Morning Brief: Oil hits $142

Top Story Spencer Platt/Getty Images Oil prices shot up to $142, a new record, overnight. Yesterday, the Dow Jones industrial average sank 358 points, and European and Asian stock market indices mostly followed. The president of OPEC said he expected prices to reach $170 a barrel this summer. Global Economy General Motors’ market value has ...

By , a former managing editor of Foreign Policy.
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594416_080627_nyse5.jpg

Top Story

Top Story

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Oil prices shot up to $142, a new record, overnight. Yesterday, the Dow Jones industrial average sank 358 points, and European and Asian stock market indices mostly followed. The president of OPEC said he expected prices to reach $170 a barrel this summer.

Global Economy

General Motors’ market value has fallen to $7 billion, one quarter of that of Yahoo. One share of GM is now worth less than $12.

Scientists from the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado, warn that the North Pole could briefly be free of ice by summer’s end.

Americas

Dana Milbank writes up John Yoo and David Addington’s combative congressional testimony.

Decision ’08

Barack Obama wrote a personal check for $2,300 to help retire Hillary Clinton’s campaign debt.

The Financial Times looks at Obama’s views on globalization.

Asia

Pakistan vehemently denied that its intelligence agency tried to kill Afghan President Hamid Karzai in April.

Taliban militants in Pakistan publicly slit the throats of two captured Afghans it said were “spies for the Americans.”

As promised, North Korea has destroyed the cooling tower at its Yongbyon reactor. Analysis here.

Middle East and Africa

U.S. forces say they have killed the top al Qaeda leader in Mosul, Iraq.

Turnout for Zimbabwe’s one-man presidential election is reportedly low.

The U.S. Senate signed off on $162 billion in new funding for Iraq and Afghanistan.

Europe

Pawnbroking is up in Britain.

InBev says it will launch a hostile takeover bid for Anheuser-Busch after the U.S. beer company rejected its original $46 billion offer.

Today’s Agenda

Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton will stump together at a New Hampshire rally, their first joint public appearance.

Bill Gates is stepping down from his day-to-day role at Microsoft.

Yesterday on Passport

Blake Hounshell is a former managing editor of Foreign Policy.

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