While you were sleeping…

Good morning

You’re not the only one who woke up cranky: this morning Israel’s defense minister claimed that he didn’t expect to ever see peace with Palestine.

HSBC bank announced massive job cuts worldwide as New Jersey Governor Chris Christie awaited judgement on pension cuts. Australia’s soccer boss said it was too nice in its bid for the 2022 World Cup gig. A sabotaging squirrel caused a San Francisco power outage.

Israel’s defense boss dismissed Palestine peace

Bleak news from Israel today as its defense minister says he doesn’t expect to see peace with Palestine in his lifetime. He’s only 64 and says”I intend to live a bit longer”. It comes a day after the Supreme court axed a law allowing Americans born in the disputed city of Jerusalem from putting Israel in their passport as their country of birth.

HSBC bank planned job cuts

The troubled international bank plans to save cash by slashing 50,000 jobs worldwide. Most job losses will be in Turkey, Brazil and the UK but it also plans a revamp of its U.S. interests.

Australia was too naive for FIFA bid

The country lost out to Qatar in its bid for the 2022 World Cup because it played too straight, said the boss of Australia’s football federation. Frank Lowy said the team behind the bid hadn’t realised that the real negotiation was happening behind closed doors.

New Jersey planned a pension cut decision

Governor Chris Christie’s potential presidential run hangs in the balance. Today New Jersey’s Supreme Court decides whether the Republican violated pensioners’ rights when he cut $1.6bn from the state’s contribution to the public retirement system.

A San Francisco squirrel caused a power cut

At least 4,500 people were left in the dark after the pesky rodent tackled equipment in a San Francisco substation last night. People in San Francisco, Berkeley and Oakland lost power for a few hours, and theBerkeley station of the Bay Area Rapid Transit system shut for a while.