|
Older News Archivescom0116
NEWS TUESDAY,
OCTOBER 7, 2008 NEWS
Dow
Makes Late-Day Comeback
Wall Street joined in a worldwide cascade of despair Monday over the
financial crisis, driving the Dow Jones industrials to their biggest loss
ever during a trading day. Even a big afternoon rally failed to keep the
Dow from its first close below 10,000 since 2004. The sell-off came despite
the $700 billion U.S. government bailout package, which was signed into
law Friday after two weeks in which traders had appeared to count on the
rescue as their only hope to avoid a market meltdown. At its worst point,
the Dow was down more than 800 points, an intraday record. The stock market
rallied during the final 90 minutes of the trading day, and the Dow finished
down about 370 points at 9,955.50. The average is down almost 30 percent
from its all-time high of 14,164.53, set a year ago Thursday. Fox
News
VOA VIEW: Much worse to come.
World
Stock Markets Fall As U.S. Ills Spread
As the sun moved west Monday, it shone on one
market bloodbath after another. First Tokyo, then Hong Kong and Bombay.
Later, Moscow, Frankfurt, Paris and London joined the casualty list. Market
indexes in every important capital ran red. If the rest of the world once
hoped it might decouple from the sputtering U.S. economic engine, those
hopes have been shredded. Monday's comprehensive market rout was both a
verdict of "not good enough" on the United States $700 billion financial
rescue plan and a stark expression of the investor fear that is spreading
without regard to borders. USA
Today
Fed
Considers Plan to Buy Companies’ Unsecured Debt
Under a proposal being discussed with the Treasury
Department, the Fed could buy vast amounts of the unsecured short-term
debt that companies rely on to finance their day-to-day activities, according
to officials familiar with the discussions. If this were to happen, the
central bank would come closer than ever to lending directly to businesses.
While the move would put more taxpayer dollars at risk, it underscores
the growing sense of urgency felt by policy makers in a climate where lending
has virtually dried up. NY
Times
VOA VIEW: The feds have gone mad.
Poverty
Still Plagues U.S. Cities
Most U.S. mayors and city officials say poverty is a growing problem,
with many families unable to get by, according to a survey released on
Monday. Some 90 percent of city officials in the National League of Cities
survey of mayors and leaders of towns of 30,000 people or more say that
during the last decade poverty rates have either increased or stayed the
same in their towns. About a third of those participating consider poverty
"a severe or serious problem" in their cities. Reuters
Israeli
General, Mossad Chief Say They Were Duped Into Ad For Obama
Three Israeli security figures said Monday they were duped into taking
part in an ad supporting Barack Obama made by the same group that was behind
comedian Sarah Silverman's "Great Schlep." Uzi Dayan, a retired army general,
and Efraim Halevy, a former Mossad chief, were among eight high-ranking
retired members of Israel's security establishment in a pro-Obama film.
Former Mossad agent Yossi Alpher also said he was misled. The three said
they were unaware they were being interviewed for a political campaign
and thought they were commenting on the regional strategic affairs that
will face the next U.S. president. All insisted they have not endorsed
either Obama nor his Republican rival, John McCain. Newsday
VOA VIEW: The ad is as phony as Obama.
Round
2 In Obama-McCain Debate
Tonight, a presidential campaign increasingly
dominated by character attacks collides with a debate format meant to produce
serious discussion of kitchen-table issues. The second encounter between
Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain will be conducted town-hall
style, with the candidates answering questions posed by undecided voters
seated around them. And voters tend to ask about issues they see as directly
affecting their own lives, including taxes, Social Security, health care
and the economy. In such a setting, a candidate who launches a personal
assault risks looking disrespectful to the voters. Philadelphia
Inquirer
PLEASE DO BUSINESS WITH THOSE WHO DO BUSINESS
WITH US -- OUR ADVERTISERS.
