Morning Brief, Thursday, July 12

Middle East

MOHAMMED SAWAF/AFP

A forthcoming White House report on Iraq shows mixed progress on political and military benchmarks set by the U.S. Congress. (Handy New York Times summary chart here.) Last fall, CIA chief Michael Hayden told the Iraq Study Group that "the inability of the government to govern seems irreversible," so it should be no surprise that PM Nuri al-Maliki's team can't get its act together.

Are the Iraqi police helping to kill Americans? 

Hamas gunmen killed an Israeli soldier for the first time in nine months. 

Europe

The euro is hitting record highs against the dollar amid fears of a U.S. slowdown.

The hottest trend in Poland right now? Jewish culture. 

The pope's comment that faiths other than Catholicism suffer "defects" is not winning him plaudits among Protestants. 

Asia

Al Qaeda is getting stronger, U.S. intelligence officials say in a new report entitled "Al-Qaida Better Positioned to Strike the West" that highlight's the organization's growing strength in Pakistan.

A cleric who was caught escaping Islamabad's Red Mosque in a burqa conducted funeral prayers for his brother, whom Pakistani commandos killed when they stormed the radical mosque. 

North Korea received its first shipment of heavy fuel oil from South Korea as part of the deal made regarding its nuclear program.

Elsewhere

Lady Bird Johnson, former U.S. first lady, is dead at 94. 

Scientists discovered water vapor on a planet 64 light-years distant.

The price of oil rose again to over $76 a barrel. 

Today's Agenda

• The White House releases its report on progress in Iraq.
• Bill Cosby turns 70.

Yesterday on Passport

• Masterful timing by the WSJ editorial page
• Young Americans couldn't care less about Iraq
• Harry Houdini found in Uganda