http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/us_elections_2008/7710079.stm
just have a luk at Mr.obama`s victory speech
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Thursday, September 18, 2008
UP AGAINST THE WEATHER
Hurricane Gustav, raging ashore on the Gulf Coast, has cast a thousand-mile shadow all the way to St Paul, Minnesota, where the Republican convention opens/opened in curtailed and subdued session. Organisers are anxious not to be seen having a party while fellow Americans are losing their homes in a deluge. Convention proceedings are being kept to a constitutional minimum until the full extent of Gustav's wrath is known.
The US news networks, which provided round-the-clock coverage of last week's Democratic Party events, have a headache. To ensure a measure of balance they want to give similar prominence to the Republican event, but key correspondents and senior anchors have been redeployed south. Vast swathes of air time are going to catalogue Gustav's progress in minute, and sometimes morbid, detail, squeezing the time available for the events in St Paul. Politicians vie with meteorologists for the best slots.
US news shows adore weather stories - gung-ho reporters, excited, soaking wet and almost impossible to hear in the storm's fury, push themselves to the very edge of what safety and common sense would dictate, to show how bad things are. For some, it's news coverage at its sexiest, it's certainly difficult for a politician making a stump speech to compete.
The initial Republican response to the challenge has been sober and practical, reflecting the mood in the South. Convention organisers have made Gustav part of the narrative in the Twin Cities - the hurricane is setting the tone for the week. John McCain must be all too aware of Katrina's effect on the Bush presidency - he will not want Gustav to taint his campaign for the White House.
So prepare for a subdued and purposeful week for the Republicans. It's likely the streamers and the balloons suspended in their thousands from the ceiling of the convention venue, designed to add a festive tone to McCain's anointment as presidential nominee, will stay firmly in their nets until the gavel in St Paul comes down for the last time and the delegates have headed home.
The US news networks, which provided round-the-clock coverage of last week's Democratic Party events, have a headache. To ensure a measure of balance they want to give similar prominence to the Republican event, but key correspondents and senior anchors have been redeployed south. Vast swathes of air time are going to catalogue Gustav's progress in minute, and sometimes morbid, detail, squeezing the time available for the events in St Paul. Politicians vie with meteorologists for the best slots.
US news shows adore weather stories - gung-ho reporters, excited, soaking wet and almost impossible to hear in the storm's fury, push themselves to the very edge of what safety and common sense would dictate, to show how bad things are. For some, it's news coverage at its sexiest, it's certainly difficult for a politician making a stump speech to compete.
The initial Republican response to the challenge has been sober and practical, reflecting the mood in the South. Convention organisers have made Gustav part of the narrative in the Twin Cities - the hurricane is setting the tone for the week. John McCain must be all too aware of Katrina's effect on the Bush presidency - he will not want Gustav to taint his campaign for the White House.
So prepare for a subdued and purposeful week for the Republicans. It's likely the streamers and the balloons suspended in their thousands from the ceiling of the convention venue, designed to add a festive tone to McCain's anointment as presidential nominee, will stay firmly in their nets until the gavel in St Paul comes down for the last time and the delegates have headed home.
US GOVT TO RESCUE INVESTMENT BANKS
US pledges financial rescue plan
Senior finance officials met political leaders in Washington
US officials say they will hammer out a "comprehensive" plan to ease what has become a global financial crisis.
US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said after meeting members of Congress that legislation would be required to help rid US banks of their bad assets.
He said this was at the heart of the rescue plan, which will be worked out over the weekend.
US stocks had earlier surged on news of the rescue plan, with the Dow Jones up 3.86%, to 11,019.69.
Japan's Nikkei echoed the rally, with a 2.8% jump in early trading on Friday.
World markets have been volatile in the wake of huge upheavals among banks.
Since the start of the week, Lehman Brothers has collapsed, the Federal Reserve has bailed out insurance giant AIG, Merrill Lynch has been acquired by Bank of America and in the UK, Lloyds TSB has acquired HBOS.
'Best of the US'
Mr Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke briefed Congress leaders on the plans they were considering.
This country is able to come together and do things quickly when it needs to be done for the good of the American people
Henry Paulson,Treasury Secretary
"We talked about a comprehensive approach that will require legislation to deal with illiquid assets on financial institutions' balance sheets," Mr Paulson said.