Device
Will Help Parents Limit Teen Drivers
Starting next year, Ford Motor Co. will allow parents to limit the
speed at which their teenage children drive their car. Some 2010 Ford vehicles
will have a computer chip that lets parents limit how fast their teen-agers
can drive. The company will roll out a new feature on many 2010 models
that can limit teen drivers to 80 mph (130 kph), using a computer chip
in the key. Parents in the United States, where most teens can get their
drivers license at 16, also have the option of programming the car key
to limit the audio system's volume, and to sound continuous alerts if the
driver doesn't wear a seat belt. CNN
HOMELESS
'DRIVEN' TO VOTE O
Volunteers supporting Barack Obama picked up hundreds of people at
homeless shelters, soup kitchens and drug-rehab centers and drove them
to a polling place yesterday on the last day that Ohioans could register
and vote on the same day, almost no questions asked. The huge effort by
a pro-Obama group, Vote Today Ohio, takes advantage of a quirk in the state's
elections laws that allows people to register and cast ballots at the same
time without having to prove residency. Republicans have argued that the
window could lead to widespread voter fraud because officials wouldn't
have an opportunity to verify registration information before ballots were
cast. NY
Post
VOA VIEW: Freeloaders seek someone who
will give them more.
Tobacco Lawsuit Starts
Supreme Court Session
The Supreme Court opened its new term Monday suggesting it would side
with tobacco companies in their fight to block lawsuits over deceptive
marketing of "light" cigarettes. Several justices were skeptical that state
laws against fraudulent advertising could be used to sue the makers of
"light" and "low-tar" cigarettes when a federal law on cigarette labeling
rules out lawsuits that involve smoking and health. MSNBC
Economist
Say Bailout Must Be Shown To Work
With panic gripping Wall Street and global financial markets Monday,
the notion that the $700 billion rescue plan approved by Congress last
week could fall short gained credence even before the first dollar has
been spent. "We're now at the point where people need proof that the government's
actions will work. Not until there's some evidence that they are successful
will the markets settle," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com
in Pennsylvania. "Hopefully as people see the things they are doing take
effect, that will quell the panic." Beyond the bailout, the government
has a range of other tools in its arsenal to try to restore confidence
and get money flowing again. Economists said they expect to see some tactics,
such as an interest-rate cut, employed almost immediately, while others,
such as a new federal stimulus package, are more likely to come about after
a new president and a new Congress take office next year. SF
Gate
VOA VIEW: Wasting taxpayer's money and
enlarging the deficit will exacerbate the problem.
Citigroup,
Wells Fargo Halt Battle For Wachovia As Fed Steps In
Citigroup Inc.,Wells Fargo & Co. and the takeover target they're
fighting for, Wachovia Corp., agreed to a two-day truce in their legal
dispute at the urging of the Federal Reserve, setting the stage for a potential
settlement. The banks struck a standstill agreement, ceasing all ``formal
litigation activity'' until noon in New York on Oct. 8, Citigroup and Wachovia
said in statements yesterday. The accord was ``in consultation with the
Federal Reserve,'' they said. Bloomberg
THANK YOU FOR VISITING OUR WEB PORTAL. PLEASE
TELL A FRIEND.
Obama
Widens Lead In Three Battleground States
The latest Fox News/Rasmussen Reports polling of five battleground
states shows Barack Obama has made significant gains in Colorado, Missouri
and Florida. In Ohio and Virginia, there was little change from the week
before. All five of these states were won by George W. Bush and the Republicans
four years ago. Obama now holds at least a modest edge in four of the five
states and is essentially even in Ohio. Obama now leads by seven points,
52 percent to 45 percent in Florida. A week ago the candidates were tied
in the Sunshine State. Two weeks ago, McCain was up five. Fox
News
VOA VIEW: It's not over until it's over.
