Morning Brief

Middle East

• Jordan's King dissolved the country's parliament and called for early elections. 
• A poll official says Iraq is unlikely to hold an election in January. 
• Yemeni rebels are carrying out new raids into Saudi territory. 

Asia

• Pakistan claims to have killed 18 militants in a new offensive against al Qaeda and the Taliban in the northwestern Bara region. 
• Indian Prime Minister Mahmohan Singh will make an official state visit to Washington today. 
• China executed two people for involvement in a tainted milk scandal. 

Europe

• The British government began public hearings into pre-Iraq war intelligence.
• Two Russian officials were found beheaded in the North Caucasus. 
• A French warship has docked in St. Petersburg to show off its capabilities to potential buyers in the Russian navy. 

Africa

• Two Congolese former militia leaders pleaded not guilty to war crimes charges at the Hague. 
• Sudan's UN envoy said international peacekeepers should prepare to leave his country. 
• President Barack Obama honored a group of Zimbabwean women with a human rights award.

Americas

• At a meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva urged the West to work with Iran. 
• Venezuela has no interest in talking to Venezuela to resolve their border dispute, according to the deputy foreign minister. 
• Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya accused the United States of selling out the anti-coup movement. 

Asia

• 21 people were killed in the Philippines over an election dispute. 
• Pakistani authorities released a list showing high-ranking government officials who had been granted amnesty for corruption charges by Pervez Musharraf. 
• Four U.S. military personnel were killed in Afghanistan on Sunday and Monday. 

Middle East

• Iraq's parliament passed a new law to streamline foreign investment. 
• Israeli jets fired on what were said to be militant targets in Gaza.  
• Egyptian President Hosni Mubarrak criticized Israeli settlement construction at a meeting with Shimon Peres.

• Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is making his first visit to Brazil. 
  President Hugo Chavez urged Venezuelans to join government-organized militias to prepare for foreign invasion.
  Ousted president Manuel Zelaya and his supporters are nowhere to be seen as Honduras prepares for a new presidential election next week. 

Europe

• Romania's presidential election is headed for a runoff of Dec. 6. 
• Armenia and Azerbaijan reported making good progress in talks over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. 
• Dissident Northern Ireland separatists unsuccessfully attempted a car bomb attack on a police headquarters in Belfast. 

Africa

• South Africa has created special courts to deal with crime during the 2010 World Cup.
• Algerian courts acquitted two men who were held in Guantanamo for seven years. 
• More than 50,000 people have fled ethnic fighting over fishing rights in northwestern Congo. 

Middle East

• Palestinian leaders said Israel's building of 900 new housing units in East Jerusalem might kill the peace process.
• As six-party talks on sanctioning Iran commence, the International Atomic Energy agency is pressing Iran to accept U.N.-brokered terms for its uranium. 
• Israel continued airstrikes on tunnels between its territory and the Gaza Strip.

Europe

• Today, Italian prosecutors are expected to complete their closing arguments against American student Amanda Knox, indicted for murdering her roommate.
• Russia agreed to a gas deal with Ukraine, easing European fears over disruptions.
• FIFA has denied an Irish request for a replay of a World Cup qualifying soccer game against France, in which the game-winning goal appears to be a hand-ball.

Asia

• 15 died in a suicide attack via motorcycle in southwestern Afghanistan.
• During U.S. President Barack Obama's trip to Seoul, South Korean leaders indicated the country would not agree to a free-trade pact with the United States.
• Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will meet with Obama in Washington next week.

Americas

• Honduran President Roberto Micheletti will temporarily step down during the country's Nov. 29 presidential election.
• U.S. Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman bashed the press criticism of Obama's China trip.
• Venezuela has destroyed its bridges to Colombia.

Africa

• An Egyptian protest at the Algerian embassy over the latter country's World Cup-qualifying soccer win turned violent; Egypt has also recalled its Algerian ambassador.
• The European Union has agreed to a $1 billion pact with Nigeria to fight corruption.
• Nearly 50 have died in clashes over livestock in a violence- and poverty-stricken area of southern Sudan.

Americas

• The U.S. Congressional Budget Office estimated a Senate bill on health care will cost just under $850 billion over 10 years, clearing the way for a vote.
• Senate staffers said they might consider paring back a cap-and-trade bill to include limits only on emissions from power plants.
• Mexico's congress might consider altering its laws to declare that life begins at conception.
• A supervisor of Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Hasan at Walter Reed warned the Army about him in 2007.

Asia

• Afghan authorities locked down Kabul in advance of President Hamid Karzai's swearing-in ceremony.
• U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton traveled to Kabul to stress the need for a reduction in corruption to Karzai.
• A monthlong standoff between Sri Lankan refugees and the Australian government ended.

Africa

• The three-day Rome U.N. summit on hunger ended with African nations disappointed over the lack of funds committed to emergency food aid.
• The head of the U.S. agency PEPFAR, an AIDS initiative, said the recession had not dampened efforts to eradicate the disease on the African continent.
• Qatar launched Darfur peace talks in Doha without representatives of the Sudanese government or the rebel force present.

Europe

• ABC News has reportedly uncovered a secret  U.S. CIA "black site" prison at a horse-riding academy in Lithuania. 
• The European Union and Russia completed a one-day summit, where they agreed to cooperate on climate change.
• Ukranian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said she has struck a deal with Moscow, guaranteeing the Ukrainian transport of Russian gas to Europe for 2010.
• NATO will delay a decision on troop levels for Afghanistan until Obama makes a determination on the U.S. troop level.

Middle East

• Iran rejected a U.N.-brokered deal to send its uranium abroad for enrichment, making U.S. sactions likely.
• Israel broke ground on new East Jerusalem settlements, despite condemnation from the Palestinian Authority, United States, and United Nations.
• Hamas said Israeli airstrikes wounded three in the Gaza Strip.

