Morning News Roundup

Benazir Bhutto Assassinated After a public speech in Rawalpindi (9 miles outside Islamabad), Benazir Bhutto was shot in the neck and chest. The attack was followed by a suicide bombing. It is unclear if she was shot before or after the explosion and if the shooter and bomber were the same individual. Including Ms. Bhutto, the preliminary estimates of the number of dead range from 14 to 20. Daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, prime minister of Pakistan from 1971-1977, Bhutto herself was PM of the country twice (1988-1990 and 1993-1996). Her family was known for being amenable to western liberalism and democracy and (along with another former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif) she was outspoken in advocating immediate liberal and democratic reforms in Pakistan. Couldn’t Wait for Iowa Boris Nemtsov follows Garry Kasparov in declining to run against Putin’s pick for President of Russia, First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. The Washington Post explains that, like Kasparov, Nemtsov did not have widespread support among the Russian populace. For an analysis of Russian political life after Yeltsin see Perry Anderson’s magnificent and clear essay from last January's London Review of Books. And for a look western wishful thinking on the Russia topic, check out a contribution to the most recent Foreign Affairs. Taliban Diplomacy: Not Too Popular President Hamid Karzai has thrown two westerners working for the European Union and the United Nations Assistance Mission out of the country for their official meetings with Taliban insurgents. Cui Bono? Not sure why Muammar el-Qaddafi was visiting Paris this month? Follow the money. Bloomberg correspondent Celestine Bohlen examines the condition of French energy companies and how important Libyan contracts would be for Gaz de France and Total. Looming Climate Issues vs. Emerging Middle Class The Washington Post discovers that an industrializing India may have trouble encouraging an entrepreneurial middle-class and developing a more sophisticated economy while at the same time keeping carbon emissions low enough for the environmental considerations of the post-industrial West. Chavez the Commando Hugo Chavez is going all John Rambo on FARC. The President of Venezuela has pledged to pull out a cluster of hostages being held by FARC in Colombia. Two of the hostages have each been held for almost six years by the terrorist organization.