 | | | | | | | Newsletter | 03.10.2008, 16:15 UTC | | | Newsline | | | World news: international | | | | | | | | | News | | | | | Current Article | | | | US Congress debates $700bn rescue
The US House of Representatives has opened debate on a revised 700 billion dollar economic rescue package. The White House urged lawmakers to pass the bill swiftly, saying it expected to recoup "much if not all" of the requested money. Lawmakers rejected an original version of the bill on Monday, triggering the worst fall on US stock markets in 21 years. The new package includes 150 billion dollars in tax breaks, and allows the government to buy the toxic bank assets considered to be the cause of the financial crisis. The Senate has voted in favour of the bill. |  | | US employers shed more jobs
New US jobless data shows that employers shed 159,000 jobs in September in a further sign of a troubled economy. The unemployment rate held at 6.1 percent, a five-year high. The US Labor Department's report on non-farm payrolls, seen as one of the best indicators of economic momentum, showed a sharp rise in the number of job cuts after 73,000 job losses in August. It was the ninth consecutive month of declining payrolls, according to the report. | | | Shares up at Hypo Real Estate on bailout news
Shares in German property financer Hypo Real Estate shot up by more than 27 percent in afternoon trading Friday on news that the European Commission has approved a bailout package for the bank. In Brussels, the Commission praised Berlin's rescue plan as "part of the solution" to the current financial crisis. Berlin is to guarantee a large part of a 35-billion-euro credit line drawn up to keep Hypo Real Estate in business. | | | Syria blocks inspectors from military sites
Syria has ruled out access to its military sites for United Nations nuclear investigators. The head of the Syrian Atomic Energy Commission, Ibrahim Othman, said his country was cooperating with the UN nuclear watchdog agency, but that this did not extend to military sites. The International Atomic Energy Agency has been probing Syria since May over US allegations that it ran a secret nuclear program. Last week, the IAEA released a preliminary finding for a site which Israel bombed last year. It said test samples indicated that the location bore no traces of atomic activity. US intelligence agencies have accused Syria of building a secret plutonium-producing reactor there. | | | US nuclear envoy ends talks in North Korea
The United States' chief nuclear negotiator, Christopher Hill, has wrapped up his three-day trip to North Korea aimed at convincing Pyongyang to resume dismantling its nuclear programme. Hill said talks had been "substantive", but gave no further details. A US State Department spokesman said on Thursday that Hill was discussing a nuclear verification system in North Korea. Pyongyang last month said it would start rebuilding its Yongbyon nuclear plant in anger at not being removed from a US terrorism blacklist. North Korea began disabling the plant in November under a disarmament deal struck at six-party talks.
| | | Public holiday as Germany celebrates 18 years of reunification
It's a public holiday in Germany this Friday as the country marks 18 years of re-unification between its former western and eastern halves. Celebrations are being held in the capital Berlin, as well as the port city of Hamburg, which is hosting this year's official ceremonies to honour the occasion. Speaking in Hamburg, German President Horst Koehler acknowledged that mistakes had been made in the re-unification process, but insisted that overall the transition was positive. Since re-unification, Germany has transferred around 80 billion euros annually to the east in order to rebuild it. The payments have at times provoked resentment in the west of the country, but Koehler said there was a political consensus that such support should continue for now. | | | EU Commission proposes longer EU maternity leave
The European Commission has proposed extending the minimum fully paid maternity leave in the bloc from 14 weeks to 18. It also suggested having better job protection for women taking or returning from such leave. The Commission said longer maternity leave should make it easier for women for return to work after giving birth. The proposals are part of an EU bid to get more women into the workforce and cope with problems posed by the aging of the European population. | | | Brown brings back Mandelson in surprise move: reports
British media have reported that EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson is to return to the British government in a reshuffle of Prime Minister Gordon Brown's cabinet. The BBC reported that Mandelson will replace Business Secretary John Hutton, who is to take over from Defence Secretary Des Browne. The reshuffle was precipitated by the resignation of Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly, and is the latest stage in Brown's bid to fend off an an attempt from within his own party to trigger a leadership election. | | | Plane wreckage likely that of adventurer Fosset
Search teams have found the wreckage of a small plane in eastern California which appears to be the one piloted by millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett. This has been confirmed by the US National Transportation Safety Board. Human remains have been found at the site and officials said DNA tests would be conducted to determine the identity. Fossett vanished just over a year ago after taking off from a private airstrip in Nevada. | | | | | |  | | |  Up-to-date news at DW-WORLD.DE | | | | | | |  | | | Note
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Tensions High as US Vote Nears on Rescue Plan
