It appears the continent still doesn’t quite trust the new guy: The Times of London reports that NATO leaders have almost uniformly rejected President Obama’s request that they send more troops to Afghanistan. The only countries to oblige it are Britain, of course, which the Guardian reports will commit up to 1,000 troops, as well as Belgium and Spain, which offered 35 and 12 military trainers respectively. Nicolas Sarkozy, who is hosting the NATO meeting, refused Obama’s request, while Germany, Italy, Poland, Canada, and Denmark are still mulling it over. The Times writes “The derisory response threatened to tarnish Mr. Obama’s European tour, which yesterday included a spellbinding performance in Strasbourg in which he offered the world a vision of a future free of nuclear weapons.”

Ready your pitchfork: While all of the major banks benefiting from the $700 billion bailout package rescue package have already submitted records of ownership and executive pay, the Treasury has created special entities for new firms to evade congressional restrictions. The administration is setting up middlemen that channel bailout funds to companies in an effort to increase participation from firms. Treasury officials say they are doing this because Congress’ harsh limitations on the bailout may have dissuaded some firms from participating. There’s been little protest on the Hill, but the Chairman of the Oversight Committee says he believes that any company benefiting from the bailout money should be subject to the same congressional restrictions, and legal experts say this strategy to bypass congressional restrictions may be unlawful. Said a former Justice Department Attorney of the government: "They are basically trying to launder the money to avoid complying with the plain language of the law.”

The national unemployment rate is already at a 25-year high of 8.5 percent, and Bloomberg reports it's bound to get worse. Large employers like the US Postal Service are cutting their payrolls, and the crackdown on auto industry expenditures could mean more layoffs, especially if GM lands in bankruptcy. What's more, the LA Times notes that the "real" unemployment rate could be high as 15.6 percent, according to the Labor Department's own statistics. Why the disparity? Among those who count as "employed" are "marginally attached workers" (people who don't work but indicate that they have a tie to an employer that could call them back in the near future), "discouraged workers" (the long-term unemployed), and the undemployed. With six states facing dougle-digit unemployment, The Nation argues that joblessness is a "wake-up call" for Obama: The markets may be up, but his work on the economy is not done, yet.

This is a waiting game no one is eager to play. North Korea is set to launch a rocket or missile in the next five days, but after Saturday passed with little fanfare, many are wondering when, or if, the act will occur. President Obama said, on Friday, that a launch by North Korea would be “provocative” and would come with consequences. “Should North Korea decide to take this action, we will work...to take appropriate steps to let North Korea know that it can't threaten the safety and security of other countries with impunity,” said the President. Authorities in Japan, which has threatened to shoot down the missile, initially said they detected the launch but, apparently, spoke too soon and took back their claim.

With masks over their faces and Molotov cocktails in hand, protesters set fire to a Strasbourg bridge that links France to Germany today--the same bridge President Obama and NATO leaders used for a symbolic photo op this morning. Protests at the NATO summit have grown so unruly that a visit to a cancer hospital planned for Michelle Obama and other first spouses was cancelled due to safety concerns. 15,000 police and troops from France and Germany are patrolling the city; 1000 protesters are estimated to be there. Nonetheless, one group stormed hotel and stole alcohol before setting the building on fire. Police are using water cannons to dispel unruly protesters and to put out fires. Meanwhile, the Associated Press reports that protesters are already on the streets of Turkey, where Obama will arrive on Sunday. Obama will land in Ankara, where anti-U.S. and anti-NATO alike have already begun to chant: "Obama go home! We don't want you! Yankee go home!"

How effective are the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals? Although the charity grabs headlines for its celebrities-in-the-buff advertisements, it was reported that last year 96 percent of the animals taken to the Virginia headquarters were euthanized. Although some of the pets were in extremely poor health, “unsocialized,” or aggressive, adoptable animals that were not able to find homes were among the 2,124 put to sleep. Only seven were placed in homes. “We are doing the dirty work that others won't,” said the vice president for cruelty investigations. “We are proud to be a shelter of last resort that takes in old broken animals and gives them a humane end.” The group has a $32 million annual budget—most of which funds its high-profile campaigns against the meat and fur industries.

First Oakland, now Pittsburgh—the recent increase of violence against police officers is alarming. Three officers were killed by a gunman “lying in wait” today while on response to a domestic disturbance call in a relatively quiet neighborhood in Pittsburgh. The suspect, 23-year-old Richard Poplawski, was wearing a bulletproof vest when he met the officers at the door and shot them immediately in the head. The Associated Press reports that friends claim Poplawski recently lost his job and feared that President Obama would take away his right to own a weapon. One of the slain officers, Eric Kelly, was a veteran of the force for 14 years, and Stephen Mayhle and Paul Sciullo III were each a part of the force for two years. Poplawski remains unharmed because of the vest and is charged with three counts of homicide, aggravated assault, and a weapons violation.

