World Events: 2008Q3

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World Event

1-Jul-08

Washington, DC - U.S. - The Federal Reserve to offer $75 billion in 28-day credit through its Term Auction Facility on 14-Jul-08 and 28-Jul-08 (Federal Reserve Board).

2-Jul-08

New York, NY - U.S. - The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 166.75 points (-1.46%), closing at 11,215.51 (DJ; Yahoo! Finance).

7-Jul-08

Toyako, Hokkaido - Japan - G8 Summit 2008. According to Japanese Prime Minister Fukuda, the G8 message on the world economy should "(1) state concern over inflationary pressures, (2) with regard to rising oil prices, stress the need to take concrete measures to improve balance between supply and demand as well as increase market transparency, and (3) resist protectionism including encouragement of a successful ministerial meeting toward the agreement on the World Trade Organization Doha Round" (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, 7-9-Jul-08). [7-Jul-08 - 9-Jul-08.]

Shanghai - China - The Shanghai Composite Index (SSE) gained 122.51 points (4.59%), closing at 2,792.40 (Yahoo! Finance).

8-Jul-08

New York, NY - U.S. - The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 152.25 points (1.36%), closing at 11,384.21 (DJ; Yahoo! Finance).

Nassau - Bahamas - John Marks Templeton, "the pioneer global investor who founded the Templeton Mutual Funds and . . . devoted his fortune to his Foundation's work on the "Big Questions" of science, religion, and human purpose," died at 95 of pneumonia. John Templeton graduated from Yale University in 1934; he was named a Rhodes Scholar to Balliol College at Oxford where he graduated with an M.A. degree in law (John Templeton Foundation). (See also: MarketWatch.)

9-Jul-08

Istanbul - Turkey - Three impoverished kids attacked the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul; 3 police officers and the attakers were killed (Los Angeles Times, 12-Jul-08). (See also: NYT.)

New York, NY - U.S. - The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 236.77 points (-2.08%), closing at 11,147.44 (DJ; Yahoo! Finance).

10-Jul-08

Midland, MI; Philadelphia, PA - U.S. - Dow Chemical Co. to buy Rohm & Haas Co. in a transaction valued at $18.8 billion; an equity investment by Berkshire Hathaway and the Kuwait Investment Authority, in the form of convertible preferred securities for $3 billion and $1 billion respectively, will finance the acquisition (Dow Chemical). (See also: MarketWatch.)

New York, NY - U.S. - Crude-oil futures jumped more than $5 to more than $141 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX); geopolitical tensions in Nigeria and Iran, refinery capacity, and the fall of the dollar are blamed (MarketWatch).

Washington, DC - U.S. - President Bush signs H.R. 6304, FISA Amendments Act of 2008. President Bush: "One of the important lessons learned after 9/11 was that America's intelligence professionals lacked some of the tools they needed to monitor the communications of terrorists abroad. It is essential that our intelligence community know who our enemies are talking to, what they're saying, and what they're planning. Last year Congress passed temporary legislation that helped our intelligence community monitor these communications. . . This law will ensure that those companies whose assistance is necessary to protect the country will themselves be protected from lawsuits from past or future cooperation with the government. . ." (White House). (See also: Library of Congress, THOMAS; GovTrack, 11-Jul-08.)

London - U.K. - The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee decided to keep the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves unchanged at 5.0% (Bank of England).

11-Jul-08

Pasadena, CA - U.S. - IndyMac Bancorp suffered a massive run on the bank; IndyMac's failure is "the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history"; the cost of the bank's failure is estimated to be in the range from $4 billion to $8 billion (FDIC) (Los Angeles Times, 12-Jul-08; Washington Post, 12-Jul-08). IndyMac was closed by the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was named Conservator (FDIC, 11-Jul-08).

Washington, DC - U.S. - The market values of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac fell by about 50%: markets and the U.S. government expressed concerns about the financial stability of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (Washington Post, 12-Jul-08). In 2008, the market values of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac fell by about 74% and 77%, respectively (NYT, 13-Jul-08). The two companies suffered $11 billion in losses in 9 months; should the U.S. government have to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government's debt could rise from about $9 trillion to about $14 trllion (NYT, 12-Jul-08). (See also: NYT, 5-Aug-08.)

New York, NY; Dusseldorf; Paris - U.S.; Germany; France - Citigroup to sell its German retail banking unit, Citibank Privatkunden AG & Co. KGaA, to Credit Mutuel for $7.7 billion (Citigroup). (See also: MarketWatch.)

12-Jul-08

Houston, TX - U.S. - Dr. Michael DeBakey, the son of Lebanese immigrants, the world's most famous cardiovascular surgeon, and "an ingenious medical inventor and innovator," died at 99 (Bailor College of Medicine; NYT).

13-Jul-08

Leuven; St. Louis, MO - Belgium; U.S. - InBev to Acquire Anheuser-Bush in a deal valued at $52 billion (InBev).

Wanat - Afghanistan - Taliban fighters killed 9 U.S. troops (NYT, 15-Jul-08).

Washington, DC - U.S. - The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System granted the Federal Reserve Bank of New York the authority to lend to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (Federal Reserve Board).

14-Jul-08

U.S. - Investors are worried about banks; bank shares tumble (NYT, 15-Jul-08; Los Angeles Times, 15-Jul-08).

Washington, DC - U.S. - The Federal Reserve Board approved a final rule for home mortgage loans "to better protect consumers and facilitate responsible lending"; the rule aims to stop "unfair, abusive or deceptive home mortgage lending practices" (Federal Reserve Board). (See also: NYT, 15-Jul-08).

Washington, DC - U.S. - The Federal Reserve to offer $75 billion in 28-day credit through its Term Auction Facility (Federal Reserve Board).

15-Jul-08

Tokyo - Japan - The Bank of Japan decided to keep the uncollateralized overnight call rate at around 0.5% (Bank of Japan).

Washington, DC - U.S. - The federal banking and thrift agencies issued final guidance on the supervisory review of capital adequacy (Pillar 2) for banks implementing the new advanced framework known as Basel II; the 3 Pillars of Basel II are: "minimum risk-based capital requirements (Pillar 1); supervisory review of capital adequacy (Pillar 2); and market discipline through enhanced public disclosures (Pillar 3)" (Federal Reserve Board).

16-Jul-08

New York, NY - U.S. - The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 276.74 points (2.52%), closing at 11,239.28 (DJ; Yahoo! Finance).

17-Jul-08

New York, NY - U.S. - The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 207.38 points (1.85%), closing at 11,446.66 (DJ; Yahoo! Finance).

24-Jul-08

Sri Lanka - 66 Tamil Tigers and 8 troops were reportedly killed (Reuters, 26-Jul-08). More than 70,000 people died in Sri Lanka's civil war since Black July 1983 (BBC News, 23-Jul-08). (See also: UPI, 26-Jul-08; Colombo Page, 27-Jul-08.) [24-Jul-08 - 25-Jul-08.]

