From Yahoo News Top Stories |
1 White House: No immediate deal on auto loans
Associated Press
1 hr 28 mins ago
WASHINGTON – The White House said Sunday it does not expect to make an announcement by Monday on a possible plan to prevent the collapse of the troubled auto industry.
The Bush administration is considering ways to provide emergency aid to General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC, which have said they could run out of cash within weeks without government help.
White House officials said they did not expect an announcement on any funding for the companies on Sunday or Monday. President George W. Bush made a surprise visit to Iraq on Sunday. |
2 Global woes pose risks, also openings for US
By TOM RAUM, Associated Press Writer
2 hrs 29 mins ago
WASHINGTON – The economic slump roaring across the world's geopolitical map poses weighty challenges, as well as some unexpected opportunities, for President-elect Barack Obama.
Japan and major European countries have joined the United States in falling into recession. China has seen its remarkable three-decades long export-fueled rise slowed. Oil-based economies on Washington's worry list such as Iran, Russia and Venezuela, are reeling, too.
The U.S. led the rest of the world into the economic crisis, and many global players hope Washington can lead the world out. International investments pouring into low-interest U.S. Treasury securities in recent weeks show that, even if the U.S. has lost prestige internationally in recent years, it's still deemed one of the safest places to park money. |
3 Britain promises more anti-terror aid to Pakistan
By PAISLEY DODDS, Associated Press Writer
Sun Dec 14, 8:30 am ET
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Sunday pledged more technical support and funding to help Pakistan and India battle terrorism in the wake of the attacks in Mumbai that killed more than 160 people.
Brown made the offers as he made whirlwind visits to both nations' capitals and tried to calm tensions following the assaults, which India has blamed on a Pakistani-based Islamist group.
Brown urged the nuclear-armed rivals to cooperate to peacefully resolve the crisis, which the U.S. fears could divert Pakistan's attention away from battling al-Qaida and Taliban militants along its border with Afghanistan. |
4 Closing arguments to begin in Fort Dix plot trial
Associated Press
53 mins ago
CAMDEN, N.J. – They watched jihadist videos, listed to incendiary Islamist speeches, bought guns and practiced using them, and got a map of the Army's Fort Dix.
And they were secretly recorded by FBI informants as they talked about bringing a holy war to America.
But were the five men who spent years in the comfortable Philadelphia suburb of Cherry Hill really planning a homegrown terrorist attack on U.S. soil? Or were the foreign-born Muslims just jihad sympathizers who talked tough but had no real intention of killing anyone? |
5 Historic Chinese junk loses home, may be destroyed
By JULIANA BARBASSA, Associated Press Writer
49 mins ago
SAN FRANCISCO – Half a century ago, six men with no sailing experience climbed aboard an aging Chinese junk in Taiwan and survived a typhoon that nearly wrecked the little ship. But after sailing nearly 7,000 miles across the Pacific, they were greeted by cheering crowds as they sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge.
Now that turn-of-the-century junk, which experts say may be last salvageable vessel of its type, could be destroyed if it does not find a permanent home by the end of December.
With it would go a piece of U.S. and Chinese history — the boat's name, the "Free China," evokes Cold War rhetoric. But the ship also holds the unwritten knowledge of traditional Chinese boatbuilding, said Hans Van Tilburg, a historian with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. |
6 Police thwart Moscow rally, seize 90-130
By PAUL SONNE, Associated Press Writer
38 mins ago
MOSCOW – Police thwarted a banned anti-Kremlin protest in central Moscow on Sunday, seizing demonstrators and shoving them into trucks. Organizers said 130 people were detained around the capital but police put the number at 90.
The opposition movement headed by fierce Kremlin critic and former chess champion Garry Kasparov said the co-leader of the group was one of those seized.
The Other Russia movement organized the protest, in defiance of a ban, to draw attention to Russia's economic troubles and to protest Kremlin plans to extend the presidential term from four years to six. Critics say the constitutional change as part of a retreat from democracy and is aimed at strengthening the grip of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his allies. |
7 Bush: Iraq war is not over, more work ahead
By JENNIFER LOVEN, AP White House Correspondent
3 mins ago
BAGHDAD – On an Iraq trip shrouded in secrecy and marred by dissent, President George W. Bush on Sunday hailed progress in the war that defines his presidency and got a size-10 reminder of his unpopularity when a man hurled two shoes at him during a news conference.
"This is the end!" shouted the protester, later identified as Muntadar al-Zeidi, a correspondent for Al-Baghdadia television, an Iraqi-owned station based in Cairo, Egypt.
Bush ducked both shoes as they whizzed past his head and landed with a thud against the wall behind him. |
8 Fed to press rates toward zero
By Alister Bull, Reuters
2 hrs 18 mins ago
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to drop interest rates close to zero on Tuesday, but anticipated remarks on unconventional methods to dispel a year-old recession are what will really matter.
