– President Blair: Former PM set to become EU chief as Sarkozy battles to win him the post (Daily Mail)
– US warns of battle worse than Iraq in Afghanistan (AFP):
MUNICH, Germany (AFP) – The United States warned its allies Sunday that fighting the insurgency in Afghanistan could prove tougher than in Iraq and appealed, along with Britain, for more troops and equipment.
– Obama’s NSC Will Get New Power (Washington Post)
– Scottish politicians urge BBC to take Clarkson off air over Brown jibes (Guardian):
Scottish politicians today called for the Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson to be taken off the air until he apologised for calling Gordon Brown a “one-eyed Scottish idiot”. The BBC presenter also accused the prime minster of lying.
– Along With Everything Else Taxpayers Stuck With Billions In Losses (International Forecaster)
– Bank of England to issue grimmest warning yet on economy (Guardian)
– Vince Cable: ‘Bring back the guillotine…for bankers’ (Daily Mail)
– US Treasury ‘overpaid’ $78bn in bank bailout (Telegraph):
The US Government overpaid $78 billion last year for stakes in troubled banks as part of its $700 billion bailout, the Congressional panel overseeing the rescue said.
– Geithner Says US Financial System Remains ‘Badly Damanged’ (Wall Street Journal)
– US Treasury to pump billions more into banks (Times Online)
– Obama puts brake on Afghan surge (Times Online)
– Netanyahu stokes fears to take poll lead (Times Online)
– SCENARIOS-Here’s what happens next on US stimulus package (Reuters)
– Massacres follow failed US-aided Uganda mission: report (Washington Post)
– The rise and (almost) fall of America’s banks (AP)
– Ecuador’s president orders US diplomat expelled (AP)
– Report: More than 300,000 children ‘at risk’ in Israel (Haaretz)
– FACTBOX: Where has the US bailout money gone? (Reuters)
– Chrysler to idle four plants next week (Reuters)
– NYPD officer caught in drug scandal takes plea, dishes on corrupt cops (New York Daily News)
– 84 killed in deadliest-ever Australian wildfires (AP)
– Sharpton calls for justice outside Madoff’s home (Reuters):
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Saying Bernard Madoff enjoys a “gilded penthouse incarceration,” civil rights activist Al Sharpton led a rally outside the accused swindler’s Manhattan home on Saturday urging equal justice for the rich and poor.