Berlin - Germany - About 215,000 people hear Obama's Berlin speech (Los Angeles Times, 25-Jul-08). (See also: FOX News-Hannity & Colmes, 25-Jul-08; Deutsche Welle, 26-Jul-08.)

New York, NY - U.S. - The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 283.10 points (-2.43%), closing at 11,349.28 (DJ; Yahoo! Finance).

25-Jul-08

Mountain View, CA - U.S. - The Google index grew from 26 million pages in 1998, to one billion in 2000, to 1 trillion unique URLs in 2008 (not all pages are indexed); the number of web pages is growing by several billion pages per day (Google).

Bangalore; Ahmedabad - India - About 25 serial bombings killed more than 45 people; Indian Mujahedin claimed responsibility for the attacks (Hindu-Muslim riots in 2002 killed more than 1,000 mostly Muslims) (VOA News, 26-27-Jul-08). (See also: NYT, 28-Jul-08.) [25-Jul-08 - 26-Jul-08.]

Irvine, CA - U.S. - RealtyTrac Monthly U.S. Foreclosure Market Report: 739,714 foreclosure filings were reported in 2Q2008, up 121% from 2Q2007 (RealtyTrac).

26-Jul-08

Turkey; Iraq - The Turkish air force attacked 12 bases of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in northern Iraq (VOA News, 27-Jul-08). [26-Jul-08 - 27-Jul-08.]

Washington, DC - U.S. - The U.S. Senate approved bill H.R. 3221: the American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act; the bill allows the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to guarantee up to $300 billion in mortgages ), and prop up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the bill provides about $4 billion to bail out lenders) (Los Angeles Times, 27-Jul-08). (See H.R. 3221: A bill to provide needed housing reform and for other purposes, Library of Congress-Thomas.) (See also: Washington Post, 27-Jul-08.)

Washington, DC - U.S. - The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved the merger of Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio Holdings, Inc.; the deal is valued at about $3.5 billion (NYT-AP). (See FCC, 25-Jul-08.)

Iran - According to Mahmoud Ahmedinjad, Iran's president, Iran has 6,000 centrifuges for enriching uranium (Al Jazeera-Agencies, 27-Jul-08; China View-Xinhua, 29-Jul-08).

27-Jul-08

Dera Bugti, Baluchistan - Pakistan - Clashes pitting tribesmen and government troops killed at least 3 soldiers and 12 militants; rebels accuse the government of exploiting their gas reserves (VOA News-AFP-AP-Reuters).

Istanbul - Turkey - 2 bombs killed at least 15 people (VOA News-AFP-AP-Reuters).

Ukraine; Romania - Floods killed at least 13 people in Ukraine and 4 in Romania (VOA News-AP-Reuters).

Afghanistan - Up to 70 militants were reportedly killed in a battle pitting NATO and Afghan forces vs.Taliban fighters (VOA News-AFP-AP-Reuters).

28-Jul-08

Azam Warsak, South Waziristan - Pakistan - Missile attack killed at least 6 people (VOA News-AFP-AP-Reuters).

Baghdad; Kirkuk - Iraq - 3 female suicide bombers targetted pilgrims heading to Kazimiyah killing at least 32 people, including women and children, in Baghdad; another bomber killed at least 25 people in Kirkuk (Al Jazeera-Agencies, 29-Jul-08). (See also: VOA News-AFP-AP-Reuters.)

U.S. - Banks tighten credit (NYT).

Washington, DC - U.S. - The Federal Reserve to offer $75 billion in 28-day credit through its Term Auction Facility (Federal Reserve Board).

Washington, DC; Manassas, VA - U.S. - The U.S. federal budget deficit in FY2009 is estimated at a record $482 billion (3.3% of the U.S. economy) (White House; OMB). (See also: NYT, 29-Jul-08; Financial Times, 29-Jul-08; San Francisco Chronicle, 29-Jul-08.) Richard A. Viguerie: “As shocking as this deficit figure is, that’s still not the true scope of our budget woes because it excludes $80 Billion in war costs and $227 Billion 'borrowed' from the Social Security Trust Fund. The real budget deficit is therefore $789 Billion. Under accounting trickery that would probably land the top officers of a publicly traded company in jail . . ." (ConservativeHQ.com, 29-Jul-08).

New York, NY - U.S. - The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 239.61 points (-2.11%), closing at 11,131.08 (DJ; Yahoo! Finance).

29-Jul-08

Tehran - Iran - 15th Ministerial Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM): Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: "The big powers are going down . . . They have come to the end of their power, and the world is on the verge of entering a new, promising era" (AP, 29-Jul-08); Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki: "The current world order is unfair and therefore should be corrected" (IRNA, 29-Jul-08); Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque: "We should strengthen the role of NAM in the UNSC in order to help establish durable peace and security at international level (China View-Xinhua, 29-Jul-08).

Chino Hills, Los Angeles - U.S. - Magnitude 5.4 - Greater Los Angeles Area, California

New York, NY - U.S. - The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 266.48 points (2.39%), closing at 11,397.56 (DJ; Yahoo! Finance).

Geneva - Switzerland - World Trade Organization (WTO) talks regarding blueprint agreements in agriculture and industrial products collapsed; key gap: "the special safeguard mechanism for developing countries, which would allow developing countries to raise tariffs temporarily in order to deal with import surges and price falls" (WTO). (See also: VOA News-AFP-Bloomberg-Reuters.)

London - U.K. - BP plc 2008Q1 results: Total revenues, $110.982 billion (up 49.2%); profit attributable to BP shareholders, $9.465 billion (up 28.3%) (BP plc.). (See also: NYT, 31-Jul-08.)

30-Jul-08

New York, NY - U.S. - The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 186.13 points (1.63%), closing at 11,583.69 (DJ; Yahoo! Finance).

31-Jul-08

Irving, TX - U.S. - Exxon Mobil 2008Q2 results: Total revenues, $138.072 billion (up 40.4%); net income, $11.680 billion (up 13.8%) (Exxon Mobil). (See also: Houston Chronicle; NYT; Bloomberg; MarketWatch; BBC News.)

The Hague; London - The Netherlands; U.K. - Royal Dutch Shell 2008Q2 results: Revenue is stated after deducting sales taxes, excise duties, $131.419 (up 54.8%); net income attributable to shareholders, $11.556 billion (up 33.3%) (Royal Dutch Shell). (See also: Houston Chronicle; NYT; Bloomberg; MarketWatch.)

Caracas - Venezuela - President Hugo Chávez to nationalize Banco de Venezuela, owned by Spain's Banco Santander SA, at a cost estimated at more than $2 billion (NYT, 2-Aug-08). (See also: WSJ, 4-Aug-08; Latin Business Chronicle, 4-Aug-08).

New York, NY - U.S. - The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 205.67 points (-1.78%), closing at 11,378.02 (DJ; Yahoo! Finance).

1-Aug-08

Detroit, MI - U.S. - GM 2008Q2 results: Revenue, $38.156 billion (down 18.2%); net loss, $15.471 billion (GM). (See also: Bloomberg; CNN Money-Dow Jones.)

