Headlines: US Government Shuts Down, World Says, 'Meh'
The world's leading superpower doesn't have a fully operating government but, for the time being, the rest of the planet doesn't seem too alarmed.
News of the U.S. shutdown has yet to crack the front pages of many major newspapers around the globe. Iran's two major state-run news agencies, for instance, have barely mentioned it. The same goes for Pakistan's major English-language paper, Dawn, and leading Urdu outlet, Jang. In London, The Times and The Guardian did not feature U.S. shutdown news on front pages Friday.
But around the world, the budget stalemate is beginning to generate some negative headlines for the U.S. political system, economy and currency. Here's a look at some of them:
GERMANY: Der Spiegel rounds up criticism of the shutdown.
GERMANY: In its subheadline, Handelsblatt warns of "irreparable loss of confidence in the dollar" if spending and the debt limit aren't dealt with. The headline translates to "U.S. dollar budget dispute accelerated decline," according to Google.
FRANCE: An editorial in Le Monde warns, in its headline: "Jefferson, wake up, they became fools!"
ISRAEL: Haaretz shows an Associated Press photo of a woman protesting at the U.S. Capitol.
SRI LANKA: As evidence of the shutdown's global embarrassment, the U.S. State Dept. has pointed to this Sri Lanka Daily News editorial warning that, "For a country that advocates good governance and cautions leaders of other nations about elections not ensuring democracy by themselves - that advice must be packaged and returned to sender."
RUSSIA: Government-owned daily newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta writes that President Obama is convinced of American exceptionalism and was left with no means to keep the government funded, according to a Google translation.
CHINA: An op-ed in state-run news agency Xinhua posits that America's shutdown has "made the outside world uneasy."
CHINA: The state-run China News Service reports that "many Chinese tourists are sad and their tour guides are nervous."