Presidential
Race Tightens
In a sign that the race for president has returned to about where it
was before the first presidential debate, the Obama-Biden ticket leads
the McCain-Palin ticket 47 percent to 43 percent among registered voters
in a new CBS News poll. The Obama-Biden ticket led by a wider margin, nine
percentage points, in a CBS News poll released last Wednesday, before Joe
Biden and Sarah Palin faced off in the vice presidential debate. Obama-Biden
led by five percentage points on Sept. 25. In the new poll, the Democratic
ticket leads by 3 percentage points, 48 percent to 45 percent, among likely
voters. CBS
News
Fan
In baby's Room May Help Prevent SIDS
Fans may reduce the risk of SIDS, or sudden infant death syndrome,
a new study shows. Babies who slept in a room with a fan were 72% less
likely to die from SIDS, according to a study released today from Archives
of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. Fans offered even more protection
to babies sleeping in warm rooms, where temperatures were over 69 degrees,
according to the study. Although opening a window also appeared to reduce
the risk of SIDS, authors say this finding could have been due to chance.
USA
Today
VOA VIEW: The study wasn't very scientific.
McCain Accuses Obama
Of Lying
Behind in the polls, Republican John McCain on Monday called Democratic
rival Barack Obama a liar as he leveled his harshest criticism yet, and
said the campaign boils down to one basic question: Who is Obama really?
Adopting an aggressive tone on the eve of their second debate of the season,
the Republican presidential candidate criticized Obama’s ties to Chicago,
his legislative record and even his pair of best-selling memoirs. MSNBC
YOU can speak
out
and be heard by having your own "Column"
- Visit the "Public Opinion"Section
above
Ron
Paul Says Bailout Is Morally Wrong
The House of Representatives passed on Friday a $700 billion bailout
package that says the government can lower the interest and loan principal
on mortgages of people who cannot pay their monthly mortgage bill – and
that policy is “morally wrong,” Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.) told CNSNews.com.
“They borrowed 120 percent on their houses and they expect to get bailed
out? It’s wrong morally and it won’t solve our problems,” said Paul. Further,
the government being able to lower the interest and loan principal for
people who did not pay their mortgages is an injustice for the rest of
Americans who do pay their monthly mortgage, said Paul. CNS
VOA VIEW: Paul is right.
Gates
Says US Troops To Remain In Kosovo At Least Through Late 2009
The United States will continue its troop presence
in Kosovo until at least late next year, Defense Secretary Robert Gates
said just before he arrived here Tuesday, reaffirming U.S. support for
the newly declared nation in the face of stern opposition from Russia.
Later Tuesday, while standing with the president and prime minister of
Kosovo, Gates said that in meetings with the leaders he reaffirmed the
pledge that President Bush made — that "we came in together and we will
go out together." Sun-Sentinel
More
Bogus Obama Donors Surface
CBS News has learned that two donors to the Obama campaign that gave
a total of $7,722 appear to have made their contributions under fake names
that look like they were written by a mouse running across a keyboard:
Dahsudhu Hdusahfd of Df, Hawaii with the following employer CZXVC/ZXVZXV
and Uadhshgu Hduadh listed as living in Dhff, Florida listed their employer
as DASADA/SAFASF. CBS News did not find any records of these last names,
towns or employers anywhere else. Newsweek reported two questionable Obama
donors over the weekend named “Doodad Pro” and “Good Will”. CBS
VOA VIEW: Even Obama's cheating is wacky.
Bush
Stresses Judicial Nominations
President Bush stepped gingerly into the presidential
campaign on Monday, offering an implicit endorsement of Sen. John McCain's
judicial philosophy and accusing Democrats of contributing to a "broken
confirmation process" for federal judges. Welcomed here by an enthusiastic
crowd of conservative lawyers, Bush also mounted a vigorous defense of
his own judicial appointments over the past 7 1/2 years, saying that his
nominees make up more than a third of the federal bench and have been "jurists
of the highest caliber, with an abiding belief in the sanctity of our constitution."