San Ramon, CA - U.S. - Chevron 2008Q2 results: Total revenues, $82.989 billion (up 47.9%); net income, $5.975 billion (up 11%) (Chevron). (See also: NYT-Reuters.)

Taskent, Konya - Turkey - Explosion destroyed a dormitory killing at least 17 schoolgirls (VOA News-AFP-AP-Reuters; AP).

Kunar; Khost; Kandaher - Afghanistan - Two blasts killed 5 NATO ISAF troops and one civilian; a bomb attack killed 5 Afghan policemen (BBC News; China View-Xinhua). (See also: Daily Times-Reuters, 2-Aug-08).

2-Aug-08

Beytussebap, Sirnak - Turkey - Turkish troops and Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels clashed; death toll: 8 PPK rebels, 5 guards (Reuters; China View, Xinhua). [2-Aug-08 - 3-Aug-08.]

3-Aug-08

Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh - India - Stampede at the Naina Devi temple killed at least 145 people (VOA News), including more than 40 children (Times Online). (See also: Times of India-PTI; CNN-AP.)

Baghdad - Iraq - Bomb blast killed at least 12 people (Al Jazeera-Al Jazeera-Agencies; VOA News-AFP-AP-Reuters).

Mogadishu - Somalia - Bomb blast killed at least 20 people, mostly women (Al Jazeera-Agencies; VOA News-AFP-AP).

Santa Cruz, CA - U.S. - Two firebomb attacks targeted University of California Santa Cruz scientists who use animals in their research; animal rights extremists are suspected (NBC11.com). (See also: Los Angeles Times, 10-Aug-08; eFl;uxMedia, 9-Aug-08.)

4-Aug-08

Mumbai - India - Rupert Murdoch unveiled The Global Dow, an index whose components are selected by the editors of The Wall Street Journal. Rupert Murdoch: "The world is changing and how we measure that change economically and financially is clearly a challenge and an opportunity. We have seen a reweighting of risk around the world, but the world itself is being economically rerated and so we need an index that allows investors to take advantage of these changes." (Dow Jones.)

London - U.K. - HSBC Holdings results for 2007H1: Total operating income, $42.912 billion (up 1.9%); net operating income, $39.475 billion (up 2.6%); profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company, $7.722 billion (down 29.1%); loan impairment charges and other credit risk provisions, $10.058 billion (up 58.5%) (HSBC).

Kashgar, Xinjiang - China - Suspected terrorists killed at least 16 officers (China View-Xinhua; VOA News; NYT).

Moscow - Russia - Alexander Solzhenitsyn, author of "The Gulag Archipelago" (1974) and "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" (1962), died in Moscow at the age of 89; Solzhenitsyn was cawarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1970 (VOA News). (See also: Moscow Times; Christian Science Monitor, 5-Aug-08.)

Crude oil futures fell below $120 per barrel as the threat to offshore oil facilities from tropical storm Edouard diminished (Bloomberg; CNN Money).

U.S. - The U.S. Department of Defense activated the Defense Counterintelligence (CI) and Human Intelligence (HUMINT) Center; under the direction of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) (U.S. DOD).

U.S. - The percentage of arrears in "alternative-A" mortgages quadrupled to 12% YOY in April; delinquencies among prime loans doubled to 2.7% (NYT).

5-Aug-08

Washington, DC - U.S. - The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) decided to keep its target for the federal funds rate unchanged at 2% (Federal Reserve Board).

Washington, DC; Beijing - U.S.; China - The Federal Reserve Board approved the application by Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited (ICBC, Beijing, People's Republic of China), to establish a branch in New York, NY. ICBC is the largest bank in China; the government of China owns approximately 74.8% of ICBC’s shares; ICBC's has total assets of approximately $1.3 trillion. (Federal Reserve Board.)

New York, NY - U.S. - The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 331.62 points (2.94%), closing at 11,615.77 (DJ; Yahoo! Finance).

6-Aug-08

McLean, VA - U.S. - Freddie Mac 2008Q2 results: Total revenues, $1.693 billion (down 27.7%); total expenses, $3.545 billion (up 133.4%); net loss, $821 million (up 212.6%); provision for credit losses, $2.5 billion;to raise $5.5 billion of new core capital "given appropriate market conditions" (Freddie Mac).

New York, NY - U.S. - American International Group, Inc. (AIG) 2008Q2 and 2008H1 results: Net losses of $5.36 billion (down 225%) and $13.16 billion, repectively (AIG).

Redding, CA - U.S. - Sikorsky S-61 helicopter crashed; 9 firefighters are presumed dead (Washington Post, 7-Aug-08).

Mauritania - Military coup in Mauritania (U.S. Department of State).

7-Aug-08

Frankfurt am Main - Germany - The Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) decided to keep the minimum bid rate on the main refinancing operations unchanged at 4.25%; the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility will also remain unchanged at 5.25% and 3.25%, respectively (ECB).

London - U.K. - The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee decided to keep the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves unchanged at 5.0% (Bank of England).

New York, NY - U.S. - As settlement with federal and state regulators, Citigroup and Merrill Lynch offered to buy back $7.3 billion and $10 billion worth of auction-rate securities, respectively; the securities were previously marketed as being safe; Citigroup to also pay $100 million in fines (NYT). (See also: New York Sate Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo; Merril Lynch; Citigroup.)

London - U.K. - Barclays 2008H1 results: Total income net of insurance claims, £11.843 billion (down 0.5%); impairment charges and other credit provisions, £2.448 billion (up 155.3%); profit attributable to equity holders of the parent, £1.718 billion (down 34.8%) (Barclays).

New York, NY - U.S. - The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 224.64 points (-1.93%), closing at 11,431.43 (DJ; Yahoo! Finance).

South Ossetia - Georgia - At least 25 civilians and troops were killed in fighting between separatists in South Ossetia and Georgian troops (NYT); Russian forces enter Georgia (VOA News-AFP-AP-Reuters, 8-Aug-08). According to Mikhail Gorbachev, the attack on South Ossetia was initiated by a reckless Georgian president, Mikheil Saakashvili, with outside support (NYT, 19-Aug-08). (See also: Los Angeles Times; VOA News-AFP-Reuters, 4-Aug-08.) [7-Aug-08 - 8-Aug-08.]

Islamabad - Pakistan - The Pakistan People's Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-N faction to initiate impeachment proceedings against President Pervez Musharraf (NYT; Washington Post, 8-Aug-08; Los Angeles Times, 8-Aug-08.)

8-Aug-08

Beijing - China - Beijing 2008 Olympic Games (The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, 29-Jul-08). [8-Aug-08 - 24-Aug-08.]

Washington, DC - U.S. - Fannie Mae 2008Q2 results: Total interest income, $10.464 billion (down 7.1%); total interest expense, $8.407 billion (down 16.5%); net interest income, $2.057 billion (up 72.4%); provision for credit losses, $5.085 billion (up 1,071.7%); net loss, $2.300 billion (up 218.1%) (Fannie Mae).

