• Study Pegs Afghanistan Crisis:
  A report by US intelligence agencies [1] says Afghanistan is in a "downward spiral" and injects doubt over the ability of the Afghan government to overcome the Taliban's influence. The strength of the government has been severely compromised by corruption within Karzai's administration. The conclusions of the report indicate it should have been central to the war on terror, an effort now in need of more international troops [2].



• State Ownership of Banks Considered:
  The White House is considering ownership stakes [3] in some US banks as a way of stemming the severe global credit crisis. Though no decision has been made, the $700 billion Bailout Bill allows the Treasury Department to get ownership stakes in financial institutions in exchange for the bailout.




• Zimbabwe's Inflation Hits Extreme High:
  The official annual inflation rate of Zimbabwe has hit 231,000,000 percent. The new astronomical number [4] is up from 11,000,000 percent a year ago. The power-sharing deal between Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai did little to reverse the downward spiral of the economy. The UN estimates two million people are in need of food aid, a number that will rise to half the population by early next year.

Source [5]