Economic growth numbers from China did not fail to live up to the hype. China's GDP growth slowed in the latest quarter to to 7.6 percent -- the slowest in three years.

A Japanese government report on the Fukushima nuclear crisis puts the blame squarely on culture -- namely, a cozy relationship between politicians, regulators and the nuclear power industry. It goes so far as to suggest the accident might have occurred even without an earthquake and tsunami.

There's a big EU summit going on in Brussels today, and it appears leaders have come up with an agreement that may help ease the debt crisis -- at least somewhat.

The 15-month uprising in Syria has been especially worrisome for Turkey -- which shares a border -- now more than ever after Syria shot down a Turkish military plane last Friday. Before the conflict, the two had been trading partners.