New York, NY - U.S. - Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo announced an agreement with UBS Securities LLC and UBS Financial Services, Inc. to return over $11 billion to investors as settlement of a lawsuit charging UBS with "misrepresenting auction rate securities to investors as safe, cash-equivalent products, when in fact they faced increasing liquidity risk"; UBS will also pay to the State of New York a civil penalty in the amount of $75 million, and to the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) a separate civil penalty of $75 million (New York State Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo). (See also: UBS.)

Shanghai - China - The Shanghai Composite Index (SSE) lost 121.86 points (-4.47%), closing at 2,605.72 (Yahoo! Finance).

New York, NY - U.S. - The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 302.89 points (2.65%), closing at 11,734.32 (DJ; Yahoo! Finance).

Tal Afar - Iraq - A car bomb killed at least 21 people, including 5 police officers (VOA News-AFP-AP-Reuters).

Loe Sam, Bajaur - Pakistan - Pakistani troops clashed with the Taliban but were repelled. Death toll: 6 soldiers, according to the military; 22, according to the Taliban. (NYT, 10-Aug-08.) [8-Aug-08 - 10-Aug-08.]

9-Aug-08

South Ossetia; Abkhazia - Georgia - Fighting between Georgia and Russia escalates; reported death toll: more than 1,500 (NYT; Los Angales Times, 10-Aug-08). (See also: Al Jazeera-Al Jazeera-Agencies, 10-Aug-08.) Reported death tolls, as at 21-Aug-08: 1,492 civilians, according to the South Ossetian administration; 133 civilians in South Ossetia and 64 Russian troops, according to Russia; 215 people outside of South Ossetia, according to Georgian officials (The Australian, 22-Aug-08).

Worldwide - According to the New York Times "The Debt Trap Series": there are 3.67 billion payment cards circulating in the world; the number of credit card transactions is rising at the rate of 20% to 30% per year in Asia, Latin America and Central Europe; the number of credit cards in Turkey increased from 10,000 30 years ago to 38 million; 148 million credit cards have been issued in South Korea, about 3 cards per person (NYT).

10-Aug-08

Kuqa, Xinjiang - China - Serial bombings targeting government facilities killed 11 people, including 10 bombers; Muslim separatists are suspected (VOA News). (See also: China View-Xinhua; Al Jazeera-Agencies).

Bajaur - Pakistan - Fighting killed at least 100 militants and 9 Pakistani troops (VOA News- AFP-AP-Reuters; Al Jazeera-Agencies).

Iraq - Bombings across Iraq killed 9 people (VOA News-AFP-AP-Reuters).

Zemmouri el-Bahri - Algeria - Suicide Bomber killed 8 people (VOA News-AFP-AP-Reuters; Al Jazeera-Agencies).

Toronto, ON - Canada - Massive explosions at Sunrise Propane Industrial Gases forced thousands of people to flee; 1 firefighter was killed (CBC News). (See also: BBC News.)

11-Aug-08

Shanghai - China - The Shanghai Composite Index (SSE) lost 135.65 points (-5.21%), closing at 2,470.07 (Yahoo! Finance).

Washington, DC - U.S. - The Federal Reserve to offer $25 billion in 84-day credit through its Term Auction Facility (TAF) (Federal Reserve Board).

New York, NY - U.S. - Attorney General Cuomo expanded the investigation into the auction rate securities scandal (New York Sate Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo). Morgan Stanley offered to buy-back about $4.5 billion worth of at par auction rate securities (ARS) (Morgan Stanley).

Kabul; Kandahar; Maimana - Afghanistan - Violence in Kabul killed 4 Afghans and 2 foreign troops; insurgents killed 1 Canadian soldier and 1 Latvian soldier; a coalition air strike killed 8 Afghan civilians and 25 militants (VOA New-AFP-AP).

Kashmir - India - Thousands of Muslim protested a Hindu economic blockade; Indian security forces killed at least 13 Muslim protesters (VOA News, 12-aug-08).

12-Aug-08

Gori - Georgia - Russian troops occupy Gori, Josef Stalin's birthplace (NYT, 13-Aug-08). Some blame U.S. support for Saakashvili and the latter's miscalculation regarding sending Georgian troops into South Ossetia (Al Jazeera-Al Jazeera-Agencies, 13-Aug-08). (On the nature of the "miscalculation," see: NYT, 17-Aug-08.)

Washington, DC - U.S. - A study of the reported tax liabilities of foreign- and U.S.-controlled corporations by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) found as follows: The minimum percentages of foreign-controlled domestic corporations (FCDCs) and U.S.-controlled corporations (USCCs) reporting no tax liability for the tax years 1998 through 2005 (via tax forms 1120 and 1120-A) were 65.2% and 60.9%, respectively; the maximum percentages were 71.7% and 69.3%, respectively (GAO, 28-Jul-08). Senator Byron L. Dorgan (D-ND): “It’s shameful that so many corporations make big profits and pay nothing to support our country. The tax system that allows this wholesale tax avoidance is an embarrassment and unfair to hardworking Americans . . . We need to plug these tax loopholes . . . ”; Senator Carl Levin (D-MI): " . . . too many corporations are using tax trickery to send their profits overseas and avoid paying their fair share in the United States" (U.S. Senate). (See aalso: NYT.)

Washington, DC - U.S. - The Federal Reserve to offer $50 billion in 28-day credit through its Term Auction Facility (TAF) (Federal Reserve Board).

Peshawar - Pakistan - The Taliban responded to attacks by Pakistani troops: they attacked a bus transporting members of the Pakistani Air Force and killed at least 13 people (NYT; VOA News). Pakistani troops killed more than 100 militants in Bajaur since a week (VOA News).

13-Aug-08

Tripoli - Lebanon - Bomb targeting a bus carrying soldiers killed at least 18 people, including 7 soldiers; links to Fatah al Islam are suspected (VOA News). (See also: Los Angeles Times, 14-Aug-08.)

Logar - Afghanistan - Suspected Taliban fighters killed 3 female foreign workers of a New York-based aid organization and their Afghan driver (VOA News).

Washington, DC - U.S. - Consumer complained to federal regulators about credit card rules, credit-card company abuses, "loan sharks," "crooks," "leeches," and "usury" (MarketWatch).

14-Aug-08

South Waziristan - Pakistan - A suspected U.S. missile attack killed at least 9 people (Los Angeles Times).

Washington, DC - U.S. - According to the U.S. Census Burea, "Minorities, now roughly one-third of the U.S. population, are expected to become the majority in 2042, with the nation projected to be 54 percent minority in 2050. By 2023, minorities will comprise more than half of all children." (U.S. Census Bureau.)

New York, NY - U.S. - Attorney General Cuomo announced lawsuit settlements with JP Morgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley to return $7 billion to investors; Morgan Stanley to pay a $35 million penalty and JP Morgan to pay a $25 million penalty; the total auction rate securities (ARS) settlements to date reached about $30 billion (New York State Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo).

Iskandariya - Iraq - A female suicide bomber targeting Shiite pilgrims killed at least 18 people, including women; other violence was also reported (NYT).

U.S. - According to an article by Louise Story in the New York Times, thanks to home equity loans, "the United States has become a nation of half-home owners": Americans own less than 50% of their home's value, down from 70% in the 1980s (NYT).

