FP roundup 9/9

Americas

Hurricane Ike is heading for Havana.
A top advisor to Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, Interior Minister Ramon Rodriguez, quit yesterday for "strictly personal reasons."
Brazil's president says he will use his count ry's new oil riches to end poverty.

Asia

Kim Jong Il is rumored to be ill as North Korea celebrates its 60th anniversary. Be sure to read FP's exclusive, "The Secret History of Kim Jong Il."
The cooking show did it: Thailand's prime minister resigns.
U.S. drones, aiming at the al Qaeda-aligned Haqqani network, killed 23 people in northwest Pakistan.
Pakistan's new president, Asif Ali Zardari, was sworn in Tuesday. "It is a wonder that any sane man would want the job," the Economist muses.

Middle East and Africa

Al Qaeda's No. 2 has released a new video denouncing Iran for collaborating with the United States.
Supporters of the Mujahedin-e-Khalq, a radical Irani an opposition group, rallied outside the White House to protest its expulsion from Iraq.
Former Mossad operative Rafi Eitan suggested in an interview that Israel might seize Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Europe and the Caucasus

A British jury convicted three men of conspiracy to murder in the transatlantic liquid bomb plot, but not of a more serious charge.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev agreed to withdraw Russian troops from Georgia proper. But they're staying in South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
The United States is pulling back from its civilian nuclear cooperation with Russia, but won't make unilateral, punitive moves. David Ignatius sees Obama's policy being put into place.