Morning Newsdome: Obama’s Valentine’s Day fiscal budget love letter February 14 2011
A daily round-up of all that’s important from around the world
>> President Obama released his 2012 fiscal budget today which projects a $1.65 trillion deficit, the largest dollar amount in U.S. history and 10.9 percent of the GDP. Obama proposes spending cuts and tax increases to reduce the deficit over the next decade, which I’m sure no one has thought of before. (the New York Times)
>> Now that Egypt’s president has resigned and the military has dissolved the country’s parliament, thousands of protesters in Yemen marched to the presidential palace in Sanaa yesterday but were stopped by police. Also today, Iran could also be the first non-Arab country to be swept up in the revolution. Your move to show how out of touch you are, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. (CNN, the New York Times, BBC)
>> Another demonstration happened in Italy on Sunday where hundreds of thousands protested Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s alleged abuse of power toward women. Berlusconi is accused of paying for sex with a 17-year-old girl and getting her out of jail as well as promoting showgirls to high government positions and throwing sex parties. Oh big deal, nothing out of the ordinary for a power-hungry, testosterone-driven politician. (CNN)
>> China has officially become the world’s second biggest economy, at $5.879 billion in 2010, surpassing Japan. God help us. (Financial Times)
>> And finally: A group of Japanese citizens filed a lawsuit today to overturn a 113-year-old law that requires women to keep their husband’s surnames when they marry. The five plaintiffs, four women and the partner of one of them, are seeking six million yen, or $70,000. If that doesn’t make you feel romantic on Valentine’s Day, I don’t know what will. (USA Today)