 

Europe

  • An abortion clinic is due to open in Belfast, the first on the island of Ireland. 
  • The IMF and Germany are split over whether to allow Greece more time to reach its bailout targets. 
  • Seven British Marines have been arrested on suspicion of murder in Afghanistan. 

Africa




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Morning Brief: Turkey intercepts Syrian plane with “illegal cargo”

Posted By Ty McCormick Thursday, October 11, 2012 - 9:08 AM

Top news: Turkish jets intercepted a Syrian Air plane headed from Moscow to Damascus, forcing it to land in Ankara and confiscating what Turkish authorities called "illegal cargo." Russia and Syria both denied the allegations and accused Turkey of endangering the "lives and safety of the passengers." Syria, which has exchanged fire with Turkey in recent days amid heightened tensions, went as far as calling the incident "air piracy." Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu countered with his own statement broadcast from Athens: "We are determined to control weapons transfers to a regime that carries out such brutal massacres against civilians. It is unacceptable that such a transfer is made using our airspace."

The United States, meanwhile, has dispatched a team of military planners to Jordan, in part, to monitor chemical weapons sites inside Syria, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Wednesday. The team, which includes special operations forces, has been working in Jordan for several months, but has recently increased in size.

Libya: At a congressional hearing on Wednesday, the State Department acknowledged that it rejected appeals for additional security in Libya prior to the consular attack that killed Amb. J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans. The Obama administration's handling of the incident also came under fire from congressional Republicans, who believe the president initially downplayed the possibility of al Qaeda involvement for political reasons.  

Middle East

  • An Egyptian court acquitted former government officials accused of orchestrating the so-called "battle of the camels" during the Egyptian revolution in 2011.
  • The partial draft of Egypt's new constitution released on Wednesday would substantially curb presidential powers.
  • Gunmen shot and killed a Yemeni employee at the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa on Thursday.

Africa

  • Sudan's foreign ministry expelled a Norwegian diplomat over spying allegations.
  • A member of South Africa's opposition Democratic Alliance called for an investigation into public spending on road upgrades near President Jacob Zuma's rural home.
  • Striking gold miners in South Africa rejected a wage offer by industry officials.

Asia

  • A U.S. drone strike killed five Pakistani militants in North Waziristan.
  • President Barack Obama nominated Gen. John Allen, currently serving as ISAF commander in Afghanistan, to be the new Supreme Allied Commander in Europe.
  • Two top Chinese officials will not attend meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Tokyo, Japan this week because of the island dispute between the two nations.

Europe

  • Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's cut Spain's credit rating to BBB- on Wednesday.
  • A Moscow court freed one member of the punk band Pussy Riot who was jailed in August. 
  • French investigators said the militant Islamist cell arrested on Saturday was plotting attacks in France.

Americas

  • Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez named former Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro as his new vice president.
  • Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, in jail for crimes committed in office, requested a humanitarian pardon because he is suffering from cancer.
  • Trinidad and Tobago is no longer releasing crime statistics because the government claims reports of violence encouraged people to commit more crime.



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Morning Brief: U.S. military reportedly deploys task force in Jordan

Posted By Uri Friedman Wednesday, October 10, 2012 - 7:25 AM

Top news: As violence continues to rage in Syria -- with a jihadist group claiming responsibility for suicide bombings at an intelligence compound near Damascus earlier this week -- the New York Times, citing unnamed American officials, is reporting that the U.S. military has secretly dispatched a task force of more than 150 "planners and other specialists" to a Jordanian military training center near Amman.

The task force is intended to help the Jordanian military "handle a flood of Syrian refugees, prepare for the possibility that Syria will lose control of its chemical weapons and be positioned should the turmoil in Syria expand into a wider conflict," the Times reports.     

Meanwhile, Turkey, another neighbor of Syria's, has warned that it will respond aggressively if Syrian shells keep falling on Turkish territory. "If it continues, we will make a stronger response," Turkey's top general, Necdet Ozel, declared. The Turkish military fired on Syrian positions for six straight days in retaliation for a Syrian shell that killed five Turkish civilians.  

Pakistan: Malala Yousafzai, a 14-year-old rights activist in Pakistan's Swat Valley, reportedly underwent successful surgery after she was shot in the head by Taliban militants.

Middle East

  • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for early elections next year because of political deadlock over a new budget. 
  • Iraq signed arms contracts with Russia, which is now Baghdad's second-biggest weapons supplier.
  • The International Criminal Court held its first public hearing on how to handle the trial of former Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi's son Saif al-Islam.