Ituango - Colombia - A bomb killed at least 7 people (Al Jazeera-Agencies).

15-Aug-08

Washington; Warsaw - U.S.; Poland - The U.S. and Poland signed a preliminary agreement to place 10 missile defense interceptors, part of a U.S. ballistic missile defense shield, in Poland; Russia opposes the deal (CNN International; Los Angeles Times-AP; Washington Post-Reuters). Potential beneficiaries of the deal: Lockheed Martin Corp. and Raytheon Co. (Bloomberg).

Bajaur - Pakistan - Pakistan claimed its security forces killed at least 460 al-Qaeda related militants over 7 days of fighting; 22 troops were also killed (VOA News).

Georgia; Russia - Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev signed a cease-fire agreement on 15- and 16-Aug-08, respectively; the agreement was negotiated by France (VOA News-AFP-AP). (See also: Al Jazeera-Al Jazeera-Agencies.) [15-Aug-08 - 16-Aug-08.]

New York, NY - U.S. - Attorney General Cuomo announced a lawsuit settlement with Wachovia to return $8.5 billion to investors; Wachovia to pay a $50 million penalty; the total auction rate securities (ARS) settlements to date reached about $35 billion (New York State Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo).

16-Aug-08

Baghdad - Iraq - A car bombing killed 6 Shiite pilgrims (VOA News-AFP-AP-Reuters).

Pampur - Indian Kashmir - Tens of thousands of Muslims mourn the death of a separatist leader and 21 other protesters killed by police (Al Jazeera-Agencies). (See also: VOA News-AFP-AP-Reuters.)

U.S. - Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain raised $390 million and $153 million, respectively; maximum donor contributions: $28,500 to political parties and $2,300 to campaigns (Los Angeles Times, 17-Aug-08). Political party bank accounts at the end of Jul-08: The Republican National Committee (RNC), $75 million; the Democratic National Committee (DNC), $28.5 million (Washington Post, 17-Aug-08). Obama's campaign is courting "the nation's wealthy elite"; elite contributions: 35 bundlersx$500,000=$17.5 million (Washington Post, 17-Aug-08). (See also: NYT.)

Santa Domingo; Grand-Anse - Dominican Republic; Haiti - Tropical Storm Fay killed 4 people in the Dominican Republic (Bloomberg, 17-Aug-08); Fay then hit Haiti; about 50 people have drowned (BBC News, 17-Aug-08). (See also: Reuters, 16-Aug-08.) [16-Aug-08 - 17-Aug-08.]

17-Aug-08

Cairo; Beirut; Baghdad - Egypt; Lebanon; Iraq - Many in the Arab world view President Bush's response to Russia's action in Georgia as hypocritical (Los Angeles Times).

Kurram - Pakistan - Sectarian clashes killed more than 200 in 12 days (Al Jazeera-Agencies). (See also: AFP.)

Tehran - Iran - Iran launched successfully Explorer 1, a rocket to carry the Safir-e Omid (Ambassador of Peace) satellite (IRNA, 18-Aug-08). Iranian Minister of Defense Brigadier General Mostafa Mohammad Najjar: "Enemies of the progress of Iranian nation have not spared any efforts to portray Iran's scientific, technical and peaceful achievements as a military success" (IRNA, 18-Aug-08).(See also: BBC News; China View-Xinhua, 18-Aug-08; AFP, 18-Aug-08.)

18-Aug-08

Islamabad - Pakistan - Facing imminent impeachment charges, U.S. ally President Pervez Musharraf announced he would resign effective 18-Aug-08 (NYT; BBC News). (Seev also: Chnia View-Xinhua-17/18-Aug-08.)

Khost - Afghanistan - A suicide bombing killed 9 people (VOA News-AFP-AP-Reuters).

Lanao del Norte; Sarangani - Philippines - At least 26 civilians were killed in guerrilla attacks; members of the Moro Islam Liberation Front (MILF) are suspected (China View-Xinhua). (See also: Sun Star; BBC News.)

New York, NY - U.S. - In an article in Barron's, The Endgame Nears For Fannie and Freddie, Jonathan R. Laing wrote "After accounting for deferred tax assets and generous asset marks, Fannie and Freddie each may have a negative $50 billion in asset value, and little prospect of digging themselves out of the hole" (Barron's).

New York, NY - U.S. - Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shares tumbled nearly 22% and 25%, respectively (WSJ, 19-Aug-08; CNN Money, 19-Aug-08).

New York, NY - U.S. - The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 180.51 points (-1.55%), closing at 11,479.39 (DJ; Yahoo! Finance).

Shanghai - China - The Shanghai Composite Index (SSE) lost 130.74 points (-5.33%), closing at 2,319.87 (Yahoo! Finance).

19-Aug-08

Boumerdes - Algeria - A suicide car bombing at a police academy killed at least 43 people, including police recruits (NYT). (See also: VOA News-AFP-Reuters; CNN International-AP; Al Jazeera-Agencies.)

Kabul - Afghanistan - 10 French Nato troops were killed in clashes with Taliban fighters (Al Jazeera-Al Jazeera- Agencies; Washington Post, 20-Aug-08). Suicide bombers also attack Camp Salerno, the largest U.S. base in Afghanistan; 13 militants were killed (NYT).

U.S. - Housing starts fell 11% in Jul-08, a 17-year record low; and 29.6% YOY (U.S. Department of Commerce-Economic and Statistics Administration; MarketWatch).

Moscow - Russia - According to Mikhail Gorbachev, former president of the Soviet Union, the attack on South Ossetia was initiated by a reckless Georgian president, Mikheil Saakashvili, with outside support (NYT, 19-Aug-08).

20-Aug-08

Shanghai - China - The Shanghai Composite Index (SSE) gained 178.81 points (7.63%), closing at 2,523.28 (Yahoo! Finance).

Madrid - Spain - A Spanair SA plane crashed killing 154 people (BBC News, 25-Aug-08); the plane was an McDonnell Douglas MD-82; Spanair is a subsidiary of Scandinavian SAS Group (VOA News). (See also: Bloomberg; Al Jazeera-Agencies.)

Bouira - Algeria - 2 car bombings killed at least 11 people; members of the Islamic Maghreb branch of al-Qaida are suspected (VOA News). (See also: Al Jazeera-Al Jazeera-Agencies.)

Pakistan - A suicide attack killed at least 27 people, including 2 police officers; the Taliban in Pakistan claimed responsibility (Al Jazeera-Agencies.)

Kismayo - Somalia - After 3 days of fighting, starting on 20-Aug-08, Islamist insurgents (al-Shabab) took control of the port city of Kismayo; more than 60 people were killed in the fighting (VOA News). [20-Aug-08 - 22-Aug-08.]

Warsaw; Washington, DC - Poland; U.S. - The United States of America and the Republic of Poland issued a declaration on strategic cooperation, including political-military cooperation, information sharing, and defense industrial and research and technology cooperation; the cooperation entails "the deployment of a U.S. Army Patriot air and missile defense battery in Poland"; the aim is to establish by 2012 "a garrison to support the U.S. Army Patriot battery" (U.S. Department of State).

