Morning Brief, Monday, July 9

Middle East

STR/AFP

Republican support for the war in Iraq is crumbling, White House officials fear, in advance of a September 15 progress report by U.S. Gen. David Petraeus. Yet the editors of the New York Times have already made up their minds: They say it's time to go.

A suicide truck bomb killed some 150 Iraqis in a mostly Turkmen village in northern Iraq.

Why is the Iranian government building tunnels near its uranium enrichment facility?

Asia

With an eye toward competitor South Korea, Japan is considering a free-trade agreement with the United States, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The United States is seeking ways to negotiate a formal end to the Korean War by the end of 2007. (Summary here.)

Can you go a whole year without using any Chinese products? 

Europe

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is pushing for a Frenchman (and a prominent Socialist, to the party's chagrin) to succeed Rodrigo de Rato as managing director of the International Monetary Fund. He also wants EU finance ministers to OK a tax-reduction package that would violate the EU's deficit-spending rules.

Alastair Campbell, former press secretary for Tony Blair, reveals in his new book, "All of us [...] had had pretty severe moments of doubt" about the Iraq War, but Blair did not.

The "Seven New Wonders of the World" were announced Saturday in Portugal, and they include a giant statue of Jesus that was erected in 1931.

Elsewhere 

Boeing unveiled its much-touted 787 Dreamliner, a fuel-efficient jet made of composite materials.

Demand for windmills is outstripping supply. 

A quarter of the top jobs at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security remain vacant. 

Today's Agenda

• Representatives from the world's 50 least-developed countries are gathering in Istanbul, Turkey, for a two-day conference on the topic, "Making globalization work for the LDCs."
• U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson heads to Brazil, Uruguay and Chile for a week-long tour to discuss development and fighting poverty. Defense Secretary Robert Gates had to cancel his own trip to the region in order to work on a report about Iraq.
• The first Global Forum on Migration and Development kicks off in Brussels.
• Rasim Delic, ex-leader of Bosnia's Muslim Army, goes on trial at The Hague.
• Workers at Chile's third-largest copper mine plan to go on strike.
• It's the 650th birthday of Prague's famous Charles Bridge.