 | Central banks cut key rates in concerted effort
Central banks around the world have cut their key interest rates in a bid to stabilise global stock markets. In a co-ordinated effort the European Central Bank, the US Federal Reserve, the Bank of England as well as four other national banks lowered their key lending rate by half a percentage point. Canada, Sweden, Switzerland and China also participated in the action. The White House has welcomed the move and hailed it as important and helpful. Before the cut, Britain sought to stabilise its banking system. The chancellor of the exchequer, Alistair Darling, unveiled a partial nationalisation of the country's leading banks with a value of around 50 billion pounds. He also said the Bank of England would also extend a 200-billion-pound line of credit for British banks. |  | | IMF: Global economy facing 'major downturn'
The International Monetary Fund warns that the global economy has entered the most dangerous shock in financial markets since the 1930s. In its biannual World Economic Outlook, the IMF said economies faced a painful crawl towards recovery next year. It has revised downward its summer forecasts for global economic growth this year to 3.9 percent and 3.0 percent next year. That is the slowest pace since 2002. The IMF predicts that the German economy will not grow at all in 2009 after growth of 1.8 percent this year. | | | European markets rebound following rate cuts
European markets have reacted to the co-ordinated interest rate cuts by recouping some of Wednesday's losses. In Frankfurt, the DAX, which had been down by around six percent at times is now down by less than three percent. The CAC 40 in Paris and FTSE 100 in London rebounded strongly but are now off 2.5 and 1.5 percent repsectively. All eyes will be on Wall St. in New York when it begins trading in a half hour to see how it reacts to the rate cuts. Earlier, Asian stock markets accelerated their downward slide. Japan's Nikkei index lost around nine percent of its value. This was one of the worst single-day losses in the history of Asia's biggest stock market, surpassing even the slump that followed the September 11 attacks in the United States in 2001. | | | Russia says to finish Georgia pullback on Wednesday
President Dmitry Medvedev says Russia will complete a troop withdrawal from buffer zones near Georgia's two breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia by midnight on Wednesday. Medvedev was speaking at an international policy conference in the French Alpine town of Evian. The comments came as Russian troops began the final stage of the pullback. Under a French-brokered agreement, Russia was to withdraw its troops from the buffer zones surrounding South Ossetia and Abkhazia by Friday. A European Union mission of 300 monitors is to replace the Russian presence there. Russia however says it plans to keep more than 7,000 troops in the breakaway regions. | | | Obama and McCain clash over financial crisis
In the US, Democratic candidate Barack Obama and his Republican rival, John McCain, have clashed in their second presidential debate, held in Nashville. One of the main topics of discussion was the global financial crisis, with each candidate claiming that he was better qualified to restore confidence in the economy. Obama said more needed to be done to help the middle class. McCain outlined proposed measures to ensure people caught in the credit crunch could keep their homes. The two candidates also clashed on foreign policy issues, with McCain accusing Obama of saying he would attack Pakistan in pursuit of the Taliban. Obama criticised McCain for calling for the annihilation of North Korea. The debate came less than a month before the election. Obama is reported to be ahead in the opinion polls. | | | Plane crash in Nepal kills 18
Officials in Nepal say 18 people have been killed in a plane crash in the north-east of the country. Police said the victims included 12 Germans, two Australians and four Nepalese. The captain of the Yeti Airlines Twin Otter plane is reported to have been the sole survivor. The plane crashed while attempting to land at Lukla Airport. That's about 150 kilometres north-east of Kathmandu. The cause of the accident was not immediately clear. | | | Seehofer to become Bavarian premier
German Agriculture Minister Horst Seehofer is set to become premier of the southern state of Bavaria and the chairman of the ruling party there, the Christian Social Union. This comes after two party rivals withdrew from the leadership race. The CSU is the sister party to Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats. The current premier, Günther Beckstein, and the CSU chairman Erwin Huber, both stepped down last week after the party suffered its worst result at the polls in half a century. The CSU lost its absolute majority in the legislature and will now have to govern with a coalition partner. | | | Volvo to cut 3,000 jobs
Swedish carmaker Volvo says it plans to cut more than 3,000 jobs. This is in addition to the 2,000 job cuts announced earlier this year. Volvo said in a statement that while job cuts would mostly impact operations in the Swedish west coast city of Gothenburg, an additional 600 employees outside of Sweden would also be made redundant. As well, contracts with 700 consultants are to be cancelled. Chief executive Stephen Odell said that the company was downsizing its 25,000-strong workforce as the downturn in the global car industry was more drastic than expected. The carmaker is expected to sell 400,000 cars this year compared to more than 450,000 last year.
| | | Maldivians vote in presidential poll
Voters in the Maldives have gone to the polls in the island-nation's first democratic presidential election. President Mamoun Abdul Gayoom, who has won six previous elections as the only candidate on the ballot, now faces five opponents. Over 200,000 people are eligible to vote, and the final result is expected on Thursday. If no one wins an outright majority, the top two vote-getters will face off in a second election within 10 days. The 71-year-old Gayoom, who came to power in 1978, is Asia's longest-serving leader.
| | | US, Japanese researchers win Nobel chemistry prize
Researchers Osamu Shimomura of Japan and Martin Chalfie and Roger Y. Tsien of the United States have won this year's Nobel prize for chemistry. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced in Stockholm that the three researchers had been chosen for the discovery and development of green fluorescent protein. | | | | |
Central Banks Cut Interest Rates Around Globe