21-Aug-08

Wah - Pakistan - 2 suicide bombers targeted Pakistan Ordnance Factories and killed 76 workers; Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack (China View-Xinhua). (See also: AFP; BBC News; Al Jazeera-Al Jazeera-Agencies.)

Shindand - Afghanistan - US-led forces killed at least 76 civilians, including mostly women and children (Al Jazeera-Al Jazeera-Agencies, 23-Aug-08 ). An investigation by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) found that about 90 civilians, including 60 children, were killed (UN News Service, 26-Aug-08). (See also: Washington Post, 23-Aug-08.)

Iraq - The number of female suicide bombers in Iraq jumped from 8 in 2007 to 30 in 2008 (Los Angeles Times). Since the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, there were, it is estimated, more than 1,000 suicide bombings in Iraq (Foreign Policy in Focus, 11-Aug-08).

New York, NY - U.S. - Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo announced an agreement with Merrill Lynch & Company, the Goldman Sachs Group, and Deutsche Bank to return to investors in auction rate securities over $10.5 billion; the 3 investment banks will also pay fines of $125 million, $22.5 million, and $15 million, respectively (NYT).

New York, NY - U.S. - "I.O.U.S.A.," a movie about the "looming economic crisis that would make the Great Depression look like a market correction" to debut in 400 theaters (Washington Post, 7-Aug-08). According to David M. Walker, former head of the Government Accountability Office (GAO), when all the unfunded entitlement obligations, including Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, are added to the $9.6 trillion national debt, the federal fiscal burden of the U.S. in 2007 swells to $52.7 trillion − about $175,000 per person living in the U.S., or about $455,000 per household (Peter G. Peterson Foundation, Jul-08).

Stockholm - Sweden - The Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) released a policy brief, "Saving Water: From Field to Fork – Curbing Losses and Wastage in the Food Chaint," that "calls on governments to reduce by half, by 2025, the amount of food that is wasted after it is grown and outlines attainable steps for this be achieved." Key brief statistics: the edible crop harvest is 4,600 Kcal/cap/day; net availability for consumption is 2000 Kcal/cap/day; net energy losses, conversions and wastage in the food chain is 56.5%. Producer losses and wastage by category: field losses (15%-35%), pre-processing (10%-15%), transport, and storage; consumer losses and wastage categories include processing and packaging, marketing, and wastage by Consumer (Stockholm International Water Institute, 21-Aug-08). (See also: ENS, 22-Aug-08.)

22-Aug-08

Srinagar - Kashmir - Hundreds of thousands of Muslims protested against Indian rule over Kashmir; the death toll from a battle with militants was 15 (BBC News, 23-Aug-08). According to Pankaj Mishra, if India failes to address "Kashmiri aspirations," then "Jihad grows in Kashmir" (NYT, Op-Ed, 27-Aug-08).

New York, NY - U.S. - The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 197.85 points (1.73%), closing at 11,628.06 (DJ; Yahoo! Finance).

23-Aug-08

Washindton, DC - U.S. - Barack Obama picks Joe Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as vice-presidential candidate (VOA News).

Swat Valley - Pakistan - A suicide bomber targeted a police station and killed more than 18 people; Taliban fighters claimed responsibility for the attack (Al Jazeera-Al Jazeera-Agencies). Pakistani troops then killed at least 35 pro-Taliban militants; more than 522 people, including 22 soldiers, have been killed in fighting in Bajaur and other tribal regions (VOA News-AFP-AP-Reuters).

Los Angeles, CA - U.S. - The number of homeless people in Los Angeles County is estimated at roughly 73,000; some sleep in "ad hoc tree houses with million-dollar views" (Los Angeles Times).

University Place, WA - U.S. - Student loan activists confront the abuses of usury: "student loans have become the most profitable, uncompetitive, oppressive, and predatory type of debt of any in the nation" (StudentLoanJustice.org). (See also: NYT, 24-Aug-08.)

24-Aug-08

Bishkek - Kyrgyzstan - A Boieng 737 operated by Kyrgyz Itek Air crashed killing 65 people; all Kyrgyz airlines are on a European blacklist (CNN, 25-Aug-08; AFP, 25-Aug-08). (See also: China View-Xinhua, 25-Aug-08.)

Abu Ghraib - Iraq - Bombing killed at least 25 people; the target of the attack, some speculate, are sheiks working with Americans (NYT, 25-Aug-08).

Terrorism funding data: 9/11, about $500,000; London transit bombings, July 7, 2005, about $15,000; Madrid train bombings, March 2004, $80,000 (Washington Post).

25-Aug-08

Hong Kong - China - The Hang Seng gained 712.73 points (3.50%), closing at 21,104.79 (Hang Seng; Yahoo! Finance).

New York, NY - U.S. - The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 241.81 points (-2.08%), closing at 11,386.25 (DJ; Yahoo! Finance).

Washington, DC - U.S. - The Federal Reserve to offer $75 billion in 28-day credit through its Term Auction Facility (TAF) (Federal Reserve Board).

Kalma, Darfur - Sudan - Sudanese government forces attacked the Kalma camp and repotedly killed up to 27 civilians (NYT, 26-Aug-08). (See also: VOA News.)

Denver, CO - U.S. - 2008 Democratic National Convention (Democratic National Convention Committee). (See also: VOA News-AP, 25-Aug-08.) [25-Aug-08 - 28-Aug-08.]

26-Aug-08

Iraq - A suicide bombing targeted a police recruitment center and killed at least 25 people (VOA News-AFP-Reuters).

U.S. - S&P/Case-Shiller home price index: U.S. home prices tumbled 15.92% in the 12-month period ending Jun-08 for 20 metropolitan regions (S&P). (See also: NYT, 27-Aug-08; MarketWatch.)

27-Aug-08

Bangkok - Thailand - About 30,000 people protest against Prime Minister Samak and his government (VOA News-AFP-AP-Reuters). [27-Aug-08 - 28-Aug-08.]

Bihar - India - Floods of Kosi River killed at least 55 people; hundreds more are believed to have drowned (VOA News, 27-28-Aug-08). Flooding in Uttar Pradesh has killed more than 700 people (VOA News, 28-Aug-08). 2,000 people are feared dead (Guardian, 29-Aug-08).

Hong Kong - China - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) adopted a new benchmark for defining poverty in Asia: living on $1.35 per day (VOA News); by this standard there are 843 million poor people in Asia (ADB).

28-Aug-08

New York, NY - U.S. - The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 212.67 points (1.85%), closing at 11,715.18 (DJ; Yahoo! Finance).

Tehran - Iran - Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Reza Sheik Attar claimed Iran has 4,000 nuclear centrifuges (VOA News-AP-Reuters, 29-Aug-08).

Pakistan - A car bomb targeting a police bus killed at least 8 people (NYT).

Rutshuru Territory, North Kivu - Democratic Republic of Congo - Fierce fighting reported between government forces and CNDP rebels (VOA News, 29-Aug-08).

