Morning Brief: Market bombing kills 80 in Peshawar; U.N. officials targeted in Kabul

Top story: A pair of brutal terrorist attacks on Wednesday highlighted the increasing ability of Taliban militants to carry out major operations, despite crackdowns in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

A car bomb tore through a crowded market in Peshawar, killing at least 80 people. The bombing was in roughly the same area as another that killed dozens earlier this month, but today's attack involved three times the amount of explosives as the earlier attack. Intelligence officials say that there had been rumors of two cars packed with explosives being the in city the day before. 

The attack came just hours after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Islamabad to reaffirm U.S. support for Pakistan's crackdown on the Taliban, particularly the recent offensive in South Waziristan. Referring to the planners of the Peshawar bombing, Clinton said, "They know they are on the losing side of history. But they are determined to take as many lives with them as their movement is finally exposed for the nihilistic, empty effort it is."

In Afghanistan, meanwhile, Taliban gunmen broke into a guesthouse in central Kabul killing six U.N. employees and two Afghan security guards. Many of the U.N. employees staying in the guesthouse were working to prepare for Afghanistan's presidential runoff on Nov. 7. In taking responsibility for the attack, a Taliban spokesman said, "We have already informed that anyone who works for the second round will be targeted."

EU Presidency: The race to be EU president is heating up with Luxembourg's prime minister joining the race as well as Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy planning to discuss Tony Blair's candidacy.