Economists forecast a clear statement that the U.S. central bank will aggressively deploy so-called quantitative easing measures to shelter the economy from a steepening downturn, but do not expect details of what steps it will actually take.
Those words would accompany a decision by the Fed to lower its target for overnight rates by at least a half-percentage point, economists believe. |
9 Banks and consumers brace for new credit card rules
By John Poirier, Reuters
Sat Dec 13, 10:56 pm ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. credit card industry, harshly criticized for imposing surprise fees and interest rate hikes on consumers, may face a day of reckoning on Thursday..
The Federal Reserve is to vote on credit card reforms that may bring some relief to customers who face a variety of ways for being hit with late fees, universal defaults, shorter payment periods and confusing payment allocations for different balances.
Credit card users likely also would see easier-to-read tables in their monthly statements as a result of the changes. |
10 Somali president sacks prime minister
By Mohamed Ahmed, Reuters
Sun Dec 14, 10:14 am ET
BAIDOA, Somalia (Reuters) – Somalia's President Abdullahi Yusuf sacked his prime minister Sunday after they disagreed on a new cabinet demanded by donors, throwing his Western-backed interim government into disarray.
Hassan Hussein Nur Adde was the second premier fired by Yusuf and had been in the job for only about a year. The fragile administration is fighting Islamist rebels who control the south and are camped on the outskirts of the capital Mogadishu.
Yusuf told legislators and journalists in Baidoa, the central town where parliament sits, that he would appoint Hussein's replacement within three days. |
11 Greek government under fire over handling of riots
By Renee Maltezou and Silvia Aloisi, Reuters
Sun Dec 14, 8:41 am ET
ATHENS (Reuters) – A week of violence in Greece has taken its toll on the fragile conservative government, with opinion polls showing on Sunday many think authorities mishandled the worst rioting in decades.
The December 6 killing of a 15-year-old boy by police unleashed a wave of unrest by thousands of students and anarchists across the country, feeding on growing anger over political scandals and the impact of a global recession on Greece's economy.
While the violence has generally subsided in the past few days, small groups of hooded youngsters hurling fire bombs are still rampaging at night in the capital, fighting running battles with riot police and smashing shops. |
12 New report slams U.S. reconstruction of Iraq: report
Reuters
Sun Dec 14, 10:52 am ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) – An unpublished federal draft report depicts the U.S.-led reconstruction of Iraq as a $100 billion failure doomed by bureaucratic infighting, ignorance of basic elements of Iraqi society and waves of violence there, The New York Times reported in its Sunday editions.
The Pentagon issued inflated progress reports to cover up the reconstruction's failure once the effort began to lag, according to the Times, which received copies of the document from two people who had read the draft but were not authorized to comment publicly about it.
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell is cited as saying, for example, that in the months after the 2003 invasion the Defense Department "kept inventing numbers of Iraqi security forces -- the number would jump 20,000 a week! 'We now have 80,000, we now have 100,000, we now have 120,000.'" |
13 Merkel dampens hopes of fresh German stimulus soon
Reuters
Sun Dec 14, 5:51 am ET
BERLIN (Reuters) – Chancellor Angela Merkel played down any prospect of Germany agreeing fresh stimulus measures soon, saying she will use a "growth summit" on Sunday to first assess the economic situation in Europe's largest economy.
Merkel has faced pressure from other European leaders to do more to promote growth, and raised some hopes on Thursday when she said Germany knew it had a responsibility as an economic power and would consider new stimulus measures over time.
The focus at Sunday's meeting would be on taking stock of the economic situation, and preparing possible ways to respond should circumstances deteriorate further, the chancellor told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper. |
14 Greek militants warn of new protests
by Roddy Thomson, AFP
10 mins ago
ATHENS (AFP) – Greek militants warned of new protests Sunday after an attack on an Athens police station became the latest clash with authority over the police killing of a teenager.
About 100 protesters attacked a police station where two officers accused over the December 6 death of 15-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos are based.
The police station is near the Exarchia district where the shooting took place and where on Sunday Athens Polytechnic student protest leaders met to plan new action. |
15 European banks suffer new hit from Madoff scandal
by Olivier Thibault, AFP
15 mins ago
MADRID (AFP) – Banks and financial authorities across Europe scrambled Sunday to uncover the scope of losses suffered at the hands of New York investment broker Bernard Madoff.
Madoff is alleged to have lost 50 billion dollars in a giant pyramid scheme that collapsed in the global financial crisis and top European banks are reported to be clients.
Italy's stock market watchdog, the Consob, has launched an investigation into the impact of the scandal on the national financial system, Ansa news agency reported. |
16 Fortis bank, saved from collapse, again on shaky ground
by Catherine Marciano, AFP
Sat Dec 13, 3:26 pm ET
BRUSSELS (AFP) – Belgian-Dutch bank Fortis, saved from collapse by government rescue plans, is again teetering on shaky ground after small shareholders won a court case which freezes a buyout by BNP Paribas.