Washington
Post
Frank
Says GOP Housing Attacks Racially Motivated
Rep. Barney Frank said Monday that Republican criticism of Democrats
over the nation's housing crisis is a veiled attack on the poor that's
racially motivated. The Massachusetts Democrat, chairman of the House Financial
Services Committee, said the GOP is appealing to its base by blaming the
country's mortgage foreclosure problem on efforts to expand affordable
housing through the Community Reinvestment Act. He said that blame is misplaced,
because those loans are issued by regulated institutions, while far more
foreclosures were triggered by high-cost loans made by unregulated entities.
Las
Vegas Sun
VOA VIEW: Many of the loans were made
to blacks who were not credit worthy.
25%
Of Species At Risk
A quarter of the world's wild mammal species
are at risk of extinction, according to a comprehensive global survey released
here Monday. The assessment -- which took 1,700 experts in 130 countries
five years to complete -- paints "a bleak picture," leaders of the project
wrote in a paper being published in the journal Science. The overview,
made public at the World Conservation Congress of the International Union
for the Conservation of Nature, covers all 5,487 wild species identified
since 1500. It is the most thorough tally of land and marine mammals since
1996. Detroit
News
WE ACKNOWLEDGE AND THANK ALL OUR SOURCES
FOR THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS IN MAKING US AMERICA'S NUMBER ONE NEWS & INFORMATION
PORTAL.
Congress
Opens Hearings On Financial Meltdown
Congress heard Monday that Lehman Brothers, days away from becoming
the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history, was pleading for a federal rescue
on one hand while steering millions in dollars to departing executives
on the other. The first hearing into what caused the nation's financial
markets to collapse last month, precipitating a $700 billion bailout, opened
with finger-pointing and glimpses into internal company documents from
Lehman's chaotic last hours. CNS
Oil
Prices Fall As Financial Turmoil Goes Global
Oil prices plunged below $90 a barrel Monday, coming within reach of
year-ago levels as a widening financial maelstrom spreads overseas and
crimps global demand for energy. Oil prices fell before $90 a barrel on
Monday on worries that financial turmoil would curb world demand. A barrel
of oil has not been this cheap in eight months, suggesting that the climate
in which oil soared to unheard of levels is coming to an abrupt end. Crude's
stunning fall comes just three months after prices surged close to $150
a barrel. Investors appeared to have little faith that the $700 billion
U.S. rescue plan will provide a quick fix for the stumbling U.S. economy.
ABC
News
VOA VIEW: Gas pump prices are not dropping
fast enough.
US
Military Deaths In Afghanistan Region At 539
As of Monday, Oct. 6, 2008, at least 539 members of the U.S. military
had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S.
invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department.
The department last updated its figures Monday at 10 a.m. EDT. Las
Vegas Sun
ATTENTION TALK SHOW HOSTS:We
are honored that many radio talk show hosts use our Web Portal for their
"show prep." We would appreciate your occasional mention of our site
to your audience. Thanks!
Bid
To Get Bush Aides To Testify Is Rejected
A federal appeals court yesterday rejected House Democrats' demands
to force two of President Bush's top aides to cooperate with an investigation
into the firings of nine federal prosecutors in 2006. Time will run out
on this year's congressional session before the intragovernmental battle
can be resolved, according to the ruling by a three-judge panel on the
US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The ruling essentially
pushes any resolution on the politically charged case until next year.
Boston
Globe
Majority
Think Country Headed For Depression
A new national poll suggests that six in ten Americans think another
depression is likely. In a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll out Monday
afternoon, 59 percent of those questioned say that its very or somewhat
likely that another depression could occur in the United States. Four in
ten Americans say it not likely another depression will occur. The country
went through a decade long depression following the stock market crash
of 1929, in which roughly one out of four workers were unemployed, banks
failed across the country, and millions of ordinary Americans were temporarily
homeless or unable to feed their families. Eight in ten of those polled
say things are going badly in the country today and 84 percent rate the
economic conditions as poor. CNN
VOA VIEW: The U.S. is on the heals of
a depression.
Sen.
