Europe Bearing Us Financial Ill Will “The idea that markets are always right was a mad idea,” French President Nicolas Sarkozy said of our troubles. Though many European countries have been quick to come to our aid, The Economist, an English publication, no less, has pulled no punches with the characterizations it’s made of the reactions of those countries lying directly off its shores. Claiming a common “I told you so” response from European leaders such as Sarkozy, it published a piece discussing just those sorts of patronizing diatribes and possibly schadenfreude-indulging attitudes.

U.S. and India: Impending Nuclear Deal The Senate has ratified an agreement that states “civilian nuclear trade” between the two countries is, for the first time in 30 years, set to occur.

Argentina, Spain: Honoring the Disappeared The Argentinean government and the Buenos Aires-based Spanish embassy publicly remembered the 30,000 people, 139 of either Spanish birth or descent, disappeared by and during the military dictatorship of 1976-1983.

Three Warlords Wreaking Havoc in Afghanistan United States military officials have blamed the recent upsurge in Afghani violence on a “trio of warlords” operating from within Pakistan but exerting a control they acquired during the CIA-backed war to extricate Russia from the ravaged country.

Somali Pirates Lowering Ransom? Those who hijacked a Ukrainian arms-carrying freighter last week initially asked for $35 million but may have been convinced, according to a Seafarers Assistance Program rep in Kenya, to drop that amount to $5 million.

Tags: afghanistan, disappeared, europe financial crisis, sarkozy, somali pirates, spain, warlords