What in the World?

Great Britain

• A study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine indicates that working more than 11 hours per day increases the risk of heart disease by 67%, compared with working 7 to 8 hours per day.  It is unclear whether the long work hours are a direct cause, or whether they are an indicator of other factors that are the actual cause.  So the next time someone tells you "hard work won't kill you", question that statement.
• Tesla Motors is suing the BBC, alleging that the road test of the Tesla Roadster on the show Top Gear was rigged to make the car perform badly.

Ivory Coast

• Forces loyal to Alassane Ouattara, President-elect of the Ivory Coast, stormed the bunker where Laurent Gbagbo (who lost the election) has been resisting efforts to make him step down.  Gbagbo's spokesman has states that there is "no legal and judicial basis" for requiring the defeated president to leave office.  Cocoa prices rose slightly as the continuing civil war has dimmed hopes that the world's largest cocoa exporter will resume exports soon.

Japan

• The leak at the Fukushima Daiichi reactor that allowed contaminated water into the ocean has been plugged.  In celebration, 11,500 tons of contaminated water was pumped into the ocean due to a lack of storage space.  Both South Korea and China have expressed concern about the radioactive water.

Pakistan

• Spiders have begun taking to the trees to escape flooding and, because of the scale and duration of the flooding, the trees are literally cocooned in spider webs.  This has contributed to a decline in the expected malaria rate, which is a good thing, but still.... Trees.  Full of spiders.

PIIGS

• Portugal's short-term debt yields are up sharply in Wednesday's auction, mostly on concerns that Portuguese bonds are two steps above junk and on news that the Portuguese government is getting pressure to seek a bailout from the IMF and the European Union.
• The rate of decline in net deposits in Irish banks has slowed, as depositors "only" withdrew 1.8 billion euros last month.

United States

• The SEC has unveiled a plan to protect the markets from volatile price swings, such as the May 6th "flash crash".  The plan would replace existing circuit breakers with a "Limit Up-Limit Down" system, which would prevent listed equities from trading more than a certain percentage amount above or below the five-minute rolling average of the stock.  For stocks currently subject to the circuit breaker pilot, the percentage is 5%;  for stocks not currently subject to the pilot, the percentage would be 10%, with the percentage bands doubled during opening and closing periods and broader bands for penny stocks.  If no trading occurs within the price band for more than 15 seconds, there would be a five-minute trading pause.  (The "Limit Up-Limit Down" link goes directly to the SEC press release.)
• A $625 million patent infrigement award against Apple Inc. has been overturned, with the judge finding that the claimant "failed to lay a solid foundation sufficient to support important elements it was required to establish under the law."
• New York City is considering a ban on toys giveaways in fast-food restaurant meals for children.
• Fred Karger has just announced his intent to run for the 2012 Republican nomination for president, making him the first openly gay Presidential candidate for the office.