Here is the Sunday, September 28th, 2008 edition of what’s making news and interesting reads from around the world. Also please note that off to the left there are two widgets with updates on news from Asia and the world in a separate page: Around Asia & Around the World New Feeds.
Bailout Deal Reached
U.S. lawmakers on Sunday were set to sign off on a deal to create a $700 billion government fund to buy bad debt from ailing banks in a bid to stem a credit crisis threatening the global economy. After marathon talks into the wee hours of Sunday morning, congressional leaders from both parties emerged with an agreement that altered key parts of a Wall Street bailout program initially proposed by the Bush administration. The story from Reuters.
Bradford & Bingley (UK Mortgage Bank) and Fortis (Belgium) in Crisis
The banking crisis is quickly spreading overseas. Belgium’s Fortis is this weekend poised to become the first large continental bank to fall victim to the credit crunch, as the global chaos continues with Bradford & Bingley and American savings giant Wachovia both teetering on the brink. The Belgian central bank and the country’s regulator are paving the way for a bailout of the huge banking and insurance group, which has a £540 billion balance sheet and a market value of £12 billion. In Britain, the fate of Bradford & Bingley will be decided today. Fren-etic talks between the Bank of England, the Financial Services Authority and the government have been taking place this weekend to save the troubled mortgage bank. Stories from Times of London and from Euro News.
Austrian Elections
Austria votes today with the far-right expected to make major gains at the expense of the two largest parties. More from the BBC.
Bavaria Heads to the Polls
For decades, politics in Bavaria have been synonymous with the Christian Social Union, the state’s sister party to Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats. When voters go to the polls on Sunday, the party could lose an absolute majority it has maintained for decades. Is this the end of Germany’s last bastion of old-fashioned conservatism? Der Spiegel provides the coverage.
Afghanistan’s Top Female Police Officer Killed
Gunmen in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar have killed the country’s most prominent police woman, officials say. Lt-Col Malalai Kakar, head of Kandahar’s department of crimes against women, was shot in her car as she was about to leave for work. More from the BBC.
FBI Opens Investigation of Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac