By Mark Memmott

The morning-after punditry is in full-swing now that the smattering of elections across the nation are over. As we wrote, Republicans had a good day -- winning the governors' mansions in New Jersey and Virginia. But Democrats managed to take advantage of a split with the GOP to take a New York congressional seat that had been in Republican hands since before the Civil War.

NPR's Political Junkie blog will have much more about the election results as the day continues.

Among the other stories making headlines:

-- The Guardian -- "British Soldiers Killed In Attack By Afghan Policeman": "Five British soldiers have been killed and several others injured in a gun attack by a 'rogue' Afghan policeman in Helmand province, the Ministry of Defense said today. The soldiers -- three from the Grenadier Guards and two from the Royal Military police -- were killed by gunshot wounds suffered in the attack, which happened in the Nad-e'Ali district yesterday."

NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson reports from Kabul: The Afghan police officer ran from the scene, and "the feeling is that he's crossed over and joined the Taliban."

-- BBC News -- "Iran Police Clash With Protesters": "Police have clashed with opposition supporters in the Iranian capital, Tehran, witnesses and state media say. Police used tear gas and batons, said witnesses. Unconfirmed reports said the authorities had also opened fire."

Related conversation on Morning Edition -- Protests Were Widespread Despite Government's Warning: Borzou Daragahi of the Los Angeles Times talks with host Steve Inskeep about this 30th anniversary of the takeover of the U.S. embassy in Tehran, and the remarkably different (anti-government) kind of protests that occurred today:

-- Morning Edition -- Secretary Clinton Says Her Comments About Israeli Settlements Did Not Create A "Long-Term Problem". The secretary of State spoke with NPR's Jackie Northam:

-- CNN International -- "Israel Detains Ship Loaded With Weapons": "The Israeli Navy detained a ship loaded with weapons that was traveling about 100 miles west of the country's coast and headed to Syria, Israeli officials said Wednesday. The ship was detained on Tuesday and was escorted to an Israeli port to be searched, an Israel Defense Forces statement said."

-- The Wall Street Journal -- "Fears Of A New Bubble As Cash Pours In": "Concerns are mounting that efforts by governments and central banks to stoke a recovery will create a nasty side effect: asset bubbles in real-estate, stock and currency markets, especially in Asia."

Related news to watch for today: Federal Reserve policymakers end two-days of meetings. They're expected to say this afternoon that they aren't going to adjust short-term interest rates, which it how is holding between zero and 0.25%.

-- The Times of London -- "German Government Blasts 'Unacceptable' GM U-Turn": "Germany's Economic Minister today branded a decision by America's General Motors to scrap the sale of its European business as 'totally unacceptable.' ... British unions were delighted with the decision, which was announced late yesterday after a GM board meeting in Detroit."

Related story by The Detroit News -- "GM Calls Off Sale, Keeps Opel": "General Motors Co.'s board of directors Tuesday voted to keep its German carmaker, Adam Opel GmbH, instead of selling it to Canada's Magna International Inc. and its Russian partner, Sberbank. The board based its decision, in part, on an improved business environment in Europe and GM's overall financial health and stability since emerging from bankruptcy court after receiving about $50 billion in federal aid."

categories: Afghanistan, Business, Economy, Foreign News, Morning Roundup, Politics

7:45 - November 4, 2009

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