29-Aug-08

Dayton, OH - U.S. - U.S. Republican presidential candidate John McCain selected Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate (VOA News).

U.S. - Internet traffic is moving out of the U.S.: the world’s Internet traffic carried by the U.S. has tumbled from 70% a decade ago to about 25%; the Patriot Act had a negative effect on the ability of the U.S. to control both Internet traffic and the ability of the U.S. to intercept foreign Internet communications (NYT).

30-Aug-08

Rome - Italy - Italy to pay Libya $5 billion as compensation for its 30-year colonial occupation of Libya (VOA News); or about $27 per Libyan per year (Macroknow).

Mexico City - Mexico - Hundreds of thousands of Mexicans protest against crime and police corruption (VOA News, 31-Aug-08).

Russia - Capitalists are buying large "clusters" of Russian collective farms; capitalists hedge fund managers, Russian oligarchs, and Russian nobility (NYT).

31-Aug-08

Sichuan - China - 6.1-magnitude earthquake killed at least 40 people (the earthquake of 12-May-08 killed more than 69,000 people; about are 18,000 still missing) (China View-Xinhua, 1-Sep-08). (See also: Washington Post.)

Worldwide - Start of the holy month of Ramadan (VOA News-AFP-AP). [31-Aug-08 - 2-Sep-08.]

Munich; Frankfurt am Main - Germany - Commerzbank to acquire Dresdner Bank from Allianz for about 9.8 billion euros ($14.4 billion) (Allianz; Commerzbank). (See also: NYT, 1-Sep-08.)

1-Sep-08

LA - U.S. - Category 2 hurricane Gustav hits Louisiana (VOA News). Hurricane Katrina killed at least 1,400 people in 2005 (VOA News, 31-Aug-08).

Bukavu, South Kivu - Democratic Republic of Congo - A humanitarian aid plane crashed killing, reportedly, 17 people (VOA News, 2-Sep-08).

St. Paul, MN - U.S. - 2008 Republican National Convention (Republican National Committee). (See also: VOA News, 31-Aug-08.) [1-Sep-08 - 4-Sep-08.]

Tokyo - Japan - Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda resigned (Washington Post).

2-Sep-08

Argentina - Argentina to pay its Paris Club debt (U.S. Department of State).

Yongbyon - North Korea - North Korea started reassembling its plutonium-producing facilities; reason: the U.S. has not removed North Korea from its terrorism black list (NYT, 3-Sep-08; Bloomberg, 4-Sep-08).

Mosul; Bagdad - Iraq - 3 bomb attacks killed 8 people (VOA News-AFP-Reuters, 3-Sep-08).

Haiti - Tropical Storm Hanna killed 21 people (Washington Post-AP, 3-Sep-08).

Mountain View, CA - U.S. - Google launched Chrome (Beta), an open-source Web browser; Sundar Pichai, Vice President of Product Management, Google Inc.: "We think of the browser as the window to the web" (Google).

3-Sep-08

Tarmiyah - Iraq - U.S. forces killed 6 Iraqi security personnel (VOA News-AFP-Reuters).

Jalal Khel, South Waziristan - Pakistan - NATO commando forces attacked a village in Pakistan (NYT); and reportedly killed at least 15 people, including women and children (Al Jazeera-Agencies). (See also: CNN.)

Fort Washington, PA - U.S. - GMAC Financial Services and its subsidiary Residential Capital, LLC (ResCap): (1) to close 200 GMAC Mortgage retail offices; and (2) to eliminate about 5,000 ResCap jobs (60%) (GMAC Financial Services). (See also: NYT.)

4-Sep-08

Moscow - Russia - Aleksandr Dugin, founder of Russia's International Eurasian Movement, in an interview with Megan Stack, Los Angeles Times: "I advocate strongly a multipolar construction of the world. I think that the pretension of the United States to be the unique pole of the world . . . is completely wrong, immoral and unacceptable by the other great centers of power. . . Working with Iran, . . . we could create a real force to influence the whole Middle East. . . ." (Los Angeles Times).

Beijing - China - China’s total foreign exchange reserves, estimated at $1.8 trillion, include about $1 trillion in American securities; the value of these securities has tumbled; a Chinese book, “Currency War,” suggests that the United States tricked China into buying American securities (Los Angeles Times).

New York, NY - U.S. - The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 344.65 points (-2.99%), closing at 11,188.23 (DJ; Yahoo! Finance).

5-Sep-08

Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) National Delinquency Survey (NDS): The delinquency rate for mortgage loans on 1-to-4-unit residential properties climbed to 6.41% of all loans outstanding at the end of 2008Q2 (seasonally adjusted) (up 1.29% YOY); about 1.75 million mortgages were in foreclosure at the end of 2008Q2 (MBA). (See also: CNN Money; NYT.)

6-Sep-08

Islamabad - Pakistan - Asif Ali Zardari, widower of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, to become Pakistan's next president (VOA News; Los Angeles Times).

Peshawar - Pakistan - A suicide bomber killed at least 33 people at a police checkpoint (Al Jazeera-Al Jazeera-Agencies). (See also: VOA News-AFP-AP-Reuters.)

Duwayqa - Egypt - A rockslide killed at least 31 people; hundreds are missing (VOA News, 7-Sep-08; Al Jazeera-Al Jazeera-Agencies, 7-Sep-08).

WA; OR; KS - U.S. - 27,000 machinists at Boeing on strike (International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, 5-Sep-08). (See also: NYT.)

7-Sep-08

Washington, DC - U.S. - The Treasury Department seized Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to avoid their bankruptcies (U.S. Department of the Treasury; Federal Reserve Bank; VOA News). Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson: "Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are so large and so interwoven in our financial system that a failure of either of them would cause great turmoil in our financial markets here at home and around the globe. This turmoil would directly and negatively impact household wealth . . ." (U.S. Department of the Treasury). The cost to taxpayers remains unspecified; however, future losses require a commitment by the U.S. government of up to $100 billion per company (NYT; 6-7-Sep-08; Los Angeles Times, 8-Sep-08; Al Jazeera, 10-Sep-08).

Haiti - Hurricane Ike killed at least 47 people; storms killed over 547 people over a week (VOA News-AFP-AP).

Khost; Helmand - Afghanistan - U.S.-led forces killed at least 20 militants; the cumulative death tolls for Canada and the Netherlands are 97 and 17, respectively (VOA News-AP-Reuters). 2 suicide bombings targeted police headquarters in Kandahar killing at least 8 people (Al Jazeera-Agencies).

U.S. - An article by E. Scott Reckard shows "how to determine your bank's financial health"; ratings for U.S. banks, savings and loans and credit unions are provided by Bankrate and BauerFinancial (Los Angeles Times). (See also: Bankrate; BauerFinancial.)

8-Sep-08

Washington, DC - U.S. - The Federal Reserve to offer $25 billion in 84-day credit through its Term Auction Facility (TAF) (Federal Reserve Board).

New York, NY - U.S. - The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 289.78 points (2.58%), closing at 11,510.74 (DJ; Yahoo! Finance).

