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News In Brief

MID-DAY UPDATE: Egypt stock markets reopen, more water warnings in Tokyo

Katharine Crnko Mar 23, 2011
  • Tokyo health officials said today radiation levels are higher in the water supply there. Those officials are recommending people not give tap water to infants. The water warning comes after some locally-grown foods turned up with higher levels of radiation.Here‘s Marketplace’s coverage.
  • Japan’s government said the earthquake and tsunami could cost the country $309 billion. That’s more than twice the cost of damage from Hurricane Katrina.Here‘s Marketplace’s coverage.
  • The Egyptian stock exchange dropped 10 percent within moments of its open. The exchange had been closed since January, when the uprising began in Egypt.Here‘s Marketplace’s coverage.
  • General Mills said today its profit jumped last quarter despite the increasing cost of the ingredients used to make its cereals, soups and ice creams. Overseas sales helped offset a slight decline here in the U.S.
  • Toyota said today it’s gonna delay the Japanese launch of its new hybrid Prius minivan and wagon. The earthquake and tsunami caused big production problems.
  • Buyers of new homes plunged in February to the fewest on records dating back nearly half a century, a dismal sign for an already-weak housing market.
  • Applications for U.S. home mortgages ticked higher last week, while demand for refinancing rose for the third week in a row, an industry group said Wednesday.
  • To Beverly Hills. There was a press conference yesterday to oppose the construction of a new 42,000 square foot mega-mansion there. Well actually if you include the villa, guest house and staff quarters, it’s 85,000 square feet and would dwarf LA’s famous Griffith Observatory. Though someone associated with the project told the LA Times, “It’s just a normal Mediterranean style house.”
  • Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez believes in aliens. He even thinks there may have been life at one time on Mars. In a speech marking World Water Day earlier this week, Chavez — an avowed socialist — said the red planet could have had a civilization long ago. But he says when they adopted capitalism, the civilization died off.

You can check out the rest of the Marketplace Morning Report’s coverage here.

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