KAIROI 2011: BAJO AMENAZAS DE AGENCIAS

Top of the Agenda: Obama Meets EU Leaders over Worsening Euro Crisis

U.S. President Barack Obama met at the White House with European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton over how to contain the ongoing eurozone sovereign debt crisis (NYT). SIN RECONOCERLE PRETENSIONES ANGELA Y SARKO Obama highlighted the threat to the U.S. financial recovery, but emphasized that the crisis is fundamentally a European one, and Europe has the resources to address it.

Eurozone finance ministers will meet today to outline plans for leveraging the temporary $586 billion European Financial Stability Facility (Reuters) through private and public investments. BAJO AMENAZAS CONCRETAS DE DOS AGENCIAS The meeting comes as credit rating agency Moody's threatened to downgrade the subordinated debt of eighty-seven banks across the continent, while Standard and Poor's said it could downgrade the outlook of France's triple-A rating.

At an Italian government bond auction, Italy had to pay investors record high yields (WSJ) of 7.89 percent and 7.56 percent on three-year and ten-year bonds, respectively. With Italy's financing costs at unsustainable levels, it is increasingly reliant on the European Central Bank to buy up Italian debt on the secondary markets. But the ECB has resisted large-scale purchases, putting pressure on eurozone leaders to speedily implement the EFSF expansion.

Analysis

Investors face two growing risks--a crackup of the eurozone and a double-dip recession. Global bond yields will be significant to track the gathering storm, writes Michael Sivy in TIME.

Unless Germany and the ECB move quickly, the single currency's collapse is looming, says the Economist.

With German Chancellor Angela Merkel opposed to using the ECB's firepower to solve the crisis, the monetary union appears increasingly in danger of breaking apart. Some economists are even arguing for Germany to reintroduce the deutsche mark, explains Der Spiegel.

MIDDLE EAST

Egypt in Second Day of Elections

Egyptians voted in parliamentary elections for a second day following a higher-than-expected turnout on Monday, even as voters questioned the legitimacy (NYT) of an election orchestrated by Egypt's interim military rulers.

Parliamentary elections proceeded despite ongoing protests. The continuing strife over military rule and fears over Islamist parties threaten stability, explains this CFR Analysis Brief.

SYRIA: A new UN report accuses the regime of President Bashar al-Assad of committing mass atrocities and crimes against humanity (al-Jazeera) in its ongoing crackdown against anti-government demonstrators.

PACIFIC RIM

Lee Implements U.S. Trade Pact

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak signed a package of bills that pave the way for the implementation of a South Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KoreaTimes). President Barack Obama signed off on the legislation last month.

The U.S. needs to revitalize trade policy and spur foreign investment in this country--timely ingredients for a job-creating economic resurgence, says former senator Thomas Daschle in this CFR Interview.

MALAYSIA: Five hundred lawyers marched on parliament to protest a proposal by Prime Minister Najib Razak that would ban street protests (BBC) and bar people under twenty-one years old from any demonstrations.

SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA

U.S. Investigates Strike on Pakistan

U.S. Brigadier General Stephen Clark is leading a U.S. investigation into a NATO airstrike (Dawn) that killed twenty-four Pakistani troops near the Afghan border last weekend. An initial report is due by the end of December. LE LLAMARÁN "FUEGO AMIGO"?

AFGHANISTAN: Pakistan said it will boycott an international conference (ExpressTribune) on Afghanistan's future in Bonn, Germany, next week to protest the cross-border NATO attack.

Pakistan's stability is of great consequence to regional and international security. Examine the roots of its challenges, what it means for the region and the world, and explore some plausible futures for the country in this CFR Crisis Guide.

AFRICA

UN Climate Change Conference Opens in Durban

Representatives of 194 countries are meeting in Durban, South Africa, for the UN's seventeenth Conference of the Parties on climate change, amid mounting distrust (Mail&Guardian) between industrialized and developing nations over how to pay for the Green Climate Fund.

The climate meeting in Durban would be better off addressing technical matters such as a global climate fund, says CFR's Michael Levi, rather than trying to move forward on the contentious fate of the Kyoto Protocol.

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: National elections--which saw President Joseph Kabila face off against leading opposition candidate Etienne Tshisekedi--saw violence (NYT) and allegations of fraud as polling continued into a second day.

AMERICAS

Venezuela Arrests Colombian Drug Lord

Venezuela announced the arrest of Maximiliano Bonilla-Orozco--the wanted leader of a Colombian drug cartel--and said he will be extradited to the United State (Telegraph) on charges of trafficking cocaine.

MEXICO: Fueled by domestic demand and high agricultural output, Mexico's economy grew by 1.34 percent (WSJ) during the third quarter and is expected to grow by 4 percent for the whole year.

EUROPE

Stalin's Daughter Dies in U.S.

The only daughter of former Soviet Union leader Josef Stalin, known most recently as Lana Peters, died in Wisconsin. Peters defected to the United States (Guardian) at the height of the Cold War.

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