Can't help feeling that today could live in infamy:


It's Carl Dinnen here with today's Snowmail and be warned; we're on early this evening at 5.55pm.

US CREDIT DOWNGRADE

Was this a 'moment'? Will the historians look back at today and note a global power shift? It wasn't so much the US credit rating downgrade - that was almost expected. It was the Chinese reaction. A commentary from the official Xinhua news agency said China had the right to demand ... demand! ... the United States address its structural debt problems (this from a country that bridles when anyone suggests they address their structural human rights problems). But as the US has racked up a huge overdraft with the Chinese aren't they entitled to ask it to get its finances in order? Our Economics Editor Faisal Islam will be explaining what has just happened and what it means to us.

America’s AAA credit rating downgraded

http://www.channel4.com/news/america...ing-downgraded

Faisal Islam: What to watch as America awakes to financial vulnerability

http://blogs.channel4.com/faisal-isl...rability/14578

NATO CRASH

It was always one of the worst nightmares for those running the Afghan campaign and now, for the Americans, it seems it has come true. A Chinook helicopter full of troops has reportedly come down killing all on board. Details are hard to come by, probably because the downed machine was on a Special Forces mission, but the Afghans say 31 Americans and 7 Afghans have been killed. The Taliban are naturally claiming to have shot it down. If that turns out to be true it is a deeply troubling turn of events. The US and UK campaigns rely heavily on Chinooks. Keme Nzerem will have the latest.

US troops killed in Afghan helicopter crash

http://www.channel4.com/news/nato-he...in-afghanistan