Morning Brief: The pundits weigh in
Top Story MICHAEL GOTTSCHALK/AFP/Getty Images Analysts react to Democratic Sen. Barack Obama’s speech in Berlin, where an estimated 200,000 people turned out to hear the candidate speak: Der Spiegel‘s Gerhard Spörl writes, “No. 44 has spoken.” Steven Erlanger of the New York Times calls the speech “vague on crucial issues.” CNN says the Illinois senator ...
Top Story
Top Story
Analysts react to Democratic Sen. Barack Obama’s speech in Berlin, where an estimated 200,000 people turned out to hear the candidate speak: Der Spiegel‘s Gerhard Spörl writes, “No. 44 has spoken.” Steven Erlanger of the New York Times calls the speech “vague on crucial issues.” CNN says the Illinois senator won “hearts, not minds.” “[I]n Berlin his act jumped the shark,” David Brooks grumbles. The Times of London’s headline jests, “He ventured forth to bring light to the world.” The Economist says Obama was “largely successful.”
John McCain, meanwhile, was enjoying some sausage at a German restaurant in Ohio. “[A] throng of adoring fans awaits Senator Obama in Paris — and that’s just the American press,” the Arizona senator joked. The Washington Post reports today that McCain is considering naming a running mate “in the coming weeks.”
Global Economy
WTO chief: “Time is running out” for global trade talks in Geneva.
Honda announced record profits even as Ford reported its worst quarter ever.
Americas
An oil spill on the Mississippi River is blocking commercial shipping.
A previously secret memo that the ACLU says authorizes torture has surfaced.
FARC agreed to hand over eight detainees to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Asia
A series of small explosions struck Bangalore, India.
Japanese inflation is accelerating at the fastest rate in 15 years.
China is restricting business visas for the Olympics.
Middle East and Africa
An Israeli committee approved new settlement homes in the West Bank.
Israeli officials are miffed that they weren’t warned of the Bush administration’s diplomatic shift on Iran.
The U.S. Embassy announced it would expand visas for Iraqis who have worked with the United States.
Europe
The Labor Party lost a key by-election in Scotland, spelling trouble for PM Gordon Brown. “I’m getting on with the job,” Brown said.
France, all of a sudden, is moving quickly on economic reform.
Today’s Agenda
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez is visiting Spain. No hugs.
Obama does Paris.
McCain meets with the Dalai Lama in Aspen, Colorado.
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