Morning Brief, Friday, June 6

Americas

MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty

Yesterday's big news: New Mexico Sen. Pete Domenici, a Republican, broke with President Bush and called for a withdrawal of most U.S. troops in line with the Iraq Study Group's recommendations.

Indian technology firms are hiring thousands of employees ... in the United States. But the trend is still going the other way: I.B.M., for instance, has hired 50,000 Indian workers since 2002, while its U.S. workforce declined.

Asia

Indian doctors fear it will be harder for them to work abroad after recent allegations that three Indian doctors were involved in terrorism in Britain. 

Amateur Japanese investors are getting into the yen carry trade in a major way, betting against their own currency. The yen hit a record low against the euro on Thursday.

Is NATO killing more Afghan civilians than the Taliban? 

Pakistani security forces are moving in for the final raid on an extremist mosque in Islamabad. The extremists are choosing "martyrdom" over surrender. And did Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf just survive another assassination attempt?

Europe

As new details emerge about the plotters, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown says that investigators are "getting to the bottom" of the recent failed bombing attempts in London and Glasgow.

Bird flu hits France.

Half of all Iraqi refugees fleeing to Europe choose Sweden. 

Middle East

Sunnis in Iraq's Diyala province are turning to U.S. troops for protection from al Qaeda. In Baghdad, the attacks on civilians just keep coming.

With the release of BBC reporter Alan Johnston, Hamas has delivered the message that it is the power to be dealt with in Gaza. But Israel stepped up attacks on Hamas militants in the Gaza strip yesterday, killing 11 Palestinians.

Elsewhere

Kidnappers seized a three-year-old British girl in Nigeria. Kidnapping for ransom is particularly common in the West African country.

Why are gray whales getting so skinny? Could it be global warming?

The price of oil surges to over $75 per barrel. 

Today's Agenda

• The folks in Pamplona, Spain, are gearing up for Saturday's running of the bulls as the festival of San Fermin gets underway.
• Al Gore's Live Earth concerts begin in Sydney, Australia, before spreading westward.

Yesterday on Passport

• In sign of what's to come, Domenici bails on Bush
• Lula urges everyone to plant little "oil plants" to produce energy
• Enrique Iglesias invades Syria