Morning Brief: Selling frenzy
Top Story Alex Wong/Getty Images World stock indexes have plunged to depths not seen since October 2006. The apparent trigger? Shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac fell sharply Monday after Lehman Brothers reported that the mortgage companies need to raise billions in new capital. Equity markets have already lost more than $11 trillion in ...
Top Story
Top Story
World stock indexes have plunged to depths not seen since October 2006. The apparent trigger? Shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac fell sharply Monday after Lehman Brothers reported that the mortgage companies need to raise billions in new capital. Equity markets have already lost more than $11 trillion in value this year. Prices for oil and other commodities fell, too.
Decision ’08
Barack Obama and John McCain put forth dueling economic proposals.
“I have to earn the trust of men and women in uniform,” Obama told the Military Times in an interview.
Virginia Sen. Jim Webb doesn’t want to be Obama’s vice president.
Global Economy
G-8 leaders promised to halve their countries’ emissions by 2050, but top environmentalists are not impressed.
U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke outlined his prososed financial reforms.
Americas
The FISA bill currently before the U.S. Senate is “our best chance to protect both our national security and our civil liberties,” Morton Halperin writes.
Output has plummeted at Mexico’s gargantuan Cantarell oil field.
Asia
The International Olympic Committee hailed China’s preparations as “the gold standard” for future Olympic games. Yet Beijing’s air quality still fails to meet international standards, the BBC has found.
The U.S.-India nuclear deal is moving ahead even after India’s communists pulled out of the ruling coalition.
China will host a fresh round of six-party talks Thursday to follow up on North Korea’s recent nuclear declaration.
Middle East and Africa
At the G-8 summit, U.S. President George W. Bush pushed for a hard line on Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe. African leaders pushed back. Meanwhile, Zimbabwe’s government announced new talks with the opposition.
Iran’s military launched a series of war games, and a top aide to the supreme leader warned that “Tel Aviv and U.S. shipping in the Persian Gulf will be Iran’s first targets” in the event of a U.S. strike.
A White House spokesman said that no “hard date for a withdrawal” of U.S. forces is being discussed with Iraq.
Europe
European officials are reconsidering their biofuels target. High prices are also weaking European opposition to genetically modified foods.
Britain’s Anglican church moved to allow female bishops.
Germany manufacturer Siemens is cutting 16,750 jobs.
Today’s Agenda
The United States is set to ink a missile-defense radar agreement with the Czech Republic.
The G-8 summit continues.
Blake Hounshell is a former managing editor of Foreign Policy.
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