Stevens On Tape: "Might Serve Time In Jail"
U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens told an oil-executive friend, in recordings played
on Monday at the Alaska Republican's corruption trial, they both risked
going to jail -- but he didn't think it would come to that. "These guys
can't hurt really us. They're not going to shoot us. It's not Iraq. What
the hell?," Stevens told Bill Allen, founder of the former VECO Corp. oil-services
firm based in Alaska. Stevens is charged with lying on Senate disclosure
forms from 2001 to 2006 to conceal more than $250,000 in renovations to
his property and other gifts provided by VECO. Reuters
Job
Approval Rating Sinks For Bush
The Dow isn’t the only thing that’s dropped in the current economic
crisis. Now President Bush’s approval rating has fallen to a record low.
A Gallup Poll taken Friday through Sunday finds only 25 percent of Americans
approve of the way Bush is handling the job of president; 70 percent disapprove.
That’s the lowest approval and the highest disapproval of his eight years
in office. His approval rating has dropped 8 percentage points in a month
Detroit
Free Press
VOA VIEW: Bush has given the nation a
"one two" punch, Iraq and the bailout.
9/11
Attacks Could Not Have Been Averted
A top former CIA official said the intelligence agency had more than
100 Afghans acting as spies before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, but
told a magazine in a rare interview that nothing could have averted the
attacks. Cofer Black, the former head of the CIA's counterterrorism center,
said that looking back, he can't think of a thing "we could have done that
would have changed anything." Black, a top executive with Blackwater Worldwide,
the security firm, made the comment in an interview published in November
issue of Men's Journal. Newsday
Fed
Should Buy Commercial Paper, Pimco's Gross Says
Bill Gross, who manages the world's biggest bond fund, said the Federal
Reserve should act as a clearinghouse to guarantee that transactions are
completed and buy commercial paper to renew confidence in financial markets.
Credit markets are currently ``frozen,'' Gross wrote in a note to clients
published today on Newport Beach, California- based Pacific Investment
Management Co.'s Web site. Without confidence in the markets, ``our economic
center cannot hold.'' Bloomberg
VOA VIEW: Credit is available to the credit
worthy.
Secrets
Of Iraq's Death Chamber
Like all wars, the dark, untold stories of the Iraqi conflict drain
from its shattered landscape like the filthy waters of the Tigris. And
still the revelations come. The Independent has learnt that secret executions
are being carried out in the prisons run by Nouri al-Maliki's "democratic"
government. The hangings are carried out regularly – from a wooden gallows
in a small, cramped cell – in Saddam Hussein's old intelligence headquarters
at Kazimiyah. There is no public record of these killings in what is now
called Baghdad's "high-security detention facility" but most of the victims
– there have been hundreds since America introduced "democracy" to Iraq
– are said to be insurgents, given the same summary justice they mete out
to their own captives. Independent
News
Controversial
Legislator Loses Committee Job
A Metairie lawmaker who suggested paid sterilization of poor women
as a way to shrink the welfare roles was ousted Monday from a House leadership
position. House Speaker Jim Tucker, R-Terrytown, removed state Rep. John
LaBruzzo as vice chairman of the House Health and Welfare Committee. The
panel is key to Gov. Bobby Jindal’s efforts to restructure Louisiana’s
health-care system. Advocate
VOA VIEW: The problem with the nation
- political correctness rules.
US
Soldier Killed In Iraq
The U.S. military says an American soldier has been fatally shot by
an al-Qaida in Iraq extremist. An Iraqi policeman was also killed in the
fighting. The military says the fatalities occurred in the early hours
of the morning Tuesday in the restive northern city of Mosul. A military
statement said U.S. and Iraqi security forces were called to a house that
an al-Qaida in Iraq member had entered wearing a suicide vest. As they
approached the house, they came under small-arms fire. Seattle
Times
Mars
Mission Facing Delay Or Cancellation
America's next daring adventure on Mars -- a one-ton rolling science
laboratory scheduled to launch next October -- is in deep trouble. Huge
cost overruns and technical difficulties may cause the $2 billion Mars
Science Laboratory to be delayed or canceled outright, members of a NASA
advisory committee were warned last week. The successor to the wildly popular
Spirit and Opportunity rovers, still toiling along on Mars, is supposed
to check out a region on the planet's surface where conditions could support
past or present life -- one of science's highest goals. Miami
Herald
ADVERTISEMENT:If
you want to advertise your business or web site on this Web Site, send
us an email by clicking on to "Contact" above. It could be the best
business decision you make.