Americas

  • Armed men stole the corpse of the leader of the Zetas drug cartel after he was killed by the Mexican Marines. 
  • Brazil's Supreme Court found the chief of staff for former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva guilty of corruption.
  • Abu Hamza al-Masri, the Muslim cleric extradited from Britain to the United States, pleaded not guilty to terrorism charges.

Asia

  • Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard accused the country's opposition leader of sexism in a fiery speech.
  • A U.S. drone strike reportedly killed five suspected militants in the Pakistani tribal region of North Waziristan.
  • The head of China's central bank withdrew from World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings in Japan.

Europe

  • German Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged support for Greece during a visit to Athens that sparked protests.
  • French police discovered weapons and bomb-making materials as part of an investigation into suspected radical Islamists.
  • At a hearing in Moscow, members of the band Pussy Riot defended their protest song and spoke out against their trial. 

Africa

  • Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki rejected an effort by lawmakers to pay themselves bonuses.
  • Congo's former defense minister criticized the charges he's facing over an explosion at an arms depot in March.
  • The South African mining company Gold One fired more than 1,400 striking workers.



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Morning Brief: Turkish president calls Syria "worst case" scenario

Posted By Ty McCormick Tuesday, October 9, 2012 - 8:58 AM

Top news: Following the sixth straight day of cross-border fire between Turkey and Syria, Turkish President Abdullah Gul called on the international community to "take effective action before Syria turns into a bigger wreck." Gul said that "worst-case scenarios" are currently playing out in Syria as the months-long civil war threatens to embroil the region. Meanwhile, the Turkish military moved some 25 warplanes to a military base in Diyarbakir, close to the Syrian border, and sent a convoy of military vehicles including tanks to the town of Akcakale, where Syrian shells have landed in recent days.

In Aleppo, rebel militants carried out a series of suicide bombings on an Air Force intelligence complex overnight. The militant Islamist al-Nusra Front claimed responsibility for the attacks. In a Statement, al-Nusra called the intelligence complex a "citadel of repression" and explained that two car bombs had been used, the second hidden in an ambulance targeting survivors. At least 20,000 Syrians have died since the protests turned violent in March 2011, according to some estimates.

Iran: After last week's riots in Tehran over the plummeting value of the rial, Iranian authorities have instituted strict new regulations on currency trading. Now, only merchants licensed by Iran's Central Bank may exchange rials for foreign currency.

Middle East

  • Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy announced that he will pardon anyone convicted of crimes "committed with the aim of supporting the revolution."
  • Saudi Arabian weapons were reportedly seen at a rebel military base in Aleppo.
  • Pro-government forces shelled the former Qaddafi stronghold of Bani Walid in Libya, killing three.

Africa

  • Nigerian troops reportedly killed 30 civilians in the north-eastern city of Maiduguri.
  • President Armando Guebuza of Mozambique sacked his prime minister on Monday.
  • Leymah Gbowee, a Nobel prize-winning human rights advocate, resigned from Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf's government to protest corruption and nepotism.

Asia

  • Authorities arrested the former Maldives president on charges of ignoring a court summons as well as a travel ban.
  • Vladimir Kozlov, the leader of Kazakhstan's unofficial opposition party, was jailed for attempting to overthrow the government.
  • United States and Philippine marines began 10 days of joint exercises around the northern island of Luzon.

Europe

  • European finance ministers launched the European Stability Mechanism, a permanent new bailout fund for the eurozone, today in Luxembourg.
  • The EU rebranded its green energy campaign with "Worldulike," a new initiative that emphasizes improved quality of life. 
  • Angela Merkel will visit Greece on Tuesday amid expected protests.  

Americas

  • The former leader of the United Self Defence Forces of Colombia, a right-wing paramilitary group, confessed to participating in the 1997 massacre in Mapiripan.
  • Mexican authorities arrested a Zetas cartel leader suspected of massacring 72 migrants and engineering multiple jail breaks.
  • Haiti's prime minister announced a new tax on alcohol, cigarettes, and gambling that will raise $100 million for a special education.



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Morning Brief: Hugo Chavez wins reelection in Venezuela

Posted By Uri Friedman Monday, October 8, 2012 - 8:07 AM

Top news: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez secured a fourth term in office on Sunday, despite a battle with cancer and a formidable challenge from opponent Henrique Capriles Radonski. The country's electoral council has announced that Chavez won 54 percent of the vote while Capriles received 45 percent, with more than 80 percent of registered voters casting ballots. The Venezuelan leader will begin his new six-year term in January.

