Ireland accepts EU bailout of both banks and government (+ analysis); As NZ waits, China rescues 29 trapped miners of its own; Obama tells Karzai to pull his head in as NATo commits until 2014; Abbas blames Isreal ahead of peace talks; and more
Top of the Agenda: EU Finance Ministers Agree to Ireland Bailout
European finance minister agreed to a request from Ireland for a multibillion-euro emergency bailout (FT) Sunday, after Ireland abruptly stopped resisting help. British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said Britain's share of the bailout would be around $11 billion (NYT), in the form of bilateral aid to Ireland and through its commitments to the IMF's rescue mechanism. Governments hope the rescue package will help prevent the crisis from spreading to debt-riddled Portugal and Spain. The funds will provide back-up both to the country's failing banks and to the Irish government to continue operating without turning to bond markets. Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen said negotiations would begin with the IMF to discuss details of the plan and insisted "we are not ceding any policy sovereignty." Irish officials are especially concerned about preserving the country's 12.5 percent corporate tax rate, which other European officials consider unfair (WSJ).
Analysis:
In the Irish Times, Breda O'Brien says the EU bailout "may ultimately prove no more damaging than what our own government would have had to impose on us anyway, but the shame and humiliation it entails will mean even more distrust of the EU."
In the Daily Telegraph, Christopher Booker says the eurozone project is bound to fail, because weaker members, tempted into reckless spending sprees by the arrangement, are no longer "able to defend themselves from the consequences by allowing their currencies to devalue."
Background:
This Geo-Graphics blog argues that corporate debt in Greece, Ireland, and Portugal is much riskier than government debt.
PACIFIC RIM: China Rescues 29 Trapped Miners
China rescued all twenty-nine miners who'd been trapped for twenty-four hours by a flash-flood in a Chinese coal mine, easing pressure on China's mining industries, which remains one of the worst-regulated and most dangerous (Telegraph) in the world.
North/South Korea: Revelations of a uranium enrichment facility (NYT) that recently went operational in North Korea apparently caught the South Korean government and the country's nuclear experts by surprise.
- Abbas Warns on Peace Talks, Settlements
- Afghanistan Tensions Flare at NATO Summit
- Gates: START Key to US-Russia Relations 
This is an excerpt of the CFR.org Daily News Brief. The full version is available on CFR.org