World News

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

• The United Nations has released a report stating that the Palestinian Authority is largely ready to govern a Palestinian state.

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.