During a victory speech from the presidential palace in Caracas, Chavez waived a replica of independence hero Simon Bolivar's sword and promised to continue his socialist revolution. "Venezuela will continue along the path of democratic and Bolivarian socialism of the 21st century," he declared. In an apparent acknowledgement of campaign criticism over the blackouts, crime, and inflation afflicting the country, Chavez pledged to "be a better president." 

Capriles, for his part, congratulated Chavez but urged him to recognize the significance of the electoral results. "There's a country that is divided and to be a good president means to work for all Venezuelans," he argued.

Syria: Turkey continued to fire artillery shells into Syria over the weekend in retaliation for a Syrian shell that killed Turkish civilians last week. Syrian security forces are clashing with rebel fighters across the country, from Aleppo to Syria's borders with Jordan and Lebanon. 

Middle East

  • Israel conducted airstrikes in Gaza after Palestinian militants fired rockets and mortar shells into Israel in response to an earlier Israeli strike. 
  • The Libyan Parliament dismissed Prime Minister Mustafa Abu Shagour after he failed to form a cabinet.
  • Kuwait's ruler dissolved the country's deadlocked Parliament.

Asia

  • South Korea and the United States struck a deal that will enable Seoul to increase the range and payload of its ballistic missiles. 
  • The Philippine government announced a peace agreement with a rebel group in the southern island of Mindanao. 
  • Authorities in the Maldives arrested former President Mohamed Nasheed.

Europe

  • John Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka received the Nobel Prize in medicine for their research on stem cells. 
  • Eurozone finance ministers are officially launching a permanent bailout fund known as the European Stability Mechanism. 
  • Georgia's new leader Bidzina Ivanishvili unveiled his cabinet.

Africa

  • Nigerian security forces killed 30 suspected members of the militant group Boko Haram in a raid. 
  • Ivory Coast reopened its borders with Ghana after a cross-border attack.
  • African Union and Somali troops captured the town of Wanla Weyn from the Islamist group al-Shabab.

Americas

  • SpaceX sent its first NASA-contracted cargo ship to the International Space Station.
  • A new House Intelligence Committee report will urge American companies not to do business with China's top technology firms. 
  • The Islamist cleric Abu Hamza appeared in a U.S. court after his extradition from the United Kingdom.



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Morning Brief: FBI agents arrive in Benghazi

Posted By Joshua Keating Friday, October 5, 2012 - 8:38 AM

Top story: FBI agents, accompanied by Special Operations forces, arrived at the ruins of the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi on Thursday. The agents are reportedly specialists in evidence collection and will look for clues to determine how precisely the attack that killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans unfolded, but it's unclear how much they will be able to find as the site has been badly degraded over the past three weeks. The Washington Post and CNN, for instance, have already uncovered sensitive documents from the wreckage, which has also been picked over by looters. 

Administration officials have blamed the delay on the Libyan governments, which they say was slow in granting approval for the mission. However, some officials say it took nearly three weeks for the State Department to request military protection for the agents. 

The U.S. is said to be planning operations to capture or kill the militants involved in the attack. A Turkish television station is reporting today that two suspects tied to the attack were arrested at the Istanbul airport, but the report has not yet been confirmed. 

Economy: World stock markets are rising on better-than-expected U.S. numbers ahead of a highly-anticipated jobs report this morning. 

Middle East

Europe

  • British judges are set to rule on the extradition of five men -- including cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri -- to the United States. 
  • Greece's prime minister says he can't manage beyond November without the next tranche of international aid. 
  • Members of the victorious Georgian Dream coalition are demanding a recount in a dozen regional elections in hopes of increasing their parliamentary majority. 
Asia

Americas

Africa




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Morning Brief: Turkey hits Syria after mortar sails over border

Posted By Ty McCormick Thursday, October 4, 2012 - 8:48 AM

Top news: The Turkish military shelled targets inside Syria on Wednesday after a Syrian mortar round killed five Turkish civilians. The attacks were the most serious indication that Syria's civil war could spill into neighboring countries and the worst cross-border escalation of the months-long crisis.

NATO, of which Turkey is a member, convened an emergency meeting after the exchange and issued a statement strongly condemning Syria's "flagrant violations of international law" and reaffirming the alliance's intention to stand behind Turkey.

