Global News (01/26/09)

After less than a week in office, Barack Obama’s approval rating plunges 15 points (Daily Mail):
Barack Obama might have been in office for less than a week, but the euphoria is beginning to wane.
The new President’s approval ratings have fallen from a stratospheric 83 per cent to a more modest – although still impressive – 68 per cent.

US may ditch twice-yearly talks China (Telegraph):
Strained relations between the US and China are likely to increase in the coming months as a number of senior officials in President Barack Obama’s administration are believed to be keen to axe bi-annual economic meetings between the two superpowers.

Obama administration warns public to expect rise in US casualties (Guardian):
The Obama administration is to double the number of US troops in Afghanistan to 60,000 and when asked in a television interview if the US public should expect more American casualties, Biden said: “I hate to say it, but yes, I think there will be. There will be an uptick.”

Geithner to Press Mortgage, Bank Relief in Growing Rescue Plan (Bloomberg):
Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) — President Barack Obama’s financial rescue plan will be unveiled soon and is likely to be larger and more ambitious than originally planned as the economy and banking system worsen.

Report: U.S. Soldiers Did ‘Dirty Work’ for Chinese Interrogators (ABC News):
U.S. military personnel at Guantanamo Bay allegedly softened up detainees at the request of Chinese intelligence officials who had come to the island facility to interrogate the men — or they allowed the Chinese to dole out the treatment themselves, according to claims in a new government report.

Obama to put Bush car pollution policies into reverse (Guardian)

Barack Obama to tighten Wall Street regulations (Telegraph)

RAF ‘ordered to shoot down UFOs’ (Telegraph)

A chill wind blows through Davos as global crisis bites (Telegraph)

Evo Morales hails ‘new Bolivia’ as constitution is approved (Guardian)

Dutch bank sheds chief executive and 7000 other jobs (Guardian):
The bank, one of Europe’s biggest, took immediate action by shedding its chief executive, Michael Tilmant, after what it said was the worst quarter for equity and credit markets for a quarter of a century. It is due to post an underlying loss of €3.3bn, including €2bn in structured products, for the final three months of 2008. ING, which employs 130,000 globally,

Barclays bullish despite £8bn credit crunch hit (Guardian)

Corporate cuts spread as 6000 face axe (Telegraph):
Corporate Britain is preparing itself for one of the bloodiest weeks of the economic downturn so far with up to 6,000 redundancies set to be announced across the manufacturing, retail and services sectors.

Companies in US to Slash More Jobs, Business Economists Say (Bloomberg)

Wall Street investment banks have a way of snookering commercial rivals (Telegraph)

Report: Toyota’s output seen down 25 percent (AP)

Toyota Denies Report Global Output May Fall 20% on Recession (Bloomberg)

Caterpillar Moves to Cut 20000 Jobs (New York Times)

Bad news: we’re back to 1931. Good news: it’s not 1933 yet (Telegraph):
Barack Obama inherits an economy already contracting at an annual rate of 6pc, much like the mid-Depression year of 1931 (-6.4pc). This may beat Germany (-7pc) Japan (-12pc) and Korea (-22pc) over the fourth quarter. But that merely underlines the dangers ahead as the collapse of global trade chokes the mini-boom in US exports, setting off another stage of the crisis.

Tens of thousands face hunger amid Liberian insect plague: official (AFP)

Deaths as thousands riot in Madagascar (Telegraph)

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