Midday Roundup: Negativity increases everywhere but Facebook

Support slips. President Barack Obama’s approval rating has slipped in the last four months, suggesting Americans don’t blame Congress alone for the nation’s budget woes. According to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, voters have increasingly negative views about the president’s handling of the economy. But his approval rating is still relatively high—50 percent. On the question of who the public trusts more to deal with the nation’s finances, the president has 44 percent support, compared to congressional Republicans’ 40 percent. The number of people who say neither can be trusted rose to 11 percent.

Bloody anniversary. Today marks two years of fighting in Syria’s civil war. Rebel commanders pledged this morning to continue fighting until President Bashar Assad’s regime falls. “We will not give up,” pledged Gen. Salim Idris, head of the Supreme Military Council. Assad’s fighters beefed up security in Damascus for the anniversary, fearing additional attacks in the nation’s capital. The UN estimates 70,000 people have died so far in the uprising, which drags on as neither side can claim a decisive victory.

Risky business. A Senate subcommittee grilled JPMorgan Chase executives today, peppering them with questions about the bank’s $6.2 billion loss in 2012. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said a 301-page report detailing the scandal “exposes a derivative trading culture at JPMorgan that piled on risk, that hid losses, that disregarded risk limits, that manipulated risk models, that dodged oversight and that misinformed the public.” The bank used federally insured deposits for part of the risky trades. Yesterday, the bank issued a statement acknowledging mistakes but reiterated its claim senior managers acted in good faith.

Internet outage. North Korean officials are blaming South Korea and the United States for a cyberattack that shut down the country’s main internet service provider for several days. Outside Pyongyang, experts suggested Chinese hackers were more likely responsible for the outage. Although China and North Korea are allies, Beijing has joined the United States and other world powers in condemning the country’s recent nuclear tests and subsequent threats of attack. South Korean officials denied any involvement in the cyberattack. The U.S. military declined to comment.

Love thy boss. Facebook investors might not be crazy about him, but Mark Zuckerberg’s employees think he’s the best boss in the country. Facebook staffers gave Zuckerberg a 99 percent approval rating in this year’s Glassdoor poll, up from 85 percent the year before. Apple CEO Tim Cook dropped from the top spot to 18th, with an approval rating of 93 percent.