Asia

• Oxfam released a survey of Afghans showing that they consider poverty and unemployment the driving forces behind conflict in the country.
• Five Papua New Guineans were rescued after two months adrift at sea; three others died.
• A leader of a Pakistani Taliban group believed injured or dead has fled to Afghanistan.

Americas

• The Honduran congress said it will vote on whether to reinstate ousted leader Manuel Zelaya after elections later this month.
• A Cuban dissident in the United States ended her hunger strike.
• Leaders from Peru and Chile continued a barbed back and forth over Chile's alleged spying on Peru.

Middle East

• Iraq's vice president has vetoed a new election law, possibly causing voting delays.
• The United States and United Nations denounced Israel's authorization of the expansion of an East Jerusalem settlement.
• Iran sentenced five to death and more than 80 to jail terms for taking part in the June protests of the presidential election.

Africa

• German police arrested two Rwandans alleged to have fought for the main rebel army in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
• Somali pirates released a Spanish tuna-fishing boat they had captured 400 miles off of the Seychelles after receiving a handsome ransom.
• Clashes in southern Sudan over whether to declare independence left 12 dead and a government minister injured.

Europe

• Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the secretary-general of NATO, said he anticipated increasing its troop presence in Afghanistan.
• A U.S. official said Algerian pressure on the North African branch of al Qaeda had reduced the chance of it attacking targets in Europe.
• Speaking at the U.N. hunger summit in Rome, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said more than 17,000 children die per day of hunger-related causes.

Americas

• Peruvian President Alan Garcia accused Chile of bribing a Peruvian army official in an attempt to spy on the country.
• The Canadian Supreme Court heard opening arguments in a case about whether terror trials can be publicly broadcast.
• Argentina granted its first marriage license to a gay couple.

Asia

• After Obama scuttled hopes of a binding climate change agreement at Copenhagen, China said it is weighing whether or not to sign a non-binding interim agreement.
• 12 Afghan civilians died after bombers attempted to assassinate the top French military official in the country.
• India put its nuclear plants on lockdown yesterday after receiving intelligence of possible attacks.

Europe

• At the U.N. hunger summit in Rome, wealthy countries retreated from promises to eradicate hunger in poor countries.
• British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is planning a summit for early next year to discuss the transfer of responsibilities from NATO to Afghan forces.
• The Democratic Party of Kosovo gained the most seats in Sunday's local elections.

Middle East

• International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors voiced "strong suspicions" that Iran is hiding uranium-enrichment sites.
• The U.S. State Department said it would not support a unilateral declaration of independence by the Palestinian Authority.
• The Palestinian Authority is also seeking recognition of its indepenence from the European Union.

Africa

• Zimbabwean leaders resumed crisis-resolution talks.
• Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi asked the leaders assembled at the Rome U.N. hunger summit to stop the "landgrab" of African farmland.
• The United States has demanded that Kenya turnover a Rwandan war criminal, Felicien Kabuga, whom U.S. officials contend has found safe harbor there.

Americas

• The El Salvadorean government said at least 192 people died in mudslides and floods last week.
• Colombia released four Venezuelan national guard troops arrested on its territory.
• A nearly empty jail in Illinois might accept detainees from the U.S. military facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Asia

• NATO forces in Afghanistan are starting an FBI-type unit to rout corruption.
• In a meeting with the Burmese prime minister, Obama called for the release of pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi.
• At least five were injured in a Sunday rally in Thailand against ousted leader Thaksin Shinawatra after Cambodia named him as an economic adviser.

Middle East

• Palestinian officials said they might appeal for the United Nations Security Council to unilaterally declare Palestinian statehood.
• Iranian news sites reported that a deputy defense minister who has been missing for three years is in Israeli custody.
• Russian President Dmitri Medvedev signaled that Russia is considering sanctioning Iran if it does not quickly accept a deal on its uranium enrichment facilities.

Africa

• Fighting bewteen Houthi rebels, the Yemenese government, and Saudi Arabia continues in northern Yemen.
• A Niger Delta rebel group described negotiations with Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adu as productive. The group is currently in a cease fire with the government.
• Morocco detained and deported a prominent rights activist for the Western Sahara, a semi-autonomous region under its control.

Europe

• The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization started a summit on hunger in Rome today.
• Kosovo held peaceful city council and mayoral elections, the first since independence from Serbia.
• Italian police captured a fugitive leader of the Cosa Nostra crime syndicate.

Asia

• A suicide bomber attacked a Pakistani intelligence office in Peshawar, killing 9.
• A Taliban bombing targeted a NATO base in Kabul. 
• U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged the Philippines government to sign a piece deal with separatist rebels. 

Middle East

• Diplomats say the newly revealed Iranian nuclear plant at Qom is too small for a civilian nuclear program but large enough for a military one. 
• Iran's Revolutionary Court will put the brother-in-law of opposition leader Mir Hossen Moussavi on trial.
• Palestinian election officials are urging the government to postpone the elections scheduled for January. 

Europe

• Germany dropped an investigation into a suspect in the 2006 murder of ex-KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko. 
• In a rare bit of good news for British Labour, the party won a special election in Glasgow.
• The Netherlands will drop its objection to Serbia's EU membership bid if the country is found to be cooperating with the international war crimes tribunal. 

Americas

• Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya accused the United States of weakening its position on the country's political impasse. 
• Brazil's government says deforestation rates have fallen to record lows. 
• Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hussein was reportedly alert and lucid during his first meeting with his lawyer. 

Africa

• A group of white South African have accused the government of racial discrimination. 
• Chinese workers in Angola are being increasingly targeted for attacks. 
• Eleven were killed in inter-ethnic fighting in Southern Sudan.