 | | | | | | | Newsletter | 22.10.2008, 16:15 UTC | | | Newsline | | | World news: international | | | | | | | | | News | | | | | Current Article | | | | US announces global finance summit
The White House has announced that the US will host a global financial crisis summit on November 15. The meeting, to be held somewhere near Washington, will bring together leaders of the Group of 20 industrialised countries. White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said the aim of the summit was to agree on the principles for reforming the world's financial sectors. Follow up summits are to address specific measures. European leaders are seeking greater regulation of the global financial system, in the midst of the worst financial crisis since the 1930s. |  | | Donors pledge 3.5bn euros for Georgia
Donors have pledged around three-and-a-half billion euros in reconstruction aid for Georgia at a conference in Brussels. European Union External Relations Commissioner, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, told a news conference that the figure surpassed expectations. Georgia had sought 2.8 billion euros. Representatives from nearly 70 countries attended the meeting, which was aimed at helping Georgia rebuild its infrastructure and economy following its war with Russia in August. The German Foreign Ministry pledged an extra 34 million euros on top of the 100-millio-euro commitment it made to the European Commission's contribution.
| | | Police raid Germany's KfW bank
German police have raided the state-owned KfW development bank, which lost hundreds of millions of euros in a controversial transfer last month. Prosecutors say they are conducting a criminal investigation into the transfer of over 300 million euros to US bank Lehman Brothers hours before it filed for bankruptcy. The probe is examining whether senior managers acted in breach of trust by failing to prevent the scheduled transfer despite being aware of the troubles facing Lehman Brothers. KfW has so far sacked two top managers over the affair. A spokesperson for the bank said it was cooperating with the authorities. | | | BayernLB first German bank to seek state aid
The finance minister of the southern German state of Bavaria has said he is stepping down from his post in the wake of the financial crisis that has engulfed the state-owned BayernLB bank. Erwin Huber's announcement comes a day after the bank applied for 5.4 billion euros in state aid. BayernLB is the first bank to take advantage of the government's 500-billion-euro rescue package that came into force on Monday. The southern regional bank, which is jointly owned by the state of Bavaria and regional savings banks, had invested heavily in asset-backed securities (ABS) which lost much of their value when the US market for subprime mortgages collapsed more than a year ago. Huber is also a board member of BayernLB. | | | Bodies of two German soldiers to be flown home
German soldiers have held a memorial service in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz for two Bundeswehr servicemen who were killed in a suicide bombing on Monday. The coffins were later flown to a military air base in Uzbekistan. They are expected to be flown back to their unit in Zweibruecken in Germany's southwest on Wednesday evening. Meanwhile, Afghan police have arrested a suspect in connection with the suicide bombing. In Berlin, German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung advised against renewing a debate about the German mission in Afghanistan. Earlier this month, the German parliament voted to extend the mandate by another 14 months and increase the number of troops in Afghanistan.
| | | Afghan officials say troops killed by US-led forces
Afghan officials say US-led coalition forces have killed nine Afghan soldiers and wounded three others in an airstrike in the east of the country. They said the airstrike hit a checkpoint in the Sayedkheil area of Khost province. In a statement, the US military said the incident was being investigated and that its forces may have killed and injured Afghan soldiers in what was possibly a case of mistaken identity. In other violence, Afghan police say they have killed about 35 Taliban militants after insurgents attacked a district centre in southern Uruzgan province. Three policemen were also reportedly killed in the fighting. | | | Italian court orders Germany to compensate Nazi victims
Italy's top court has ruled that Germany must pay compensation to the Italian families of nine people killed in a German army massacre during World War II. The court in Rome rejected Germany's argument that international law gave it immunity from prosecution by private citizens. The Rome judges upheld a 2007 appeals court ruling which also sentenced to life in prison a former sergeant in the German army. 88-year-old Max Josef Milde was convicted in absentia for taking part in the 1944 massacre of more than 200 civilians in the Tuscan town of Civitella. | | | Yahoo to cut workforce by 10% amid declining profits
The US internet company Yahoo says it will fire at least ten percent of its work force during the next two months after third quarter profits slumped by more than 60 percent. The cuts announced by the California-based company translate into at least 1,400 layoffs. Yahoo said the move was designed to help it reduce annual costs of 3.9 billion dollars by more than 400 million dollars. It is the company's second round of mass cutbacks this year as management tries to end a three-year slump. | | | India launches first unmanned lunar mission
India has successfully launched its first unmanned space mission to the Moon. The Chandrayaan 1 spacecraft took off from a launch pad in southern India on Wednesday. It will orbit the Moon for two years in order to provide a detailed map of its mineral, chemical and topographical characteristics. The mission is expected to cost about 60 million euros.
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International Donors Pledge 3.5 Billion Euros to Georgia