Hard hit by the global financial crisis, Fortis was dismantled in October, with its Dutch assets nationalised by the Netherlands for 16.8 billion euros (22 billion dollars) and its Belgian and Luxembourg activities sold to France-based BNP Paribas.
But now there is a stop on the Fortis transactions in Belgium, including a 65-day freeze on government involvement in the bank and insurance group, while an expert panel reviews the deal, a Belgian court of appeal ruled late Friday. |
17 Green activists find new ally in US unions
By VANESSA GERA, Associated Press Writer
2 hrs 46 mins ago
POZNAN, Poland – Some U.S. labor groups that have long feared environmental campaigns as a threat to American jobs are starting to see advantages in going green.
This evolution was clear at this week's U.N. climate talks in Poland, where several American labor groups and environmental activists made joint appeals for policies that would promote high-tech renewable energy as the answer to both climate change and job losses.
About 25 representatives of U.S. unions were in Poznan — about twice the number at last year's U.N. talks in Bali, Indonesia — representing workers from the electrical, transit, steel, service and other sectors. |
18 Turkmen voters elect parliament, no results yet
By ALEXANDER VERSHININ, Associated Press Writer
54 mins ago
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan – Voters in Turkmenistan cast ballots Sunday in a parliamentary election hailed by the government as an exercise in democracy but dismissed by critics as a sham.
It was the first parliamentary election since the death of longtime autocrat Saparmurat Niyazov two years ago, which kindled hopes the Central Asian country would introduce greater freedoms.
The government of his successor, President Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov, has cast the election as an important step in the development of democracy, but opponents claim it is meant to appease Western countries eager to win access to its natural-gas reserves but wary of its record on human rights. |
19 Zimbabwe publishes law for unity government
By Nelson Banya
Sun Dec 14, 7:50 am ET
HARARE (Reuters) – Zimbabwe has published a draft constitutional law to create a unity government but the opposition MDC on Sunday vowed to block the proposed changes until its demands for equitable power-sharing are met.
President Robert Mugabe and MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai agreed to form a unity government in September, but the deal has stalled over disagreements on control of key ministries.
The state-run Sunday Mail reported that the constitutional amendment bill -- creating the office of prime minister for Tsvangirai -- had been published on Saturday. The MDC immediately rejected the move, saying it was not consulted. |
20 South Africa ANC uses apartheid-style intimidation: rivals
By Stella Mapenzauswa, Reuters
Sun Dec 14, 6:41 am ET
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – A breakaway faction of South Africa's ruling ANC on Sunday accused the party of mounting a campaign of intimidation against its supporters.
Public servants have been threatened with dismissal if they offered support for the new Congress of the People (COPE), its interim chairman, Mosiuoa Lekota, said.
COPE was formed two months ago by ANC defectors loyal to former South African President Thabo Mbeki and says it will challenge the ANC, now led Mbeki's rival Jacob Zuma, at national elections next year. |
21 Thai opposition Democrats favored to win PM vote
By Viparat Jantraprap
Sun Dec 14, 2:33 am ET
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand's parliament votes for a new prime minister on Monday, with the opposition Democrats favorites to emerge at the head of a weak coalition government as the economy flirts with recession. Another small political party pledged on Sunday to back Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva, who has made reviving the export and tourism-dependent economy his top priority.
Pradit Pataraprasit, secretary general of Ruam Jai Thai Chart Pattana, told Reuters the party's nine MPs would support Abhisit in the vote scheduled for 9:30 a.m. (0230 GMT).
Parliament is choosing a new prime minister because Somchai Wongsawat, brother-in-law of ousted leader Thaksin Shinawatra, was sacked by the courts after his People Power Party (PPP) was found guilty of fraud in the December 2007 election that brought it to power. |
22 Russian warships visit Cold War ally Nicaragua
By Ivan Castro, Reuters
Sat Dec 13, 9:45 pm ET
MANAGUA (Reuters) – Russian officials donated generators and computers to Nicaragua on Saturday during a visit by three Russian warships to the Central American nation that opposition leaders condemned as illegal.
Russia donated about $200,000 worth of equipment to hospitals, police and the army during the stop at the southern port of Bluefields, Gen. Julio Aviles, the Nicaraguan army's chief of staff, told state radio.
The visit by the anti-submarine destroyer Admiral Chabanenko and two support vessels was the first since the 1990 fall of Daniel Ortega's Marxist Sandinista government, which allied itself with the Soviet Union during the Cold War. |
23 African neighbours in joint raid on Ugandan rebels
by Ben Simon, AFP
1 hr 59 mins ago
KAMPALA (AFP) – Forces from Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and southern Sudan launched a joint military operation Sunday against Uganda's rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in eastern DR Congo, a joint statement said.
LRA chief Joseph Kony and his top lieutenants have frustrated recent efforts to finalise a deal bringing a definitive end to Uganda's civil war and continued to commit atrocities in neighbouring countries.