A shocking video of Taliban militants flogging a 17-year-old girl has emerged, causing public outcry in Pakistan. Two men pin the girl to the ground while she is flogged by a third, and dozens of people look on as she screams. The government is inquiring into the situation, and President Asif Ali Zardari has ordered the floggers’ arrest. But the government has little control over the violent Swat Valley, where the flogging took place. The Taliban rules the region, and an official order to produce the woman in Islamabad next Monday probably won’t be obeyed. A Taliban spokesperson defended the flogging, saying: "She had to be punished. The punishment administered by local Taliban was in our knowledge and they did the right thing, but the method was wrong."

Upon entering an immigration services center in Binghamton yesterday, gunman Jiverly Voong immediately shot the two receptionists, killing one and wounding the other. The wounded receptionist proved herself a “hero,” according to the local police chief, playing dead until Voong moved on, then crawling under her desk, calling 911, and providing information to the police over the phone for 90 minutes. The New York Post, meanwhile, talks to survivors of the rampage that killed 14 including Voong. “My whole body was numb. I thought my life was over,” says Zhanar Tokhtavayeva, a Kazakhstani immigrant.

It's been a rough week in Wasilla. First, Bristol Palin's baby-daddy, Levi Johnston spilled details of their sex life during a taping of the Tyra Banks Show. Sarah Palin snapped back at the 19-year-old who she allegedly would allow to sleep over with her daughter: "It is unfortunate that Levi finds it more appealing to exploit his previous relationship with Bristol than to contribute to the well being of the child." Now, the Palins are probably even paler: Todd's half-sister Diana was arrested for breaking into a home in Wasilla and stealing money. Diana was caught red-handed in somebody's home on Thursday, and now faces two counts of felony burglary and misdemeanor counts of criminal trespass and theft.

Well, at least he paid his taxes. One of Barack Obama’s top economic advisers, Lawrence Summers, was paid over $5.2 million last year by the hedge fund D.E. Shaw, reports The Washington Post. The White House released financial disclosure funds Friday, which revealed Summers’ compensation for serving as the hedge fund’s part-time managing director after he resigned as president of Harvard University. The forms also showed that Summers received hundreds of thousands of dollars for delivering speeches at troubled Wall Street firms including JP Morgan, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and Lehman Brothers. White House aides said Summers’ speaking engagements occurred before he was officially part of the Obama transition team.

When Michelle Obama and Carla Sarkozy met yesterday, some were expecting a fashion showdown—indeed, when Sarkozy announced she would not accompany her husband to the G-20 in London, many (namely, the insatiable British press) speculated it was because she did not want to share the limelight. But the two First Ladies appear more like peas in a pod than rivals. Cathryn Horyn writes in The New York Times that “Mrs. Obama and Mrs. Sarkozy looked remarkably similar, suggesting that both women know fashion—and themselves—pretty well.” Though Sarkozy is a former model, “the French first lady has proved to be far more refined in her look than trendy.” And unlike the other first ladies in London, Obama looked “contemporary and inviting—not a drab cardboard cutout.”

Enjoys your news, Boston, while you have it: The New York Times Company is threatening to close the Boston Globe unless the newspaper’s unions agree to $20 million in concessions. The Globe reports on its own troubles: “Executives from the Times Co. and Globe made the demands Thursday morning in an approximately 90-minute meeting with leaders of the newspaper's 13 unions, union officials said. The possible concessions include pay cuts, the end of pension contributions by the company, and the elimination of lifetime job guarantees now enjoyed by some veteran employees.” Concessions will have to be negotiated individually with each union and, according to one union leader, must be completed within 30 days.

The owners of Royal Fried Chicken were just trying to capture the zeitgeist when they changed the name of their establishment last week to—this is pretty unfortunate—Obama Fried Chicken. “Community leaders came. They told us we have to change the name,” said Mohammad Jabbar, the manager. “They said if you don’t change it they will take action.” Consequently, Obama Fried Chicken will be renamed again this weekend to Popular Fried Chicken. Action has yet to be taken against the nearby Obama Beauty Shop, whose owner says its $49.99 Michelle Obama wig is a bestseller.

A little over a year ago, many expected (or feared) that Rudy Giuliani would be our next president. Now, the former New York City mayor may be having trouble keeping his consulting firm afloat. The New York Post reports that Giuliani Partners currently employees about 30 people, down from 60 two years ago. According to sources, Rudy is hardly ever there, and “the firm's client list has thinned out in the past few years, as have partner salaries.” The company denies that it has cut salaries, says that, while it has less clients than before, they are higher-priced, and insists that “Rudy's spending more time than ever at the company.”

He really shot himself in the foot—well, thigh. After the New York Giants’ Super Bowl champ and wide receiver Plaxico Burress accidentally shot himself in the thigh in a Manhattan nightclub last November, his team said they’d stick with him, criminal charges and all. But they spoke too soon: Burress was abruptly cut loose from the team on Friday. “We hung in there as long as we could in hopes that there could be a resolution to this situation,” said the Giants general manager. Burress faces two felony counts of criminal possession of a loaded and unlicensed weapon, which carry a minimum charge of three and a half years in prison. It’s likely the NFL will suspend him for personal conduct violations, and even if his charges were reduced he would have missed most of this season. Burress caught the winning touchdown in the 2008 Super Bowl. Let’s hope he enjoyed it.