UK - The cost of UK military operations in Libya has reached 250 million pounds so far, government sources say. Details are expected to be announced in a written ministerial statement on Thursday. The UK has been contributing to Nato's operation in Libya to enforce a no-fly zone since 19 March. The government had said it would cost tens of millions.
USA - In his second post-FOMC press conference, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke touched on every topic, admitting that the recovery was weaker than expected and that beyond temporary factors like supply chain disruptions in Japan and high energy prices, he was at a loss as to what was causing the soft patch.
USA - Over the past week over 40 temporary "no fly zones" have been declared by the FAA. This is very highly unusual. Nobody seems to know exactly why this is happening.
USA - Barack Obama is set to reject the advice of the Pentagon by announcing on Wednesday night the withdrawal of up to 30,000 troops from Afghanistan by November next year, in time for the US presidential election. The move comes despite warnings from his military commanders that recent security gains are fragile. They have been urging him to keep troop numbers high until 2013.
SPAIN - The Spanish economy still faces "considerable" risks, the International Monetary Fund has warned. In an annual report, the IMF said the Spanish government had to continue work to reduce public spending, and increase efforts to liberalise its jobs market. Since last year Madrid has been carrying out austerity measures to reduce the country's public deficit.
EUROPE - For weeks, hundreds of young people have been camping out in central Madrid. And others across Europe have now begun following their example. Protests in Lisbon, Paris, Athens and elsewhere show that Europe's lost generation has finally found its voice.
USA - The head of PIMCO, the world's biggest bond fund, predicted that Greece and other European economies would default on their debts to resolve their problems as the euro area faces a debt crisis. Greece's government won a vote of confidence late on Tuesday, a crucial step towards securing further financial aid from the European Union as the country tries to avoid the euro zone's first sovereign debt default.
GREECE - Greece's government will approve its new austerity package on Wednesday after it survived a confidence vote, clearing the first hurdle in a battle to secure emergency loans and avert the euro zone's first sovereign debt default.
USA - The debt reduction talks led by Vice President Joe Biden are in what insiders call "a make or break week," as negotiators try to find $2 trillion or more in spending cuts as part of a deal to increase the debt ceiling. One of the negotiators, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Republican for Virginia, indicated the talks are at a critical moment. "It's crunch time now in those meetings," he said. "We are at some really tough stuff."
USA - The calendar says summer starts tomorrow in the Northern Hemisphere. The snow falling in the mountains of Colorado tells a different story. A storm that has prompted a tornado watch across Nebraska and Kansas today also left 2 to 4 inches of snow in the Rocky Mountains, said Joe Ramey, a weather service meteorologist in Grand Junction, Colorado.
USA - Since the time flood waters have continued to rise, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has declared a mysterious two-mile radius "no-fly" zone around the plant for unknown reasons, and federal officials continue to claim in spite of all this that the plant is just fine.
USA - On June 14 corn prices closed at $7.55 a bushel. That's double the price at this same time last year. Ordinarily this would be great news for America's farmers, but Midwest flooding is expected to cause severe corn shortages.
USA - Calhoun stores its spent fuel in ground-level pools which are underwater anyway - but they are open at the top. When the Missouri river pours in there, it's going to make Fukushima look like an x-ray. But that's not all. There are a LOT of nuclear plants on both the Missouri and Mississippi and they can all go to hell fast.
AUSTRALIA - Australia's two major airports are facing up to 48 hours of disruption as the ash cloud from a Chilean volcano drifts across the south of the country. Qantas and Virgin have cancelled all flights into and out of Sydney and Melbourne. Adelaide airport has been shut and Canberra flights also hit.
USA - A nuclear plant was inches away from being engulfed by the bloated Missouri River after several levees in the area failed to hold back its surging waters, raising fears it could become America's Fukushima. The river has to hit 902 feet above sea level at Brownville before officials will shut down the Cooper Nuclear Plant, which sits at 903 feet. It stopped and ebbed slightly yesterday, a reprieve caused by levee breaches in northwest Missouri - for now.