JIM LEHRER: Violence returned to Iraq today. There had been a brief
respite at the end of last week, but a bomb tore through a Baghdad market this morning, killing at least
33 Iraqis. It happened in a largely Shiite part of the city; 59 others were
wounded.
Violence also claimed the lives of two American
servicemembers. One was killed by small arms fire today in Baghdad; a U.S. Marine died yesterday in
combat.
That put the total number of U.S. military deaths for October at
101. It's the fourth deadliest month for U.S. troops since the war began.
Also today, U.S. National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley
made an unannounced visit to Baghdad.
He discussed military and political coordination with Prime Minister al-Maliki
and other Iraqi security officials.
Back in the United
States, a new report to Congress found
thousands of weapons given to Iraqi security forces are missing. The Pentagon's
inspector general reported more than 14,000 weapons cannot be found; that's
nearly 4 percent of the weapons supplied to Iraq since 2003.
Pakistani troops raided a religious school today and killed
80 people. Pakistani military believed the school, in a northwestern tribal
region, was being used as an al-Qaida training center. The building was
destroyed after helicopter gun ships fired between four and five missiles at
it. A Pakistani army spokesman said the area was under surveillance before the
strike, and no women or children were present.
MAJ. GEN. SHAUKAT SULTAN, Spokesman, Army of Pakistan: We
were observing them and monitoring their activities, and we found that they
were busy in the militant training activities. In line with the government
policy that Pakistan would
not allow its soil to be used for any terrorist activity, whether conduct of
terrorist activity or training for any terrorism, Pakistan would not allow that.
JIM LEHRER: Pakistan's
top Islamic political leader claimed 30 children were among the dead, and he
said U.S.
planes were used in the strike. A U.S. military spokesman denied that
claim.
A city in central Mexico braced for more protests
today. This weekend, Oaxaca
was the scene of violent protests between demonstrators and federal police. At
least one person died. Today, police were back on the streets. Teachers in that
city have been striking for five months for higher wages.
The president of Brazil won easy re-election this
weekend. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva celebrated his victory on Sunday. He vowed
to continue work on his anti-poverty campaign. This is Silva's second four-year
term; his first term was marred by corruption scandals.
The British government released a sweeping report on climate
change today. It found global warming could have a catastrophic toll on world
economies. We have a report from James Blake of Independent Television News.
JAMES BLAKE, ITV News Correspondent: It is civilization's
biggest challenge. That's the conclusion of Sir Nicholas Stern, the former
World Bank economist on the global threat of climate change. Tony Blair has
called his report the most important analysis into the future since he became
prime minister.
TONY BLAIR, Prime Minister of Britain: It has demolished the
last remaining argument for inaction in the face of climate change. We know
climate change is happening; we know the consequences for our planet; we now
know urgent action will prevent catastrophe, and investment in preventing it
now will pay us back many times in the future.
JAMES BLAKE: For the first time, the report calculates the
economic cost of climate change. Sir Nicholas Stern predicts a global recession
bigger than the Great Depression of the 1930s.
SIR NICHOLAS STERN, Climate Report Author: The science tells
us that greenhouse gas emissions are an externality. In other words, air
emissions affect the lives of others. When people do not pay for the
consequences of their actions, we have market failure; this is the greatest
market failure the world has seen.
JAMES BLAKE: The government will announce a new climate
change bill this afternoon outlining an expansion of the E.U. carbon trading
scheme where emissions are given an economic value and can be bought and sold
to meet targets.
Even if Britain
turned itself off completely, the industrial growth in China would be enough to fill the
emissions gap in less than two years. Britain
is now working with China
and India
to develop clean coal technology, but the real challenge will be persuading
international corporations that there's a strong economic incentive to go
green.
JIM LEHRER: The British government also hired former U.S. Vice
President Al Gore to advise on climate change.
The nation's only liberal arts college for the deaf began
another search for a new president today. Yesterday, the board of trustees at Gallaudet University
in Washington
voted to revoke the contract of incoming president Jane Fernandes. Students,
faculty and alumni had protested her appointment over the past month. We'll
have more on this story later in the program tonight.
Oil prices fell today over signs OPEC members would keep
promises to cut crude supply. Crude oil prices dropped 4 percent to settle at
$58.36 a barrel.
On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost
more than three points to close at 12,086. The Nasdaq rose 13 points to close
above 2,363.
