FP roundup 10/9

Americas
U.S. Gen. David Petraeus, speaking Wednesday at the Heritage Foundation, said that Afghanistan is not quite Iraq.
Change of plans: A federal appeals court temporarily blocked the release of 17 Uighurs from Guantanamo.
Hugo Chavez's information minister warned King Juan Carlos of Spain not to associate with Venezuela's opposition and independent media.

Asia
Afghanistan is in a "downward spiral" that its central government is likely unable to reverse, according to a leaked U.S. intelligence report.
At least eight people were reportedly injured after a suicide attack on police headquarters in Islamabad, Pakistan.
North Korea may be about to test more missiles.

Middle East and Africa
Riots broke out in Acre, Israel, after an Arab Israeli man drove into an area where Jews were observing Yom Kippur.
Zimbabwe's official inflation rate has reached 231,000,000 percent.
Somali pirates released some, but not all of their hostages.

Europe and the Caucasus
French novelist Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio has won the already-controversial 2008 Nobel Prize in Literature.
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko called snap elections for December.
Icelanders can't believe their country is going belly-up.
Central and Eastern Europe are avoiding the worst of the financial crisis.