Morning Brief, Tuesday, July 31

Middle East

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Iraqi lawmakers are going on vacation after failing to accomplish, well, anything of substance. They're due to return on Sep. 4. Iraqi Kurds are particularly upset that a list of eligible voters for the Kirkuk referendum was not completed.

Top U.S. officials fired back after Tehran criticized proposed U.S. arms deals in the Gulf and Israel. Congressional critics of the deal are keeping their powder dry until they return from their own vacation.

Europe

Subprime strikes again: The cost of credit insurance is going up rapidly in both Europe and the United States.

The European Union is demanding that a U.S. visa waiver program apply equally to all EU citizens.

Russian prosecutors are seeking the arrest of Boris Berezovsky, a dissident Russian tycoon who has lived in Britain since fleeing Russia in 2000.

Asia 

Hosting U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson for the "strategic economic dialogue," Chinese officials said their country continues to be poor despite years of rapid growth. So what's all the fuss?

Afghan police found the body of the second South Korean hostage to be killed by the Taliban. 

A top Japanese official said his country regrets a resolution that passed the U.S. House of Representatives yesterday regarding the Japanese military's role in sex slavery during WWII.

Southeast Asian countries agreed to set up a regional human rights group, but the devil's in the details.

Elsewhere

Brazil's government, usually content to point the finger at more developed countries, seems more willing than in the past to discuss ways it can help prevent or slow climate change.

USA Today finds a disconnect between the falling cost of gasoline and rising prices for crude. 

Do U.S. nuclear plants require billions of dollars in federal loan guarantees? 

Today's Agenda

•  At midnight tonight, the British Army formally ceases its operations in Northern Ireland.

Yesterday on Passport

• Koran desecration arrest flushes away free speech
• What's wrong with this foreign policy?
• The sperm donors Chinese women want most