Elsewhere in Syria, violence escalated as suicide bombers struck targets in Aleppo, killing dozens of people. The blasts, which struck government-owned hotels and a public square, were claimed by Jabhet al-Nusra, an insurgent group affiliated with Al Qaeda.

Election 2012: President Obama and Mitt Romney sparred over the economy in the first presidential debate. Romney delivered a stronger-than-expected performance.

Middle East

  • Riot police clashed with protesters in Tehran over the plunging Iranian rial.
  • Tribesman blew up the main electricity pylons in Sanaa, leaving Yemen's capital city without power.
  • An explosion at an arms depot in eastern Lebanon killed three Hezbollah militants.

Africa

  • Four Nigerian peacekeepers were killed in an ambush in the Darfur region of Sudan.
  • Labor unrest reached new heights in South Africa as wildcat strikes spread to the iron ore sector.
  • Militants barricaded the office of Zimbabwe's finance minister to protest austerity measures.

Asia

  • India's finance minister promised additional reforms to combat corruption.
  • A controversial cybercrime law went into effect in the Philippines, fueling anti-censorship protests.
  • A Chinese firm filed a lawsuit against President Obama for blocking a deal to open a wind farm in Oregon.

Europe

  • Portugal's largest trade union called for strikes following the government's announcement of new austerity measures.
  • Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy plans to run again in 2017, according to a French newspaper.
  • A new draft report from the European Commission said that "practically all" of Europe's nuclear reactors need safety upgrades or repairs.

Americas

  • Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos is recovering well after undergoing surgery for prostate cancer, according to his medical team.
  • The Argentine government replaced top coast guard and military police officials following a two-day protest over inadequate wages.
  • A Honduras court ruled that privately run cities would be unconstitutional, threatening an ongoing project to create them. 



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Morning Brief: Suicide bombings rock Aleppo

Posted By Uri Friedman Wednesday, October 3, 2012 - 8:25 AM

Top news: Three suicide bombers killed more than 30 people by detonating car bombs near a military officers' club in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on Wednesday, according to the Associated Press, with another explosion taking place near Aleppo's Chamber of Commerce. 

Aleppo, Syria's commercial center, has not experienced many suicide attacks during the Syrian conflict, though it has been the scene of intense fighting ever since rebel fighters launched an offensive against government forces there last week. State-run news outlets are covering the carnage and destruction extensively today.

Earlier this week, the Lebanese Islamist group Hezbollah reported that one of its commanders, Ali Hussein Nassif, had been killed "performing his jihadist duty," amid speculation that he died in Syria fighting alongside Syrian forces.    

Libya: As the Obama administration continues to face questions over its handling of the deadly attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command is reportedly working with the CIA and the Pentagon to collect information on the suspects in the incident for possible use in kill or capture operations.

Europe

  • Spain's regional governments agreed to honor budget deficit targets established by the central government. 
  • Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili conceded defeat after parliamentary elections.
  • Pope Benedict XVI's former butler admitted to leaking confidential documents in testimony to a Vatican tribunal.

Americas

  • A new congressional report concludes that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's "fusion centers" have failed to gather helpful intelligence.
  • A U.S. Border Patrol agent was killed in a shooting in Arizona near the Mexican border.
  • The United Nations predicted that economic growth in Latin America will slow in 2012.

Asia

  • Police in Hong Kong arrested crew members after a deadly boat collision. 
  • The Asian Development Bank trimmed its growth forecast for Asia for 2012 and 2013. 
  • More than two million factory workers launched a one-day strike in Indonesia.

Africa

  • An attack at a college in northeastern Nigeria killed at least 25 people.
  • The Ivory Coast launched the first trial relating to the country's post-election violence last year.

Middle East

  • Iranian police reportedly dispersed people protesting the collapsing rial in Tehran, as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad blamed the falling currency on the country's enemies.  
  • Police and protesters clashed in Bahrain after the funeral of a man who was imprisoned after last year's demonstrations. 
  • Kuwait's cabinet requested the dissolution of a deadlocked parliament. 



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Morning Brief: U.S. no longer seeking Taliban peace deal

Posted By Ty McCormick Tuesday, October 2, 2012 - 8:47 AM

Top news: Top U.S. military officials acknowledged that they no longer expect to reach a negotiated settlement with the Taliban, one of the cornerstones of the U.S. exit strategy in Afghanistan. American commanders have long said they would not fight their way out of the war, but the failure to begin meaningful talks with the Taliban has necessitated an adjustment of American priorities, according to the New York Times. American officials now say they aim only to lay the groundwork for future peace talks among Afghans once coalition forces leave in 2014.

