Morning Brief, Friday, August 24

Middle East

AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty

Humanitarian groups say that the U.S. troop surge has been accompanied by a surge in internally displaced Iraqis.

The latest National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq paints a very dark picture of the country and its political leaders. Key U.S. Sen. John Warner is now calling on President Bush to begin withdrawing troops by Christmas, though the senator does not support congressional legislation mandating that he do so.

U.S. retailers evince little interest in buying Iraqi products, despite encouragement from the Pentagon.

Europe

Local police in Chechnya killed Rustam Basayev, one of the last prominent rebel leaders. But in nearby Dagestan, insurgents ambushed and killed several police officers. 

Germans love Angela Merkel, whose latest approval rating is an astonishing 75 percent.

Gazprom is looking at new pipeline routes to Europe. 

Asia

People in Vietnam aren't happy with President Bush's reading of history.

Military authorities in Bangladesh are trying to restore calm after three days of student riots.

South Korea is boosting its aid to the flood-plagued North. 

Top Chinese banks revealed major exposure to the subprime mortgage mess. 

Elsewhere

Due to the turmoil in the financial markets, many analysts are scaling back their estimates for economic growth. 

An new EU report expresses no confidence in the outcome of Nigeria's most recent presidential elections. 

Today's Agenda

• Ukraine celebrates its independence from the Soviet Union.
• Turkey's parliament begins a new round of voting, since the last round failed to produce the  two-thirds majority required to elect a new president.

Yesterday on Passport

• How long can Musharraf hang on?
• Refighting Vietnam
• Where there is pizza, there's the Mafia?