COVERITLIVE.COM

11:56

Fred Barbash-Moderator - Good morning. Lots going on. The G20 summit. The Ted Stevens case--remarkably, dropped by the DOJ for prosecutorial misconduct. Highly unusual in so many ways. Korea about to launch a rocket.

Here's the NYT latest on the summit:

LONDON — Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced the much-anticipated final statement worked out by G-20 leaders here on Thursday afternoon to regulate international banking, promising stricter oversight of hedge funds, tax havens and executive pay. “The era of secrecy in banking will come to an end,” he said.

The agreement, he said, encourages International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to increase their lending capacity by hundreds of billions of dollars and pledges $250 billion dollars for efforts to revive world trade."

Here's the WashPost version: "LONDON, April 2 -- Leaders from more than 20 major nations including the United States decided Thursday to pump an additional $1 trillion into the world economy through the International Monetary Fund and other institutions as part of a broad package of measures to overcome the global financial crisis."

“The old Washington consensus is over,” Mr. Brown said, referring to long-held strict economic policy prescriptions. “Today we have reached a new global consensus.”

11:58

Fred Barbash-Moderator - 'And here's a good post sent to Arena this morning by Dana Perino, who did not like a POLITICO story reference to Bush's diplomacy:

Describing former President Bush's diplomatic efforts as "towel-snapping" might make for a good sentence, but it's not an accurate description of the President's approach. Yes, he developed personal relationships with many leaders around the world -- imagine if he hadn't, the kind of criticism he'd get for being aloof and arrogant. President Bush also called it like he saw it, such as when he said he wouldn't deal with Yassir Arafat -- putting an end to the corrupt games Afarat had been playing.

From what I observed in the meetings with President Bush and other world leaders, they appreciated his honesty and forthrightness. He knew where they stood, and they knew where he stood. There was no guessing. And President Bush understood politics better than anyone - he knew why X decision would make it harder for that person to get Y action taken back home. He would take that knowledge and try to help craft a solution that worked for everyone. He had frank and open discussions with leaders on the toughest issues - from Iran's pursuit of a nuclear weapon to human rights to cleaner burning energy and clean drinking water for the world's poor.

I knew that the first trip of the new administration would get a lot of coverage and that every bit of it would be scrutinized -- I mean, who doesn't know by now that the United States gave the Queen of England an iPod...engraved even!...but that she already had one. And I knew that the coverage and comparisons would be over-the-top. All of that has been confirmed in just the first two days of a week-long trip. "

11:58

Fred Barbash-Moderator - So are we impressed by our new President's work overseas? Notice that the Europeans commenting on Arena this morning are relieved at the change in tone and style and substance...but how long might that last?

12:01

Fred Barbash-Moderator - And I'm just hearing now on MSNBC that North Korea is now fueling it's missle...

12:02

[Comment From Paul]
To where?

12:02

Fred Barbash-Moderator - That is the question indeed. Supposed to be "scientific." Satllite. Sure.

12:03

[Comment From Paul]
Certainly no coincidence in timing.

12:04

Fred Barbash-Moderator - Someone said this was the "testing" that Joe Biden spoke about during the campaign. Though my sense from their statements is that nothing rash is in the works.

12:04

[Comment From karl]
Doesn't Japan have the Bomb??

12:05

Fred Barbash-Moderator - I don't believe they do....Not a happy history there with nuclear weapons. As you know, I think they still have some sort of ban on combat deployments.

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