World News!

China

• Working with information from WikiLeaks, the Information Office of China's State Council has released a report indicating that 63% of the 109,000 people killed in the Iraq war were civilians.  The report is largely seen as a response to a highly critical report on China's human rights practices by the US State Department.

Japan

• The main opposition party in Japan is calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Naoto Kan over his handling of the country's natural disasters and nuclear crisis.

Libya

• The Libyan military has begun bombarding Misrata with rocket fire in an effort to dislodge rebels from their lone remaining foothold in western Libya.  The rebels have called for additional NATO airstrikes, while leaders of the BRICS[1] nations expressed concern over NATO intervention in a purely internal conflict.
• NATO foreign ministers are meeting in Berlin to try and resolve differences about how (and whether) to enforce the UN-backed no-fly zone over Libya.

South Korea

• Police have dug up a stash of 11 billion won (about $10 million) that was buried in a garlic field.  The money is believed to be the proceeds of an illegal internet gambling operation.

United States

• The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations has released a 639 page report accusing Goldman Sachs of misleading clients, profiting at the expense of clients, manipulating markets, and misleading Congress.  To be fair, though, the report doesn't just single out Goldman.  It also criticizes Deutsche Bank, the former Washington Mutual Bank, the US Office of Thrift Supervision, Moody's, and Standard & Poor's.  "We will be referring this matter to the Justice Department and to the SEC," said Subcommittee Chairman Carl Levin.
• GE's stock price dropped $0.22 between 11:11 AM EDT and Noon EDT yesterday, largely on a hoax in which it appeared that they had issued a press release stating they would do the right thing and pay the $6.3 billion in taxes it owed for 2010.  The fake press release was issued by The Yes Men.  The fake GE press site where the release appeared has since been shut down, and AP has withdrawn the story.
• Speaking of GE, and the claims that it is getting a tax refund, the actual story is rather more complex than was first reported.  I won't try to sum this up.  Just read the article.
• Naven Jain has founded Moon Express Inc, a Silicon Valley start-up which intends to land robotic probes on the moon by 2013.  These probes will look for rare earth minerals, and will then be followed by either human or robotic miners.  Assuming the start-up gets off the ground.
• In a speech last night, President Obama outlined his plan to reduce the US budget deficit by $4 trillion[2] by 2023, through a combination of tax increases and spending cuts.  "We have to live within our means," said the President, "reduce our deficit, and get back on a path that will pay down our debt."

[1] Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

[2]  Yes, trillion.  With a "t".