Egypt
- Despite having been admitted to the hospital yesterday for a "heart crisis", Hosni Mubarak has been ordered detained for fifteen days. An army helicopter was used to move him from his hospital in Sharm el-Sheikh to Cairo.
Europe
- Unilever and Procter & Gamble have been fined a combined 315 million euros for running a price-fixing scheme on laundry detergent in eight European countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and the Netherlands).. Unilever's share of the fine was 104 million euros, and P&G took the rest of the 211.2 million euro fine. A third company, Henkel, was granted immunity in exchange for having tipped off the European Commission. In related news, consensus estimates are that Procter & Gamble will announce Q3 earnings of $0.97 per share (approximately $2,716,760,480), making the fine about 115 of this quarter's earnings.
Israel
Japan
- In a move that surprises nobody, Japan has downgraded its assessment of the state of its economy. The Japanese government is also estimating the cost of rebuilding at 25 trillion yen (about $295 billion).
Pakistan
- Armed US drones have killed at least four people in a missile attack in the first confirmed drone strike since the March 17th missile strike on a tribal meeting that killed some 40 civilians.
Syria
- After a mass arrest of over 200 men in the town of Baida yesterday, the women of the town have begun a protest march to demand their release. Women in neighboring communities have organized sympathy protests.
United States
- Like every President before him, President Obama will lay out US policy towards the Middle East, placing emphasis on Israeli-Palestinian peace.
- The IMF has released a report warning that the United States needs to take steps to manage it's federal deficit, as it risks creating instability in the financial markets.
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