"The armed forces of Uganda (UPDF), DRC (FARDC) and Southern Sudan (SPLA) in a joint intelligence-led military operation, this morning the 14th of December 2008, launched an attack on the LRA terrorists of Joseph Kony in Garamba forests of the Democratic Republic of Congo," it said. |
24 Congolese, Rwandan businessmen aided Congo rebels: UN report
by Charlotte Plantive, AFP
Sat Dec 13, 5:18 pm ET
KINSHASA (AFP) – An advisor to Rwandan President Paul Kagame and a member of the Congolese opposition, both wealthy businessmen, have been cited in a UN report as key financial backers of rebels in eastern DR Congo.
The report by UN experts claims Kigali has supported ethnic Tutsi rebels led by ex-general Laurent Nkunda in the Democratic Republic of Congo -- a charge denied by Rwanda on Saturday.
It also cites "extensive collaboration" between Congolese government troops and Hutu rebels of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) as well as with Mai Mai militia. |
25 A Gay-Pride Revolution in Hong Kong
By DEENA GUZDER AND ANN BINLOT / HONG KONG, Time Magazine
1 hr 34 mins ago
There were no drag queens in sexy ensembles with heavy makeup strutting down the streets in platform heels or buff shirtless sailor boys splayed like starfish on moving floats. But Hong Kong's first official gay-pride parade Saturday was still a colorful gathering; in fact, for a country that rarely acknowledges homosexuality, let alone celebrates it, it was downright revolutionary. |
From Yahoo News U.S. News |
26 On breaks, Obama will return home to city streets
By DEANNA BELLANDI, Associated Press Writer
Sun Dec 14, 10:15 am ET
CHICAGO – When President-elect Barack Obama heads home for a break from the White House, he won't go to a sprawling ranch or private seaside compound.
Obama will come back to a crowded city neighborhood, creating different security challenges for the Secret Service and perhaps headaches for his neighbors.
No other recent first family has lived in a city neighborhood like the Obamas. The $1.6 million mansion he and his wife, Michelle, share with their two young daughters sits just off a busy street — a stretch of which has been closed to traffic — and his closest neighbors are just a few feet away. |
27 Obama left with little time to curb global warming
By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer
1 hr 41 mins ago
WASHINGTON – When Bill Clinton took office in 1993, global warming was a slow-moving environmental problem that was easy to ignore. Now it is a ticking time bomb that President-elect Barack Obama can't avoid.
Since Clinton's inauguration, summer Arctic sea ice has lost the equivalent of Alaska, California and Texas. The 10 hottest years on record have occurred since Clinton's second inauguration. Global warming is accelerating. Time is close to running out, and Obama knows it.
"The time for delay is over; the time for denial is over," he said on Tuesday after meeting with former Vice President Al Gore, who won a Nobel Peace Prize for his work on global warming. "We all believe what the scientists have been telling us for years now that this is a matter of urgency and national security and it has to be dealt with in a serious way." |
28 Palin tops list of memorable quotes
Associated Press
26 mins ago
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Sarah Palin lost the election, but she's a winner to a connoisseur of quotations.
The Republican vice presidential candidate and her comedic doppelganger, Tina Fey, took the top two spots in this year's list of most memorable quotes compiled by Fred R. Shapiro.
First place was "I can see Russia from my house!" spoken in satire of Palin's foreign policy credentials by Fey on "Saturday Night Live." |
29 Victims lash out at Hollywood private investigator
Associated Press
2 hrs 16 mins ago
LOS ANGELES – Victims of former Hollywood private eye Anthony Pellicano say they have never been able to free themselves from the emotional and financial fallout caused by crimes he committed while wiretapping the rich and famous.
A former reporter says she has nightmares about being hunted and raped. A mother says her daughter is mocked by other kids and their parents. An actress who once appeared in a popular television series says she has found little work since.
They are among the victims who have submitted letters to the federal judge who is scheduled to sentence Pellicano on Monday. The former private investigator is already in custody since being convicted of a total of 78 counts, including wiretapping, racketeering and wire fraud, in two separate trials earlier this year. |
30 Rolling paper giant sues over NYC firm's T-shirts
By JENNIFER PELTZ, Associated Press Writer
Sun Dec 14, 1:45 am ET
NEW YORK – A prominent cigarette paper maker with drug-culture cachet is accusing a T-shirt company of stealing its distinctive style for a design celebrating President-elect Barack Obama's victory.
Bambu Sales Inc. — a 244-year-old firm that proudly notes its products' inclusion in such films as "Totally Baked: A Pot-u-mentary" and the "Cheech and Chong" series — filed a federal trademark-infringement lawsuit Friday against Love Fatigues LLC. The suit says Love Fatigues copied the curvy script and beige-and-white striped background used on Bambu's packages and its own T-shirts.
Love Fatigues' shirts say "Obama" in Bambu-like type. Some feature a version of the Panama-hat-clad smoker found in some Bambu logos — but with Obama's face. |
31 As rate cuts near end, Fed eyes effort to stave off deflation
by Rob Lever, AFP
59 mins ago
WASHINGTON (AFP) – With an economy sinking fast and key interest rates approaching zero, the Federal Reserve is struggling to find new tools to break a credit logjam and fire up growth, analysts say.
