• Wall Street rallies, other indices follow
  Bargain hunters drove Wall Street to perform what can be best described as a revival after a huge end of the day rally resulted in the Dow closing a massive 552 points above its opening mark. It is not at 8 835. The FTSE100 didn’t follow suit and dropped a respectable 12 points, holding at 4 169 points. Most major European indices also reported slight gains, all under 100 points. However, Asian stocks took a steep climb upward as the Nikkei is currently at 8 589 points. Oil rose only slightly, back up to $50/barrel. 

• One Million could Obama’s inauguration
  Many Washington officials suspect that well over 1 million people will attend President Obama’s inauguration in January. They have begun hammering out the security arrangements already as many people are still desperate for overnight accommodation in the city. Demand for the event is unprecedented. If I was on the same continent as Obama on January 20th, I would’ve gone to see the event as well! In other Obama news, NBC reports that he is considering, wait for it, Hilary Clinton as his Secretary of State. Peace offering?

• US calls Russia’s bluff
  Robert Gates, the current US Defense Secretary has announced that his country will not give in to Russian demands of withdrawing from the proposed missile shield plan in Europe. Russia’s Medvedev has said his country is willing to discuss withdrawing missiles from near Poland’s border if the States is willing to give up the missile shield. Rising adversarial conflicts between the two nations have been much more frequent recently. Are we on the brink of Cold War II?

• Iranian diplomat kidnapped in Pakistan
  A new controversy has arisen in Pakistan, where an Iranian diplomat has been kidnapped. Nobody has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping yet but many officials believe the Taliban are behind it. Yesterday, a US aid worked was shot dead in the same city, Peshawar. Rising tensions in the country following dire economic problems and a rocky transition of government have caused many concerns form foreign nations over the political stability of the country. It appears the diplomat, Heshmatollah Attarzadeh Niyaki, was targeted as his guard was shot and killed during the kidnapping. 

• Japan offers $100 billion to IMF
  Japan is coming to the rescue of the IMF it seems. The Prime Minister of the country, Taro Aso, has put an offer of a $100 billion loan to the IMF for it to help out other struggling economies throughout the world. It seems that the Premier believes his country is in a safe enough economic position, with over %1 trillion in foreign currency reserves, to make such an offer. Impressive. 

• Other planets within our sights
  We may not be colonizing planets anytime soon but at least we can look at them closely now. Drastic improvements in observational technology and techniques have resulted in the first pictures ever of other planets circling around other stars. While these pictures may look like nothing out of the ordinary to regular observers, astronomers are dancing with glee following this latest milestone; many believe this is just the beginning of many other more detailed pictures to follow in a few very short years. Anyone bold enough to 

• Anything goes Down Under
  This global economic crisis is leading businesses all over the world to go to extreme measures to stay alive. Take this: an Australian resort will host a month-long nude “anything goes” party! Yes, you read that right! Religious leaders are fuming about this and questioning the morals of possible attendants. However, increasing fuel prices have had a harsh impact on Australian tourism, making resort owners try different methods of attracting customers. This seems to have worked as the owner of the resort says it is almost fully booked for the month long party already! 

Random: A Russian church has been stolen, missing since July. If you see it around, please contact Russian authorities.