Morning Brief, Tuesday, August 28

Asia

JUNG YEON-JE/AFP/Getty Images

The Taliban promised to release all 19 remaining South Korean hostages.

Pervez Musharraf may resign as army chief of staff in exchange for remaining president for five more years, Pakistan's Dawn newspaper reports. Already, a cabinet minister has resigned in protest of Musharraf's dual role.

The United States wants Taiwan to cancel its plans for a referendum on joining the United Nations.

Middle East

Investigators are probing a massive ring of fraud and illegal kickbacks related to weapons supplies in Iraq.

The U.S. military says a joint U.S.-Iraqi operation killed 33 insurgents north of Baghdad.

Hundreds of Hamas militants are training in places like Iran, Israel's deputy chief of staff says. 

Europe

French President Nicolas Sarkozy warned that Iran risks military attack because of its nuclear program. (The IAEA reports that Iran has settled the plutonium issue.)

Wildfires in Greece threaten to engulf the Greek government in political controversy. The EU, for its part, is sending aid.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown rejected the idea of setting a timetable for the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq. 

Elsewhere 

Miners in South Africa claim to have found the world's biggest diamond, though skeptics say it's an implausible find.

Some savvy investors are making money amid the subprime mortgage mess. 

U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar and ex-Sen. Sam Nunn renewed their push to lock up the former Soviet Union's loose nukes.

Today's Agenda

• The $2.4 billion, Vegas-style "Venetian" resort and casino opens in Macao.
• Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, a former Islamist, will likely be elected president of Turkey.
• Remember Manuel Noriega? Panama's former strongman is back in court, where he faces French extradition charges.
• Israel's Ehud Olmert and the Palestinian Authority's Mahmoud Abbas are meeting in Jerusalem to talk about an upcoming peace conference.

Yesterday on Passport

• Holy See takes to the holy skies
• Can the leopard change his spots?
• This just in: Osama bin Laden hates America, Pepsi