The central bank's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) headed by Ben Bernanke and set to meet Monday and Tuesday, is nonetheless expected to cut its base lending rate from the current level of 1.0 percent, even if the move would be largely symbolic.
Futures market trading suggests a strong likelihood of a cut in the funds rate to 0.25 percent, which would represent a sharp cut of three-fourths of a point. |
32 No easy fix for US newspaper industry
by Chris Lefkow, AFP
Sat Dec 13, 9:52 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Circulation is dropping, print advertising revenue is falling and readers are going online to get news for free, leaving the US newspaper industry awash in red ink and threatening some of the biggest names in journalism.
"The business model that used to work at newspapers does not work any more," The Washington Post Co. chairman Donald Graham said last week, echoing what many observers of the US media landscape have been saying for some time.
With The Tribune Co., owner of The Los Angeles Times and other newspapers, seeking bankruptcy protection and vultures circling around other publications, comedian Jon Stewart got into the act with a new punchline to an old joke.
"What's black and white and completely over?" Stewart asked viewers of his popular mock news television show on Comedy Central.
"Newspapers!" |
33 After Auto-Bailout Blowup, Will Bush Take the Wheel?
By JAY NEWTON-SMALL / WASHINGTON, Time Magazine
1 hr 53 mins ago
Senate Republicans and Democrats have been able to agree on precious little in the heated debate on whether to bail out the nation's beleaguered automakers. But in failing to reach a bipartisan compromise after marathon talks on Thursday, they effectively handed the hot-button issue to the person they believe should have dealt with it in the first place: President George W. Bush. And in a statement on Friday morning, the Administration said it would consider using the bank bailout money already approved by Congress to rescue the auto industry. |
34 Turnout in presidential elections hit 40-year high
Associated Press
2 hrs 33 mins ago
WASHINGTON – Enthusiasm among blacks and Democrats for Barack Obama's candidacy pushed voter turnout in this year's elections to the highest level in 40 years.
Final figures from nearly every state and the District of Columbia showed that more than 131 million people voted, the most ever for a presidential election. A little more than 122 million voted in 2004.
This year's total is 61.6 percent of the nation's eligible voters, the highest turnout rate since 1968, when Republican Richard M. Nixon defeated Democrat Hubert Humphrey, said Michael McDonald, a political science professor at George Mason University. |
35 AP Newsbreak: War vet widows wrongly denied help
By HOPE YEN, Associated Press Writer
Sat Dec 13, 4:12 pm ET
WASHINGTON – Widows of war veterans have been wrongfully denied up to millions of dollars in government benefits over the past 12 years due to computer glitches that often resulted in money being seized from the elderly survivors' bank accounts.
The Veterans Affairs Department said Saturday it wasn't fully aware of the problem. It pledged to work quickly to give back the pension and disability checks — ranging from $100 to more than $2,500 — that hundreds of thousands of widows should have received during the month of their spouse's death.
"This problem must be fixed," said VA Secretary James Peake. The department indicated in an "action plan" provided to The Associated Press that up to millions of dollars in back payments could be given to widows sometime after next February, once it can identify them. |
36 Embattled Illinois governor won't resign Monday
By Peter Bohan, Reuters
Sun Dec 14, 2:57 pm ET
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Scandal-plagued Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich will not resign Monday, his spokesman said Sunday, but pressure to do so continued to grow on the governor to step aside before he is impeached.
Blagojevich was arrested last week on charges of conspiracy to swap political favors for cash, including an attempt to sell the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Barack Obama following his November presidential election victory.
"We have heard that there is a possibility that tomorrow he will make an announcement where he will step aside," Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan told NBC's "Meet the Press." |
37 Disdain for Bush, hope for Obama on climate change
by Jerome Cartillier, AFP
Sun Dec 14, 3:41 pm ET
POZNAN, Poland (AFP) – George W. Bush's last hurrah in the global climate arena has met with a welling of disdain contrasting with the outsized expectations for his successor, Barack Obama.
At the UN climate talks in Poznan, no farewell tears were shed for Bush, whose rejection of the landmark Kyoto Protocol in 2001 almost destroyed multilateral efforts to roll back global warming.
"I don't know how to put this," top climate economist Nicholas Stern said mischievously at a dinner for businessmen and environmentalists, where he commented on Obama's election. |
38 US raps Kenya over media bill
AFP
Sat Dec 13, 1:42 pm ET
NAIROBI (AFP) – The United States on Saturday voiced concern over a media bill which was recently adopted by Kenya's parliament and curbs freedom of the press.
"The United States is very concerned about recent actions which potentially threaten freedom of the media in Kenya," the US embassy said in a statement.