The revelation comes on the heels of the 38th "insider attack" by Afghan forces on their NATO counterparts this year, bringing the number of so-called "green-on-blue" deaths during the same period to 52 and the total number of U.S. military deaths in Afghanistan to 2,000 since 2001.

Syrian crisis: Fighting broke out in the Old City in Aleppo as rebels launched a fresh campaign to take control of the city. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 100 people were killed countrywide on Monday. Meanwhile, Syria's foreign minister, speaking at the U.N. General Assembly, accused the United States, France, Turkey, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia of supporting "terrorism" by backing rebel fighters.

Middle East

  • The Iranian rial plunged to an all-time-low against the U.S dollar on Monday.
  • Doctors in Egypt began a partial strike on Monday to protest inadequate funding for public hospitals.
  • Yemen's defence ministry denied that the solders reportedly being held by Syrian rebels were sent to aid President Bashar al-Assad.

Africa

  • The leader of the militant Islamist group Boko Haram denied his organization is in talks with the Nigerian government.
  • Somali and African Union troops entered the Somali port city of Kismayo.
  • The leader of the Mend militant group, responsible for numerous attacks in the Niger Delta, went on trial in South Africa on Monday.

Asia

  • A North Korean minister criticized the United States' "hostile" policy toward his country, saying the peninsula was a "spark" away from nuclear war.
  • A boat collision off Lamma Island in Hong Kong left at least 36 people dead.
  • The Japanese prime minister reshuffled his cabinet for the third time this year.

Europe

  • Both the governing party and the opposition claimed victory in Georgia's parliamentary elections.
  • The Greek government proposed $10 billion worth of savings and spending cuts in its 2013 draft budget.
  • Eurozone unemployment reached a new high of 18.2 million in August, according to the EU statistics agency.

Americas

  • Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos announced he will undergo surgery for prostate cancer on Wednesday.
  • Mexican leftists freed 80 prisoners in Chiapas after losing a local election.
  • The FARC, Colombia's largest rebel group, postponed negotiations with the government for one week.



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Morning Brief: U.S. casualties in Afghanistan reach 2,000 amid new attacks

Posted By Uri Friedman Monday, October 1, 2012 - 8:42 AM

Top news: A suicide bomber dressed in an Afghan police uniform killed three NATO soldiers and at least a dozen Afghan police officers and civilians in the southeastern town of Khost on Monday. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which occurred while Afghan and NATO forces were participating in a foot patrol.

The bombing comes shortly after an altercation in Wardak Province between U.S. and Afghan troops left two Americans and three Afghans dead. The New York Times notes that while Afghan officials have characterized the clash as a misunderstanding, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force initially called the incident "a suspected insider attack." Attacks by Afghan police or soldiers (or insurgents disguised as Afghan security forces) have killed more than 50 coalition forces this year.

The violence coincided with a grim milestone in the 11-year-old war over the weekend, as U.S. military casualties hit 2,000. More than 1,000 coalition troops have also died in the conflict. 

Libya: New reports in the Washington Post and the New York Times indicate that U.S. officials underestimated the security threat facing American personnel in Libya prior to the deadly attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi. "They had not reinforced the U.S. diplomatic outpost there to meet strict safety standards for government buildings overseas," the Post notes. "Nor had they posted a U.S. Marine detachment, as at other diplomatic sites in high-threat regions."

Middle East

  • A wave of bombings across Iraq killed at least 26 people, contributing to the deadliest month in the country in more than two years.
  • Bahrain's highest court upheld jail sentences for nine medics convicted of involvement in protests last year.
  • An Iranian jury found Reuters guilty of spreading "false information" in a report on martial arts students. 

Europe

  • Georgians are voting in contentious parliamentary elections.
  • Unemployment in the eurozone rose to a new high of 18.2 million in August. 
  • A court in Moscow postponed a Pussy Riot hearing after a band member expressed a desire to dismiss her lawyers.

Americas

  • At least two supporters of the opposition candidate in Venezuela's upcoming presidential election were fatally shot during a confrontation with Hugo Chavez supporters.
  • The economist Paul Romer has withdrawn from an effort to create a charter city in Honduras.
  • The United States transferred the youngest inmate at the Guantanamo Bay prison to Canada. 

