Category: World

PARIS, September 30, 2008 (AFP) – French Prime Minister Francois Fillon has warned in an interview to appear Wednesday that the country’s banks are vulnerable given the global financial crisis, which he compared to the Great Depression.Fillon, however, said in the interview with Les Echos business newspaper that the state would not allow any banks […]

CHICAGO, September 30, 2008 (AFP) – The privatization of the first major US airport could net the city of Chicago 2.5 billion dollars, officials said Tuesday. The 99-year lease of Chicago’s secondary airport, Midway, must still be approved by the city council and federal regulators but officials expressed confidence it would pass. “With this agreement […]

NEW YORK, September 29, 2008 (AFP) – Global markets panicked Monday after US lawmakers rejected a 700-billion-dollar rescue of the financial system, raising the prospect of deeper financial turmoil. Wall Street blue-chip stocks suffered their worst single-day point decline after the US House of Representatives defeated the measure billed by President George W. Bush’s administration […]

WASHINGTON, September 29, 2008 (AFP) – Shocked, open-mouthed and fearful US lawmakers stood in the well of the House of Representatives Monday, dumbfounded by the magnitude of the chamber’s decision to kill a bid to save Wall Street. Democratic and Republican party leaders who had battled to pass a 700 billion dollar bailout bill, stared […]

NEW YORK, September 29, 2008 (AFP) – The euro and the pound slid against the dollar Monday after the rescue of several European banks deepened worries about the global financial system. The currency market showed little reaction off US lawmakers’ rejection of a 700-billion-dollar financial rescue plan touted by President George W.Bush’s administration as vital […]

TOKYO, September 30, 2008 (AFP) – Stocks plunged in Asia Tuesday as fears of escalating financial turmoil triggered panic selling on world markets after Washington policymakers unexpectedly shot down a US financial rescue plan. In Tokyo and Hong Kong stocks were some five percent in the red despite calls from policymakers for markets to keep […]

WASHINGTON, September 30, 2008 (AFP) – Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson warned US lawmakers they had to act fast after the House rejected his 700-billion-dollar bank bailout, triggering panic selling as the global financial crisis deepened. Stock markets around the world plunged after US House members, wary an angry public will punish them on Election Day […]

PARIS, September 30, 2008 (AFP) – As the shockwave from the US financial meltdown battered Europe on Tuesday, governments scrambled to shore up fragile banks and restore confidence to flighty stock markets. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 In Paris, President Nicolas Sarkozy held a […]

NEW DELHI, September 29, 2008 (AFP) – Russia on Monday offered its Cold War ally India the chance to jointly develop weapon systems in a bid to remain New Delhi’s main provider of weapons.With India increasingly looking elsewhere for its armament needs, visiting Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov presented a deal in which India would […]

BERLIN, September 29, 2008 (AFP) – Berlin has joined a consortium of banks to rescue a stricken property lender, the government said on Monday, in the latest state-sponsored European rescue of a casualty of the US financial crisis. Berlin has agreed to guarantee a 35-billion-euro (50-billion-dollar) credit line being provided to Hypo Real Estate by […]

WASHINGTON, September 29, 2008 (AFP) – US authorities said Monday they had facilitated a takeover of Wachovia’s banking operations by Citigroup Inc.in a deal that gives the government a stake in one of the nation’s biggest banks. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.made the announcement that further reshapes the troubled US banking sector saddled with heavy […]

LONDON, September 28, 2008 (AFP) – Spanish banking giant Santander said Monday it will take over the retail deposits and branches of Bradford & Bingley ahead of the expected nationalisation of the British bank. A spokesman for Santander, which owns British bank Abbey and is in the process of buying Alliance and Liecester, said: “The […]