Morning Brief: Saving Fannie’s fanny

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The Bush administration announced a sweeping rescue package for ailing mortgage titans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson asked Congress for the authority to backstop the troubled companies. In a separate move, the Federal Reserve also opened an emergency lending window for them. Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating whether firms are keeping the lid on irresponsible rumor-mongering. Nationwide, as many as 150 banks could fail due to the mortgage crisis. So what went wrong? Julie Creswell explains.

Decision ’08

Barack Obama is furious about the cover of the new New Yorker, which caricatures the Illinois senator as an anti-American Muslim. (Andrew Sullivan thought it was “quite funny.”)

Obama discussed his foreign policy with Fareed Zakaria.

Obama is to visit Israel and the West Bank next week. He can expect questions about Iran.

The New York Times interviewed John McCain, who does not use e-mail or the Internet.

Middle East and Africa

Iraqi PM Nuri al-Maliki is walking around Baghdad, handing out cash.

Negotiations over the U.S. troop presence have reportedly broken down after the Maliki government insisted on a date for withdrawal. The Iraqis are also considering dismantling the green zone. This all “presents an enormous opportunity,” Barack Obama writes in the New York Times.

Turkey indicted 86 alleged coup plotters.

Americas

The approval rating of Colombian President Álvaro Uribe has reached 91 percent. Even Hugo Chávez is sounding conciliatory notes.

Drug cartels are threatening Mexican democracy, Mexico’s top spook warned.

Asia

Nine U.S. soldiers were killed in a Taliban attack on a forward operating base in Afghanistan.

India’s national security advisor blamed Pakistan for the attack on the Indian Embassy in Kabul.

North Korea rejected South Korean President Lee Myung-bak’s diplomatic overture, but South Korean MPs want to press ahead.

Europe

Anheuser-Busch has agreed to be acquired by the Belgium-Based InBev, NV for $52 billion — thus creating the world’s largest beer maker.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy hailed the creation of a “Union for the Mediterranean” and even brought Syrian President Bashar al-Assad out of the doghouse for the event.

French authorities rejected a woman’s naturalization application, essentially, because she was too Muslim.

Today’s Agenda

The American Civil Liberties Union marks the one millionth addition to the terrorist watch list.

It’s Bastille Day in France.

The United Nations is hosting a meeting on the small arms trade.