Asia

  • Pakistani officials say a suspected U.S. missile strike in North Waziristan killed two men.
  • Bangladesh blamed Muslim Rohingyas from Myanmar for attacks on temples and homes in Buddhist areas of the country.
  • A Cambodian court imprisoned the journalist Mam Sonando for inciting rebellion.

Africa

  • A grenade attack on a church in Kenya's capital killed a nine-year-old boy.
  • The South African government launched a judicial inquiry into deadly unrest at the Marikana mine. 
  • An election monitoring group in Zimbabwe suggested that Robert Mugabe's call for elections in March is not realistic.



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Morning Brief: Netanyahu draws a line for Iran as Abbas launches scaled-back statehood bid

Posted By Joshua Keating Friday, September 28, 2012 - 8:35 AM

Top news:  In his speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dramatically illustrated his commitment to keeping Iran from building a nuclear weapon by drawing a literal red line through a cartoon bomb. But in practice, Netanyahu may actually have softened his position by indicating that Iran would have enough enriched uranium to build a nuclear bomb "by next spring, at most by next summer at current enrichment rates." This seemed to indicate that Israel is not planning a military strike on Iran this year, and not before the U.S. presidential election in November. 

While Netanyahu has openly clashed with the Obama administration over Iran in recent days, he praised the president's warning to Iran in his own UNGA speech, saying “I very much appreciate the president’s position, as does everyone in my country.”

Iran dismissed the allegations that it is seeking a nuclear weapon as “baseless and absurd”. Thursday also brought a report from the Israeli Foreign Ministry that international sanctions are having a much more damaging effect on Iran's economy than previously thought. 

Netanyahu barely mentioned the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in his speech, but Thursday also saw Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas launch a renewed bid for U.N. recognition. This time, Abbas is seeking for Palestine to be accorded the status of "non-member state,"  like the Vatican, after a big for full membership failed last year. Abbas also warned that the expansion of Israeli settlements on the West Bank is threatening the last chance for a two-state solution.

China: Former official Bo Xilai has been expelled from the Communist Party and may face criminal charges. The party appears poised to make final decisions on its leadership transition. 

Asia

Africa

  • Kenya claims to have captured the last Al Shabaab stronghold in Somalia.  
  • Sudan and South Sudan signed a long-awaited accord, by key issues including the disputed Abyei region are still unresolved. 
  • U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tied the attack that killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya to the establishment of an al Qaeda safe haven in Northern Mali. 

Middle East

Europe

Americas




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Morning Brief: Activists report bloody day in Syria

Posted By Uri Friedman Thursday, September 27, 2012 - 8:20 AM

Top news: According to the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, more than 300 people were killed across Syria on Wednesday in one of the bloodiest days of the 18-month conflict, which the Observatory says has claimed 30,000 lives so far. The grim report comes as the U.N.'s refugee agency estimates that as many as 700,000 people could flee Syria by the end of the year -- nearly four times its previous forecast.

As the violence escalates in Syria, world leaders have been debating how to respond to the crisis at the U.N. General Assembly in New York. A day after U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and U.S. President Barack Obama addressed the conflict, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy characterized the fighting as the "tragedy of the age" and Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi called for "peaceful change and transfer of power through ballot boxes."   

Early on Wednesday, a pair of car bombs at Syria's army headquarters in Damascus -- and ensuing gun battles in the capital -- killed at least five people, including an Iranian television correspondent.

Myanmar sanctions: During a meeting with Myanmar's President U Thein Sein in New York on Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that the United States will ease a ban on imports from Myanmar as part of a larger scaling back of sanctions in response to the country's reforms. The action comes as Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi tours the United States. 

Americas

  • Mexico's navy announced the capture of a top Zetas drug trafficker known as "El Taliban." 
  • U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suggested that an al Qaeda affiliate in North Africa played a role in the deadly attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi. 
  • Clashes between the military and a criminal gang in southwestern Mexico left 11 people dead.

Africa

  • The leaders of Sudan and South Sudan struck a border security deal that will restart oil exports.
  • Court papers indicate that Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is planning to hold elections in March 2013.   
  • The South African politician Julius Malema appeared in court to face a money-laundering charge. 

Europe

  • The Spanish government prepared to unveil new austerity measures amid anti-austerity protests.
  • Germany's Justice Ministry distributed a proposal for regulating circumcisions. 
  • The U.K. economy contracted by less than expected in the second quarter.

