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Financial crisis. Talks Falter on Bailout Deal "A renegade bloc of Republicans moved to reshape a massive bailout of the U.S. financial system yesterday, surprising and angering Bush administration and congressional leaders who hours earlier announced agreement on the 'fundamentals' of a deal." Wall Street bailout plan proves elusive "In a roller-coaster day of hopes raised and hopes dashed, efforts to negotiate a compromise on the $700-billion plan for rescuing the nation's financial system bogged down, with conservative Republicans denouncing the strategy as ill-conceived and Democrats accusing GOP presidential candidate John McCain of encouraging the revolt." Deal, then no deal "A day that began optimistically devolved into a night of partisan bickering, finger-pointing and more negotiations, as Democratic supporters of the $700 billion Bush administration bailout plan accused Republicans of trying to scuttle the deal." White House summit ends with no deal "With the two men who want to succeed him sitting close by, President Bush on convened a historic, high-stakes summit to sell his $700 billion Wall Street bailout package, but the meeting produced fresh acrimony without clinching a deal on the rescue plan." Talks Implode During Day of Chaos; Fate of Bailout Plan Remains Unresolved "The day began with an agreement that Washington hoped would end the financial crisis that has gripped the nation. It dissolved into a verbal brawl in the Cabinet Room of the White House, urgent warnings from the president and pleas from a Treasury secretary who knelt before the House speaker and appealed for her support." U.S. banking rescue package hovers on brink "A deal designed to rescue the banking system and save the world economy from catastrophe -- but costing each American taxpayer $5,300 -- see-sawed from outline agreement back to the brink of collapse after another day of political drama in Washington."
Reactions to crisis. Away from Wall Street, Economists Question Basis of Paulson's Plan "The Bush administration's pitch for a sweeping bailout of the financial system has centered on two simple premises: that the economy could suffer a crippling downturn if action is not taken very quickly and that this action should consist of the government buying troubled mortgage securities from sweeping plan for verifying its claims about its nuclear programs." Is the bailout needed? Many economists say 'no' "A funny thing happened in the drafting of the largest-ever U.S. government intervention in the financial system. Lawmakers of all stripes mostly fell in line, but many of the nation's brightest economic minds are warning that the Wall Street bailout's a dangerous rush job." Public isn't buying Wall Street bailout "As congressional leaders struggled to craft a bailout plan for the nation's troubled financial system, angry protesters mobbed Wall Street, telephones rang off the hook in House and Senate offices and a group of prominent economists sent off e-mail blasts critiquing the proposal." Many voices angry over $700b outlay "From Boston to Southern California, many Americans are questioning the government's plan to spend $700 billion to rescue ailing Wall Street investment firms."
Bank failure. U.S. Forces WaMu Sale As Bank Founders "Federal regulators last night seized the massive, troubled mortgage lender Washington Mutual in the largest bank failure in U.S. history, then immediately sold much of the company to J.P. Morgan Chase for $1.9 billion in a deal that will create the largest bank in the country." Government Seizes WaMu and Sells Some Assets "Washington Mutual, the giant lender that came to symbolize the excesses of the mortgage boom, was seized by federal regulators on Thursday night, in what is by far the largest bank failure in American history." JPMorgan Chase buying Washington Mutual's assets for $1.9 billion after FDIC seizes bank "As the debate over a $700 billion bank bailout rages on in Washington, one of the nation's largest banks - Washington Mutual Inc. - has collapsed under the weight of its enormous bad bets on the mortgage market."
Debate. Will there be a debate tonight? Mississippi waits to find out "The University of Mississippi community went to bed Thursday still unsure whether the first 2008 presidential debate would be held here tonight." Debate uncertainty keeps the political stakes high "Less than 24 hours before they were to share a stage, John McCain and Barack Obama remained at odds over tonight's first presidential debate, with Obama planning to proceed and McCain holding out for a congressional rescue of the nation's teetering financial system." Obama, McCain aren't worlds apart on foreign policy "Even as they campaign on their differences, John McCain and Barack Obama have been quietly recalibrating their messages on foreign policy in ways that often have moved them closer to the political center -- and to each other." Where Obama and McCain stand on key foreign policy issues "Fundamental differences on foreign policy and national security separate John McCain and Barack Obama. Here's where they stand on four major challenges the next president will face."
Ohio ballot. Pastors oppose two Ohio ballot issues "A series of church leaders took to the pulpit yesterday to say that the same greed that created the current problems on Wall Street lies behind two issues on Ohio's statewide ballot."
