Because Economics is Sexy...

Hundreds of soldiers and police protesting a new law that cuts their benefits have seized the main airport in Ecuador’s capital and shut off highway access to it. The rebellious troops fired tear gas and burned tires after taking over bases in Quito, Guayaquil and other cities.
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Ireland could spend more than $68bn rescuing its banks, pushing the country’s public deficit up to around 30 per cent of economic output this year, the government announces on Thursday.
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The Pakistani man who planted a car bomb in Times Square boasted that he thought it would kill at least 40 people and that he planned to detonate a second bomb two weeks after the first, prosecutors said on Wednesday, quoting the former financial analyst in a video where he said he’d hoped “to join [...]

India braced for a spasm of violence Thursday ahead of a potentially explosive court verdict on whether Hindus or Muslims should control a disputed holy site over which deadly riots have broken out in the past.
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The United States has decided to pursue economic sanctions against eight senior Iranian government officials. The sanctions aim at punishing senior Iranian officials who are guilty of human right violations following Iran’s elections last year. These sanctions specifically forbid any U.S. citizens and companies from doing business with the eight Iranian officials and freeze all [...]

The US House of Representatives has approved legislation that would allow the US to seek trade sanctions against China, a move aimed at pressuring the Asian nation to let its currency rise faster. China has rejected the legislation.
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After months of acrimony within his centre-right coalition, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has won a vote of confidence in his government.
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McDonald’s Corp may cut health insurance for its nearly 30,000 hourly workers unless U.S. regulators waive a requirement of new health care legislation championed by President Barack Obama, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a company memo.
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Former US president Jimmy Carter was hospitalized Tuesday after falling ill on a plane flight during a hectic book tour, but is fine and should soon resume his work, a spokeswoman told AFP.
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Senate Republicans successfully blocked the passage of an anti-offshoring bill that would have denied tax breaks to US companies which move jobs overseas.
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