Asia

  • New Zealand's prime minister apologized to Kim Dotcom following revelations that the government illegally spied on the Megaupload founder.
  • Chinese artist Ai Weiwei lost another effort to challenge a tax evasion fine in court.
  • Japan's main opposition party, the Liberal Democratic Party, selected Shinzo Abe as its new leader.

Middle East

  • Iranian authorities jailed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's top press aide for publishing offensive material while the Iranian president was away in New York. 
  • A court in Bahrain sentenced activist Zainab al-Khawaja to two months in prison.
  • Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused Western powers of nuclear "intimidation."



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Morning Brief: Rebels bomb military headquarters in Damascus

Posted By Ty McCormick Wednesday, September 26, 2012 - 8:55 AM

Top news: Rebels bombed the Army General Command in Damascus early Wednesday morning in what was the second day of heavy bombing in the capital. Yesterday, rebels struck a schoolhouse they said was being used by Assad's soldiers and pro-government militias, though official and rebel accounts diverge sharply. Meanwhile, fighting in the south spilled over into the Golan Heights when several mortars sailed across the border. Israel said it believed the shelling was accidental, but has filed a complaint with the U.N. peacekeeping force that patrols the border nonetheless.

At the United Nations, Syria remained the focus as Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for international action to halt the killing. Syria has become a "regional calamity with global ramifications," he said. "The international community should not look the other way as violence spirals out of control." In his speech, however, President Obama did not offer anything new on Syria, saying only, "we must remain engaged to assure that what began with citizens demanding their rights does not end in a cycle of sectarian violence."

Environment: A report commissioned by 20 governments predicts that more than 100 million people will die and global economic growth will be slashed by 3.2 percent by 2030 if the world fails to act on climate change. According to the report, 90 percent of deaths are expected to occur in developing countries.

Middle East

  • A report from Save the Children detailed torture and imprisonment of children in Syria.
  • Kuwait's highest court rejected the government's bid to rewrite election rules ahead of the country's parliamentary contest.
  • The Qatari emir called on Arab nations to intervene in Syria to end the civil war.

Africa

  • Kenyan teachers ended a three-week strike after the government agreed to raise their salaries.
  • Rebels from the Central African Republic attacked a border post in Cameroon, killing three people.
  • Kenyan forces bombed the airport and armory in the Somali port city of Kismayo, one of the last Al-Shabab strongholds.

Asia

  • China's defense ministry announced that its first aircraft carrier is in service.
  • A new report from Stanford and NYU found that the use of drones in Pakistan "terrorizes" civilians and may not serve U.S. security interests.  
  • Japan's main opposition party, the Liberal Democratic Party, will select its new leader on Wednesday.

Europe

  • More than a dozen anti-austerity protesters were injured in clashes with Spanish police.
  • Greek trade unions called for a general walkout on Wednesday to protest planned spending cuts.
  • French President Francois Hollande called on the U.N. to enforce "liberated zones" in Syria.

Americas

  • A judge ordered the arrest of Google's president in Brazil over controversial Youtube videos. 
  • Argentina's president dismissed the IMF's threat of sanctions over the country's questionable economic figures.
  • Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez leads Henrique Capriles by 10 points heading into the country's Oct. 7 presidential election.



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Morning Brief: U.N. special envoy says Syrian crisis could destabilize region

Posted By Ty McCormick Tuesday, September 25, 2012 - 8:50 AM

Top news: The Syrian conflict was at the top of the agenda at the U.N. General Assembly meeting on Monday as Lakhdar Brahimi, the new U.N. special envoy to Syria, expressed concern that the crisis is deepening and could destabilize the region. "I think there is no disagreement anywhere that the situation in Syria is extremely bad and getting worse, that it is a threat to the region and a threat to peace and security in the world," he told reporters after closed-door briefings.

Prospects for a political settlement remain deadlocked with little chance of progress "today or tomorrow," according to Brahimi. He said he is crafting a new peace plan to replace the failed six-point plan proposed by Kofi Annan.

Meanwhile, fear that the violence in Syria will spill over into Iraq prompted Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to deploy guards to the western border in order to prevent adult men from crossing in from Syria. For months, Iraqi militants appeared to be travelling in the other direction to join the forces opposing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, but now Iraqi officials are concerned that the porous border could become the staging ground for a two-front Sunni insurgency.  

United Nations: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in New York for the U.N. General Assembly, said he was not concerned about the possibility of an Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear facilities. "Fundamentally we do not take seriously the threats of the Zionists," he said, adding that the Jewish state would eventually be "eliminated." The White House dismissed Ahmadinejad's remarks as "disgusting, offensive and outrageous."

