Morning Brief: A glimmer of hope?
Top Story While admittedly the bar for good economic news has been dramatically lowered in recent months, investors have found a bit of it this week. Bank of America’s CEO said his company wouldn’t need government help, U.S. retail sales haven’t fallen by as much as expected, and GE’s credited rating was reduced by only ...
Top Story
Top Story
While admittedly the bar for good economic news has been dramatically lowered in recent months, investors have found a bit of it this week. Bank of America’s CEO said his company wouldn’t need government help, U.S. retail sales haven’t fallen by as much as expected, and GE’s credited rating was reduced by only one notch! After a 9.5 percent gain in the Dow Jones index over the last three days, Wall Street is feeling uncharacteristically optimistic.
Asian stocks are rising after news of new stimulus measures by Japan and China and things are even looking up in struggling Britain. Overall, world stocks are on track for their largest weekly gain in 20 years.
Asia
On the other hand…China expressed concern over the safety to holding U.S. treasuries.
U.S. drones attacked a Pakistani Taliban camp killing 24 near Peshawar, while Pakistani authorities broke up a major anti-government demonstration in Karachi.
Japan warned North Korea that it would shoot down any missile heading toward its territory while South Korea vowed new actions in the U.N. Security Council if the North goes ahead with its planned test.
Middle East
After Barack Obama renewed U.S. sanctions against Iran for another year, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed the move as “childish.”
Former Israeli President Moshe Katsav says his rape conviction was a “lynching” by the media.
Hamas warned Gaza militants not to fire rockets into Israel at this time.
Africa
Madagascar’s mutinous troops are now deploying tanks.
Thousands have been displaced by flooding in Southern Angola.
Japan and South Korea have joined the fight against Somali pirates.
Europe
Seven people were arrested for plotting to set off a bomb in central Amsterdam.
Thirteen Serbs were jailed for a 1991 massacre in Croatia.
President Mikheil Saakashvili says Georgia is open for Russian business.
Americas
Bernard Madoff pled guilty to running a $65 billion Ponzi scheme.
President Obama said he was considering sending National Guard troops to quell drug violence on the U.S.-Mexican border.
A party of former left-wing guerillas seems poised to win El Salvador’s presidential election this weekend. Bart Beeson explains why there’s more to the election than meets the eye for FP.
PATRICK LIN/AFP/Getty Images
Joshua Keating was an associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating
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