Police arrested 55 civil society activists and journalists on Friday during a protest against the bill, which provides for heavy fines and prison sentences for press offences. |
39 US, UAE close to civilian nuclear cooperation deal: US
AFP
Fri Dec 12, 2:34 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are close to clinching a deal for civilian nuclear cooperation, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Friday.
However, McCormack, who did not make clear if President George W. Bush hoped to sign it before he leaves office, cautioned that such a deal would still have to clear many legislative and other hurdles before it takes effect.
McCormack was commenting on a report in the Wall Street Journal that said the Bush administration plans to sign a nuclear cooperation deal with the UAE, the first such pact with a Middle East country. |
40 US defends position after WTO talks scrapped
AFP
Fri Dec 12, 1:36 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States on Friday defended its position following the latest failue to jump-start talks to forge a global trade deal, saying it had demonstrated flexibility for a breakthrough.
World Trade Organization director general Pascal Lamy scrapped plans Friday to hold a ministerial meeting, citing the "unacceptably high" risk of failure, while Brazil pointed the finger at the "greedy" United States.
"The US has shown flexibility repeatedly in the past several weeks to achieve the convergence among WTO members necessary to convene a ministerial," US Trade Representative Susan Schwab said. |
41 Discounts drive shoppers to stores this weekend
Associated Press
52 mins ago
MILWAUKEE – Steep discounts on clothes, toys and electronics enticed shoppers to stores this weekend but they still are making fewer purchases leading into the final stretch of the holiday shopping season.
Based on early reports from analysts and malls, sales results were generally mixed to moderately down even as store traffic appeared strong this past weekend, the second-to-last of the season that can make or break many retailers.
Stores offered big discounts to shoppers who have been pulling back their spending, concerned about the recession and job stability. Shoppers came to stores for these discounts but largely stuck to their shopping lists and basic items like clothing, analysts say. |
42 Many small banks waiting to access gov't funds
By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER, AP Economics Writer
Sun Dec 14, 3:50 pm ET
WASHINGTON – Many small community banks are growing frustrated about their inability to access the government's $700 billion financial rescue fund, nearly two months after large banks began tapping the fund for much-needed capital.
Trade groups representing the banks complain that the delay is putting smaller institutions at a competitive disadvantage to publicly traded banks, more than 50 of which have received capital injections.
"They took care of Wall Street first, and it seems like Main Street got left behind," said Cynthia Blankenship, vice chairwoman of Bank of the West in Irving, Texas, which has $250 million in assets. Blankenship is also chairwoman of the Independent Community Bankers of America. |
43 Not just super rich caught up in Madoff case
By JOE BEL BRUNO, AP Business Writer
37 mins ago
NEW YORK – From a Jewish youth charity in Boston to major banks as far afield as Zurich, the list of investors who say they were duped in one of Wall Street's biggest Ponzi schemes is growing.
Around the world, investors who sunk cash into veteran Wall Street money manager Bernard Madoff's investment pool spent the weekend calculating how much exposure they might have. The 70-year-old Madoff, well respected in the investment community after serving as chairman of the Nasdaq Stock Market, was arrested Thursday in what prosecutors say was a $50 billion scheme to defraud investors.
One thing was clear in the fallout from his arrest: The alleged victims span from the super rich, to pensioners and powerful financial institutions, to local charities. Some investors claim they've been wiped out, while others are still likely to come forward. |
44 $27B Marine Corps vehicle program at crossroads
By DONNA BORAK, AP Business Writer
1 hr 26 mins ago
ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. – The Pentagon spent more than $1 billion and 12 years developing a high-speed vehicle made to carry Marines from sea to shore only to have it fail miserably in 2006. It was overweight, sprung leaks and constantly broke down.
The Marine Corps and contractor General Dynamics Corp. now face another critical test. A failure this week for the vehicles designed to replace a Vietnam-era fleet could doom the $27 billion program.
Any "show stopper" problems discovered during the review will be weighed to determine if the service's so-called Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle program moves forward to the next phase, Marine Corps spokesman Dave Branham said last week. |
45 Wall Street looks to Fed, auto bailout this week
By JOE BEL BRUNO, AP Business Writer
Sun Dec 14, 3:02 pm ET
NEW YORK – Don't expect Wall Street's turmoil to ebb in the year's last full week of trading as investors face questions about an auto bailout, the banking crisis, and the Federal Reserve's final rate-setting meeting of 2008.
The market, still hovering at decade lows, has yet to show any sign of a traditional year-end rally. And the next few days it will face a number of tests that could determine if investors are able to get past all the negative economic news to end the year on a bright note.
The fate of Detroit's three biggest automakers continues to be in question this week after the Senate failed to pass a $14 billion bailout for the Chrysler LLC and General Motors Corp. Ford Motor Co. has said in the past that it does not need government money to survive. |
46 OPEC divisions again on display heading to Algeria
By TAREK EL-TABLAWY, AP Business Writer
Sun Dec 14, 1:00 pm ET
CAIRO, Egypt – OPEC, the oil-producing group that consumers worldwide love to hate, is fine tuning its strategy heading into a meeting this week in Algeria, determined that its fourth attempt in as many months to reverse plummeting crude oil prices will succeed.