Middle East

  • Thousands protested in Kuwait ahead of a court decision that could weaken the standing of opposition candidates in the next parliamentary election.
  • Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak proposed a unilateral Israeli withdrawal from most of the West Bank in the even that peace talks fail.
  • An Egyptian court sentenced 14 militants to death for the Sinai attacks that left 16 border guards dead in August.

Africa

  • The Nigerian government killed 35 suspected members of Boko Haram and detained 60 others following Sunday's attack on a Catholic church.  
  • Talks between the presidents of Sudan and South Sudan will continue Tuesday as the two countries attempt to reach a security agreement.
  • The Kenyan army confirmed that a Kenyan Amisom soldier killed six civilians in Somalia.

Asia

  • Taiwanese ships entered territorial waters surrounding the disputed Diaoyu islands in the East China Sea.
  • Chinese and Japanese officials held talks Tuesday on the disputed islands in the East China Sea.
  • A judicial panel acquitted Afghanistan's security chief of corruption charges.

Americas

  • Mexican authorities arrested 35 police officers on suspicion of having links to a powerful drug cartel.
  • The IMF threatened to impose sanctions on Argentina if its government does not produce reliable data on growth and inflation.
  • A report by Mexico's human rights commission found that 60 percent of the country's prisons are controlled by inmates. 

Europe

  • The European Court of Human Rights approved the extradition of five major terrorism suspects from the UK to the United States.
  • International monitors cited widespread repression and abuse in Belarus's parliamentary election.
  • EU officials are struggling to reach an agreement on the EU's next multi-annual budget.



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Morning Brief: Police chief in Bo Xilai scandal sentenced to jail

Posted By Uri Friedman Monday, September 24, 2012 - 7:25 AM

Top news: On Monday, a Chinese court in Chengdu sentenced Wang Lijun, the former police chief who exposed a murder scandal involving top politician Bo Xilai and his wife Gu Kailai after fleeing to a U.S. consulate in February, to 15 years in prison. Xinhua, China's state-run news agency, reported that the court found Wang guilty of "bending the law for selfish ends, defection, abuse of power and bribe-taking" and that Wang would not appeal the sentence.

The verdict comes shortly after Gu received a suspended death sentence for murdering the British businessman Neil Heywood, and as China prepares for a leadership transition this fall.

As Reuters notes, the Xinhua report also mentions that Wang received a "lighter" sentence because he helped expose "serious offenses committed by others" -- suggesting that Chinese authorities may soon deal with Bo. Chongqing's former Communist Party chief has not been seen in public since the murder scandal came to light.

Syria: At an officially sanctioned opposition meeting in Damascus on Sunday, activists called for a ceasefire, the withdrawal of the Syrian Army from towns and cities, and a peaceful power transfer. The Syrian crisis will be at the top of the agenda during this week's U.N. General Assembly in New York.  

Middle East

  • Libya's interim government ordered unauthorized militias to disband and withdraw from military facilities and public property. 
  • In an interview ahead of the U.N. General Assembly, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad discussed nuclear talks and Israeli threats to attack Iran's nuclear facilities.
  • A militant group in Egypt's North Sinai claimed responsibility for an attack that killed an Israeli soldier last week.

Asia

  • A Vietnamese court convicted three bloggers for criticizing corruption, human rights abuses, and the country's foreign policy. 
  • The Pakistani government distanced itself from a minister's offer of a bounty for the filmmaker behind an anti-Islam video produced in the United States.
  • Foxconn Technology shuttered a plant in China after police subdued a riot at the facility. 

Africa

  • The leaders of Sudan and South Sudan held direct talks in Ethiopia.
  • A suicide bomber killed at least two people in an attack on a church in northern Nigeria.
  • Gunmen killed a member of Somalia's new parliament in Mogadishu.

Europe

  • Preliminary results from parliamentary elections in Belarus indicate that opposition parties didn't secure a single seat. 
  • Business optimism in Germany fell for a fifth straight month.
  • The German company Siemens denied Iranian allegations that it planted explosives in nuclear equipment sent to Iran. 

Americas

  • Gunmen killed a human rights lawyer outside a wedding in Honduras. 
  • Canada and Britain will announce a plan to create joint diplomatic missions overseas.
  • The Argentine government issued a deadline for the opposition media company Grupo Clarin to sell most of its broadcast stations.



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