Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Tumult in Egypt: “Egypt’s embattled military rulers appointed a new prime minister Friday as fiery crowds of supporters and opponents took to the streets, exposing the severity of a split over the leading role of the nation’s long-revered armed forces on the eve of parliamentary elections.”
* U.S. intervention: “The White House on Friday threw its weight behind Egypt’s resurgent protest movement, urging for the first time the handover of power by the interim military rulers in the Obama administration’s most public effort yet to steer Egypt toward democracy.”
* Mario Monti is running out of time: “The nation’s borrowing rates skyrocketed Friday after a grim set of bond auctions, with a new auction looming Tuesday. Another borrowing debacle could ratchet up fears that Italy has entered a debt spiral driving it toward bankruptcy and the 17-nation eurozone into its most acute crisis yet.”
* Belgium, too: “Standard & Poor’s downgraded Belgium’s financial standing Friday, citing the country’s government stalemate and a looming European recession.”
* A very unpleasant week on Wall Street: “The worst week for the stock market in two months ended with a whimper in thin trading Friday. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 4.8 percent this week, while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 4.7 percent. Both had their worst weeks since Sept. 23.”
* It’s worth appreciating what premium support is, what it isn’t, and how it’s different from a voucher.
* Newt Gingrich has said he wants to teach an online course after being elected president, but a closer look suggests he actually has something slightly different in mind.
* Michele Bachmann got an apology from Jimmy Fallon, but said it wasn’t good enough — she wanted an apology from NBC, too. Wednesday, the network did as she asked.
* I won’t even try to understand the phenomenon of Black Friday shopping.
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