Nuclear warheads mishandled. 17 senior officers rebuked for breach of trust in mis-shipment of fuses for nuclear warheads "The Air Force and Army have disciplined 17 senior officers, including the three-star general in charge of logistics, for poor oversight in connection with the mistaken shipment of fuses for nuclear warheads to Taiwan."
Global warming. Carbon Is Building Up in Atmosphere Faster Than Predicted "The rise in global carbon dioxide emissions last year outpaced international researchers' most dire projections, according to figures being released today, as human-generated greenhouse gases continued to build up in the atmosphere despite international agreements and national policies aimed at curbing climate change." Surprising increase in greenhouse gas emissions "The world pumped up its pollution of the chief man-made global warming gas last year, setting a course that could push beyond leading scientists' projected worst-case scenario, international researchers said Thursday."
Global poverty. $16 Billion Pledged To Aid World's Poor "Faced with a global financial crisis, foreign governments still mustered more than $16 billion in commitments to fund programs to eradicate poverty, fight infectious diseases and put millions of children through primary school." U.N. Receives New Pledges of Aid Totaling $16 Billion "Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary general, announced that the organization had received an additional $16 billion in pledges to fight a host of global ills like hunger and malaria, calling it an important signal that the world financial crisis would not impair aid efforts." World Leaders Embrace Goal of Ending Malaria Deaths by 2015 "With a dramatic series of announcements Thursday, world leaders declared what experts just two years ago considered virtually impossible: They believe the number of deaths caused by malaria can fall from more than 1 million annually to zero by 2015." Fighting poverty makes business sense to companies "Unlike previous U.N. pitches to business executives, which played to their sense of social responsibility, this one asks them simply to look for profitable markets in underserved regions of poor countries.
Israel-Iran. Israel asked U.S. for green light to bomb nuclear sites in Iran "Israel gave serious thought this spring to launching a military strike on Iran's nuclear sites but was told by President George W. Bush that he would not support it and did not expect to revise that view for the rest of his presidency, senior European diplomatic sources have told the Guardian."
Iranian president. Rabbi among Ahmadinejad dinner guests "Several hundred people -- including a Jewish rabbi and a radical Muslim cleric -- joined Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for a traditional breaking of the Ramadan fast Thursday before he left New York." Ahmadinejad's puzzling 'friendly talk' "At breakfast Thursday, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's president, declared that the era of the atomic bomb is over. It is 'politically backward,' he said, for a country to believe that nuclear weapons can solve its problems." Iran's Leader Criticizes U.S. Policies Around World "President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, reviewing the various conflicts smoldering in his neighborhood, said Thursday that NATO forces paid insufficient attention to humanitarian problems in Afghanistan, that Iraqi forces should be given more responsibility for security and that he was 'unhappy' with the situation in Georgia."
U.S.-Pakistan. Shots fired in U.S.-Pakistan clash "The United States military says U.S. and Afghan forces have exchanged gunfire with Pakistani troops across the border with Afghanistan." Pakistanis, U.S.-Afghan Patrol Exchange Fire Near Frontier "Pakistani troops and a U.S.-Afghan ground patrol exchanged fire Thursday near a frontier checkpoint, U.S. and Pakistani officials said, in a new heightening of armed tension between allies in the war against Taliban insurgents." Pakistan warns U.S. troops to avoid crossborder "Pakistan warned U.S. troops not to intrude on its territory Friday, after the two anti-terror allies traded fire along the volatile border with Afghanistan."
North Korea. Far-Reaching U.S. Plan Impaired N. Korea Deal "The unraveling of the landmark deal to end North Korea's nuclear weapons programs began just weeks after its high point -- the televised destruction of the cooling tower at the Yongbyon nuclear reactor in late June -- when U.S. negotiators presented Pyongyang with a sweeping plan for verifying its sweeping plan for verifying its claims about its nuclear programs."
South Africa. New South Africa president is sworn in "A low-key former mining union official, Kgalema Motlanthe, was sworn in as president of South Africa on Thursday, widely seen as a caretaker keeping the seat warm until the ruling party's leader runs for the post after next year's parliamentary elections." South Africa: Kgalema Motlanthe, Country's New President "The Minister in the Presidency and Deputy President of the African National Congress (ANC), Kgalema Motlanthe, has been elected President of South Africa." South African President tries to end jitters "Mr. Motlanthe, 59, who remains as the ANC's deputy president, sought to calm nerves after a week of political turmoil, which Archbishop Desmond Tutu criticized as the antics of a banana republic."
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