Working against the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is its own past — a history pockmarked with the rival priorities of its 13 member states and major policy blunders in times of economic crises.
One only need to look back two weeks when the group met in Cairo and postponed a decision on production cuts until Wednesday's meeting in Oran, Algeria, sending crude prices tumbling to $40 a barrel, the lowest level since 2004. |
47 Report: Saudi's Prince Alwaleed lost $4B this year
By ADAM SCHRECK, AP Business Writer
Sun Dec 14, 10:23 am ET
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – The Saudi prince who owns a double-decker "flying palace" and recently raised his bet on Citigroup lost $4 billion in the past year, according to a published report Sunday, showing that even the ultra-rich are getting pinched by the global financial crisis.
The pain is relative, of course. Prince Alwaleed bin Talal remains the world's richest Arab with a net worth of about $17 billion as of Dec. 2, Dubai-based magazine Arabian Business reported in its annual ranking. That is nearly twice as much as the second-richest on the list, but a considerable drop from the $21 billion the magazine said the prince was worth a year ago.
Arabian Business said it based its figure on a direct review of the prince's holdings and a face-to-face meeting with the man who's been dubbed "the Arabian Warren Buffett." |
48 China to increase supply of money to boost economy
Associated Press
Sun Dec 14, 1:38 am ET
BEIJING – China said it plans to increase the amount of money circulating in its economy next year in a new effort to spur consumer spending and shield the country from a global downturn.
Saturday's announcement by the country's State Council, or Cabinet, comes on the heels of a multibillion-dollar economic stimulus package announced last month that calls for injecting more government money into the economy through spending on construction and other projects.
There are mounting signs that China's economic slowdown is sharper and deeper than expected. Exports fell in November for the first time in seven years and the industry minister warned Friday that worse was to come. |
49 2 Volkswagen plants to suspend production in China
Associated Press
Sun Dec 14, 3:13 am ET
BEIJING – Two Chinese auto plants run by German automaker Volkswagen AG through joint ventures are planning to partly suspend production lines to conduct maintenance work, state television reported Sunday.
The news comes amid a huge slump in sales of vehicles in China, the world's second-largest vehicle market after the United States.
China's CCTV said in its midday bulletin that FAW-Volkswagen Automobile Co. plans to suspend part of its production at a plant in Changchun, the capital of Jilin province in northeastern China, at the end of the year to carry out maintenance. |
50 Areas near parks dropped from oil drilling plan
By MIKE STARK, Associated Press Writer
Sat Dec 13, 10:03 am ET
SALT LAKE CITY – The Bureau of Land Management has dropped more than half the parcels it originally proposed for an oil and gas lease sale next week, many of which were criticized because of their proximity to southern Utah national parks.
The agency's final list for the Dec. 19 sale was released on Friday and includes 132 parcels totaling 164,000 acres.
The sale has been controversial since details were first announced Nov. 4 The BLM at that time proposed lease sales on 359,000 acres in Utah. |
51 Geneva banks lost more than $4 billion to Madoff: report
Reuters
Sun Dec 14, 8:13 am ET
ZURICH (Reuters) – Geneva-based banks and investment funds have lost more than 5 billion Swiss francs ($4.22 billion) in the alleged $50 billion fraud by former Nasdaq chairman Bernard Madoff, Swiss newspaper Le Temps reported on Saturday.
Union Bancaire Privee (UBP), a leading bank for investment in funds of hedge funds, has lost about 1 billion Swiss francs, said Le Temps, which spoke to various unnamed banking sources for its article.
A spokesman for UBP said the bank had no comment with regards to the article. UBP had 127 billion Swiss francs of assets under management at the end of June. |
52 Wal-Mart CEO sees recession change consumer habits
Reuters
1 hr 7 mins ago
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Wal-Mart Stores Inc's (WMT.N) chief executive said on Sunday he sees changes in the habits of the chain's customers as they contend with the recession, and also said Wal-Mart had offered to help the incoming Obama administration with health care and environmental issues.
"The number one issue today is (consumers') concern about their job," Lee Scott said on NBC's "Meet the Press."
"In our pharmacy group, we have increases in prescription drugs, but not at the same rate it was," he said. "What we're seeing is an increase in self-treatment." |
53 Global car crisis far from over, executives say
By Marcel Michelson, Reuters
Sat Dec 13, 12:08 pm ET
PARIS (Reuters) – Top European car makers warned of a bleak 2009 as signs grew the deep crisis in the auto sector went far beyond the U.S. industry's life-or-death struggle.
The heads of Renault-Nissan and Fiat said the car market would decline further next year after steep sales drops pushed the U.S. Big Three to ask for the bailout that was rejected by Congress and prompted White House action.