He said the root cause of the stress in the markets was the "real estate correction" and the "price declines in real estate".
In an upbeat press conference, the congressional leaders and finance officials were keen to stress they had agreed to work together for the good of the country.
"I think we saw the best of the United States of America in the Speaker's office tonight," Mr Paulson said.
"This country is able to come together and do things quickly when it needs to be done for the good of the American people."
Central bank action
The BBC's Jane O'Brien in Washington says the heart of the problem is the bad debt caused by high-risk mortgages that sparked the housing slump and subsequent credit crunch.
Markets have been jittery amid huge upheavals in the banking sector
There is speculation that one plan being discussed involves a government agency that would take on the debt, our correspondent says.
Another possibility is legislation that would force lenders to renegotiate mortgages that homeowners are having difficulty paying, she adds.
Reports said Mr Paulson was looking into setting up something akin to the Resolution Trust Corp (RTC), which was formed after savings and loans banks collapsed in the 1980s.
The RTC took over most of the smaller banks in the US at a cost of $400bn - about $1 trillion in today's money - and then tried to sell off their assets.
BBC economics reporter Steve Schifferes says the cost of such a bailout would be probably be higher this time, with bad mortgage debt believed to be around $2 trillion.
Six of the world's top central banks took steps to calm worried stock markets on Thursday, releasing $180bn to lift the amount of credit available.
On Friday, the Bank of Japan said it had injected a further two trillion yen ($19bn; £10.5bn) into money markets, to add to the eight trillion yen it had already pumped in this week.
Senior finance officials met political leaders in Washington
US officials say they will hammer out a "comprehensive" plan to ease what has become a global financial crisis.
US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said after meeting members of Congress that legislation would be required to help rid US banks of their bad assets.
He said this was at the heart of the rescue plan, which will be worked out over the weekend.
US stocks had earlier surged on news of the rescue plan, with the Dow Jones up 3.86%, to 11,019.69.
Japan's Nikkei echoed the rally, with a 2.8% jump in early trading on Friday.
World markets have been volatile in the wake of huge upheavals among banks.
Since the start of the week, Lehman Brothers has collapsed, the Federal Reserve has bailed out insurance giant AIG, Merrill Lynch has been acquired by Bank of America and in the UK, Lloyds TSB has acquired HBOS.
'Best of the US'
Mr Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke briefed Congress leaders on the plans they were considering.
This country is able to come together and do things quickly when it needs to be done for the good of the American people
Henry Paulson,Treasury Secretary
"We talked about a comprehensive approach that will require legislation to deal with illiquid assets on financial institutions' balance sheets," Mr Paulson said.
He said the root cause of the stress in the markets was the "real estate correction" and the "price declines in real estate".
In an upbeat press conference, the congressional leaders and finance officials were keen to stress they had agreed to work together for the good of the country.
"I think we saw the best of the United States of America in the Speaker's office tonight," Mr Paulson said.
"This country is able to come together and do things quickly when it needs to be done for the good of the American people."
Central bank action
The BBC's Jane O'Brien in Washington says the heart of the problem is the bad debt caused by high-risk mortgages that sparked the housing slump and subsequent credit crunch.
Markets have been jittery amid huge upheavals in the banking sector
There is speculation that one plan being discussed involves a government agency that would take on the debt, our correspondent says.
Another possibility is legislation that would force lenders to renegotiate mortgages that homeowners are having difficulty paying, she adds.
Reports said Mr Paulson was looking into setting up something akin to the Resolution Trust Corp (RTC), which was formed after savings and loans banks collapsed in the 1980s.
The RTC took over most of the smaller banks in the US at a cost of $400bn - about $1 trillion in today's money - and then tried to sell off their assets.
BBC economics reporter Steve Schifferes says the cost of such a bailout would be probably be higher this time, with bad mortgage debt believed to be around $2 trillion.
Six of the world's top central banks took steps to calm worried stock markets on Thursday, releasing $180bn to lift the amount of credit available.
On Friday, the Bank of Japan said it had injected a further two trillion yen ($19bn; £10.5bn) into money markets, to add to the eight trillion yen it had already pumped in this week.
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