'Russia
Committed To Preventing Iran From Attaining Nuclear Arms'
Russia is committed to stopping Iranian nuclearization for military
purposes, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert in Moscow on Monday night. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert with Russian
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow, Monday. Olmert asked Lavrov to
ratchet up his country's "involvement in the international efforts to prevent
Iran from achieving nuclear weapons," an official from Olmert's office
said. Lavrov also told Olmert that Russia would continue to act to secure
the release of captured IDF soldier Gilad Schalit and that Moscow was committed
to steering clear of having contacts with Hamas so long as the group failed
to abide by the Quartet. Jerusalem
Post
Suicide
Blast Hits Sri Lanka Town
A suicide blast in the Sri Lankan town of Anuradhapura has killed at
least 27 people, including a former senior general, according to the army.
Maj Gen Janaka Perera, a controversial commander in the Jaffna peninsula
in the 1990s, died alongside his wife. More than 80 people were injured
when a suicide bomber blew himself up inside the United National Party
office near a bus depot, officials said. They blamed the attack on separatist
Tamil Tiger rebels. BBC
News
Tibetan
Earthquakes Kill Dozens
Two quakes which struck the Himalayan region of Tibet have killed at
least 30 people, Chinese state media report. The earthquakes struck about
16km (10 miles) and 15 minutes apart in a sparsely populated area about
84km (50 miles) west of Tibet's capital, Lhasa. The US Geological Survey
said the magnitude of the first quake was 6.6 and that of the second -
5.1. Many houses collapsed near the epicentre in Damxung county, China's
Xinhua news agency says. BBC
News
Quakes
Hit China's Remote West
Strong earthquakes hit China's remote western regions of Tibet and
Xinjiang today but both appear to have struck sparsely populated, mountainous
areas and caused only limited damage. The more powerful quake shook Tibet
in the late afternoon, from an epicentre around 80 kilometres west of the
regional capital Lhasa. It was a magnitude 6.6 tremor, the US Geological
Survey said on its website. Residents in the city said they had felt the
quake, but there was no visible damage. Independent
News
Researchers
Devise Safer Down's Syndrome Test
A Simple prenatal blood test that detects if an unborn baby has Down's
syndrome could be available in two or three years, US researchers said
yesterday. If successful it would eliminate the small risk to the foetus
posed by invasive testing methods such as amniocentesis. Researchers led
by Stephen Quake of Stanford University in California took a small blood
sample from mothers to look for the extra chromosomes that cause Down's
and similar birth defects in the tiny amounts of foetal DNA that circulate
in the blood. Guardian
EU Sets
Up Centre In Africa To Fight Illegal Migration
historyThe EU yesterday moved to export its controls on illegal immigration
for the first time by setting up a new office in Africa, the first of several
it plans to open to try to deal at source with a flood of migration. Louis
Michel, the EU's development commissioner, went to Bamako, the capital
of Mali, one of the world's poorest countries, to open the Migration Management
Centre and inaugurate a pilot scheme to try to dissuade Africans from taking
the hazardous routes to Europe. Guardian
ABC Online Canada
National Post Daily
TelegraphThe Observer Wired
News Xinhua News
VOA VIEW -- Is
the opinion of Voice of America, Inc. The founding fathers of this
great nation gave us the First Amendment. You too can express your
opinion on this web site. Click on the blue "Public Opinion" button
at the top of this page for full details. The opinions expressed
are not necessarily the opinions of the ownership or advertisers of this
web site.
|