The world's largest carmaker Toyota Motor Corp was set to report a loss of about 100 billion yen ($1.11 billion) for October-March, according to Japanese media on Saturday, and is expected to cut its earnings forecast again. |
54 Toyota likely to report loss in second half
Reuters
Sat Dec 13, 1:18 am ET
TOKYO (Reuters) – Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) is likely to further cut its earnings forecasts and report an operating loss of about 100 billion yen ($1 billion) in the October-March period, Japanese media reported on Saturday.
A company spokesman declined to comment.
But analysts say that with the yen soaring and global vehicle sales sliding more than expected, Toyota was well on its way to falling into the red in the second half. The yen rose to a 13-year high versus the dollar to 88.10 yen on Friday. |
55 Ireland announces 10-billion-euro bank rescue
by Andrew Bushe, AFP
2 hrs 40 mins ago
DUBLIN (AFP) – The Irish government announced Sunday a 10-billion-euro (13-billion-dollar) rescue of Ireland's six main banks.
The money will be used to recapitalise banks by buying their shares and other measures.
"The government has decided either through the National Pensions Reserve Fund or otherwise... to support, alongside existing shareholders and private investors, a recapitalisation programme for credit institutions in Ireland of up to 10 billion euros," the finance ministry said in a statement. |
56 Bloodied banking sector licks wounds after year of horror
by Veronica Smith, AFP
1 hr 49 mins ago
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Banks floundered, grabbed government lifelines and failed in 2008 as the global financial crisis shredded their own vaunted reputations for security.
After an "annus horribilis" that many would sooner forget, banks are set to enter 2009 damaged and more dependent on governments that have taken unprecedented steps to prop up the imploding financial system.
That reliance on public money -- often in exchange for equity stakes and sometimes as full nationalizations -- is sounding alarms over what some have called a new wave of socialism that threatens the nature of freewheeling US-style capitalism. |
57 Panic as Ukraine's currency plummets
by Anya Tsukanova, AFP
1 hr 47 mins ago
KIEV (AFP) – The national currency of Ukraine, whose pro-West government wants to join the European Union, has almost halved in value in the last six months, prompting panic amongst its heavily indebted population.
The sudden fall in the hryvnia has sent Ukrainians rushing to exchange booths to change local money for hard currency, in scenes that recalled the hyperinflation suffered by the country in the early 1990s.
Not only do Ukrainian consumers have to pay back loans taken out in more prosperous times but many will also have to pay them back in dollars. |
58 European banks trembling at scale of Madoff scandal
by Olivier Thibault
Sun Dec 14, 1:04 pm ET
MADRID (AFP) – Two months after being hammered by the collapse of Lehman Brothers, banks and investment funds in Europe are trembling in the face of the massive fraud allegedly perpetrated by New York broker Bernard Madoff.
Private European banks and investors specialised in the placement of high-risk hedge funds could have exposure of up to several billion dollars in the scandal.
Madoff was arrested on Thursday for allegedly defrauding his customers through a giant pyramid scheme, with prosecutors alleging that the 70-year-old, a decades-long veteran of Wall Street, confessed to losing at least 50 billion dollars in the so-called Ponzi scheme. |
59 Oil-rich Angola launches direct flight to China
by Louise Redvers, AFP
Sun Dec 14, 6:31 am ET
LUANDA (AFP) – Angola has launched a flight linking it to China, which has sent thousands of citizens to work on the reconstruction of the continent's fastest growing economy following its 27-year civil war.
The first direct 14-hour flight from Luanda's Fourth of February Airport to Beijing's Capital International Airport left on Saturday.
"The flight will run twice a week on a Boeing 777-200 ER," said a spokesman for TAAG, Angola's national airline. |
60 Toyota to shelve capital spending plans, cut bonuses: reports
AFP
Sun Dec 14, 3:54 am ET
TOKYO (AFP) – Toyota Motor Corp. will postpone large capital investments and eliminate executive bonuses due to the worldwide slump in auto sales and the yen's continued appreciation, according to Japanese media reports.
The moves by Japan's top automaker come amid speculation that it will report a 1.1-billion-dollar loss for the second half of the year to March, its first interim operating loss since introducing US accounting standards in 1999.
Japan's Nikkei business daily reported the company will freeze its plan to boost annual production capacity at one of its factories in China by 50 percent to 150,000 units by the end of 2009. |
61 Queen Elizabeth II reins in extravagance as credit crunch grips
by Cyril Belaud, AFP
Sun Dec 14, 1:08 am ET
LONDON (AFP) – Always concerned about staying in touch with her subjects, Queen Elizabeth II has invited Britain's royal family to follow her example and tighten the purse strings during the financial downturn.
The 82-year-old monarch has warned her grandsons Princes William, 26, and Harry, 24 -- third and fourth in line to the throne -- that all ostentatious signs of living it up would be inappropriate, according to newspapers.
British subjects are apparently in no mood to see the young royals partying in exclusive London nightclubs while the kingdom sinks into recession, the cost of living rockets and jobs are lost. |
45 additional Top, World, and U.S. stories from Saturday @ DocuDharma