Hong Kong - China - The Hang Seng gained 860.99 points (4.32%), closing at 20,794.27 (Hang Seng; Yahoo! Finance).

Washington, DC - U.S. - The Pentagon is exploring the militarization of cyberspace or global cyber-warfare (Los Angeles Times). (See also: Air University, 28-Apr-08.)

U.S. - American historian Howard Zinn, in an interview with Al Jazeera: "This [the U.S.] is an empire which is on the one hand the most powerful empire that ever existed; on the other hand an empire that is crumbling - an empire that has no future . . . If there is any hope, the hope lies in the American people. . . I think all of this may very well build up into a movement of rebellion. . . It is embarrassing to say, but we have a long history in this country of violent expansion and I think not only do most people in other countries [not] know this, most Americans don't know this. . ." (Al Jazeera).

9-Sep-08

New York, NY - U.S. - The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 280.01 points (-2.43%), closing at 11,230.73 (DJ; Yahoo! Finance).

Washington, DC - U.S. - The Federal Reserve to offer $25 billion in 28-day credit through its Term Auction Facility (TAF) (Federal Reserve Bank).

Yemen - At least 26 people died in a people smuggling operation off the coast of Yemen; 20 are missing (UNHCR, 10-Sep-08); according to a UNHCR report, at least 52 Somalis died; the smuglers' fee : $70-$100 per person per voyage (UNHCR, 29-Sep-08).

Houston, TX - U.S. - Investors in Enron sued for more than $40 billion in losses; Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins recovered more than $7.2 billion and earned $688 million (9.5%) in fees (NYT-Bloomberg, 10-Sep-08).

10-Sep-08

Geneva - Switzerland - The world's most powerful particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), to start up at CERN; the cost of LHC is $10 billion (VOA News, 7-Sep-08). "LHC - the aim of the exercise: To smash protons moving at 99.999999% of the speed of light into each other and so recreate conditions a fraction of a second after the big bang. . . The LHC is designed to collide two counter rotating beams of protons or heavy ions. Proton-proton collisions are foreseen at an energy of 7 TeV [Tera=1012] per beam" (CERN-LHC). Physics foci of interest include: Higgs particles, suppersymmetric particles (or "sparticles") and "dark matter," transdimentional particles, and micro black holes (NYT, 11-Sep-08). (See also: Wikipedia.)

New York, NY - U.S. - Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., 3Q2008 expected results: net loss, $3.9 billion (down 542.7%); net revenues, -$2.9 billion (down 167.4%); liquidity, $42 Billion. Lehman: (1) intends to spin off $25-$30 billion of its commercial real estate portfolio into a separate publicly-traded company, Real Estate Investments Global; (2) intends to sell a majority stake (~55%) in a subset of its Investment Management Division. (Lehman Brothers.)

New York, NY - U.S.; Mexico - Mexican telecom billionaire Carlos Slim Helú and his family acquired a 6.4% stake in The New York Times Company (NYT, 11-Sep-08).

11-Sep-08

Calais - France - Fire broke out on a shuttle train in the Channel Tunnel disrupting Eurostar express trains services (BBC News; CNN International; AFP).

New York, NY - U.S. - Lehman Brothers share price fell 42% in a single day (Washington Post, 12-Sep-08). Lehman share price fell nearly 94% in 2008; Lehman is up for sale; potential buyers are seeking guarantees from the Federal Reserve Bank (NYT, 12-Sep-08).

New York, NY - U.S. - Crude oil fell to $100.87 on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) (NYT).

Hong Kong - China - The Hang Seng lost 611.06 points (-3.06%), closing at 19,388.72 (Hang Seng; Yahoo! Finance).

U.S. - Conference to Explore Implications of New Technologies For Open Source Analysis (Office of the Director of National Intelligence, 24-Jul-08). The U.S. spends about $50 billion per year on intelligence; corporations get about $35 billion per year; companies offering intelligence services include: Booz Allen Hamilton, LexisNexis, Google, BBN Technologies (Washington Post). [11-Sep-08 - 12-Sep-08.]

Pakistan - Pakistan military killed more than 100 people, mostly militants (VOA News-AP-Reuters, 14-Sep-8). (See also: The Washington Times-AP, 14-Sep-08.) [11-Sep-08 - 14-Sep-08.]

Pando - Bolivia - Violence killed at least 28 people; President Evo Morales blamed the "fascist, racist coup" on Bolivian "oligarchs" (Los Angeles Times, 15-Sep-08). (See also: NYT, 15-Sep-08.) [11-Sep-08 - 12-Sep-08.]

12-Sep-08

Paris - France - Pope Benedict XVI visits France: 10th apostolic trip outside Italy (Vatican Information Service; VOA News). [12-Sep-08 - 15-Sep-08.]

Farah - Afghanistan - A U.S. convoy was attacked: 10 militants and 4 Afghan guards were killed (VOA News-Agencies).

Miran Shah, North Waziristan - Pakistan - A suspected U.S. missile attack killed at least 14 people; Pakistan's military reportedly killed at least 32 militants (VOA News). Over 1 week, 38 people, including women and children, have been killed in missile attacks (Al Jazeera-Agencies). (See also: Washington Post, 13-Sep-08.)

Irvine, CA - U.S. - RealtyTrac, August 2008 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report: U.S. foreclosure filings, 303,879 (up 27% from August 2007) (RealtyTrac).

Dujail, Salahuddin - Iraq - Car bomb attack on a police station killed at least 25 people (VOA News-AFP-AP-Reuters).

Los Angeles, CA - U.S. - A train collision in Chatsworth killed 25 people and injured as many as 135 (Los Angeles, 15-Sep-08). (See also: VOA News; NYT, 13-Sep-08.)

13-Sep-08

New Delhi - India - Serial bomb explosions at upscale markets and a financial center killed at least 18 people; "Indian Mujahideen" are suspected (VOA News; NYT).

Logar - Afghanistan - Bomb explosion killed Abdullah Wardak, governor of Logar province; Wardak helped U.S. troops invade Afghanistan in 2001 (VOA News).

TX - U.S. - Hurricane Ike (category 2) hit Texas (VOA News-AFP-AP; Washington Post).

India; China - The economies of the United States, Europe, India, China, and Mexico are cooling down; however, China has almost $2 trillion in cash reserves (Washington Post).

Niger Delta - Nigeria - Nigerian forces killed 7 members of the Movement for the Emancipation for the Niger Delta (MEND); MEND to retaliate (VOA News).

U.S. - U.S. arms sales to foreign governments surged to more than $32 billion in FY2008, up from $12 billion in FY2005; direct commercial sales of U.S. weapons to foreign countries surged to about $96 billion in FY2008, up from $58 billion in FY2005 (NYT).

14-Sep-08

Perm - Russia - Aeroflot Boeing 737 crashed killing 88 people (VOA News).

Washington, DC - U.S. - The Federal Reserve Board to provide additional support to financial markets. According to Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, the support is "intended to mitigate the potential risks and disruptions to markets." The collateral eligible to be pledged at the Primary Dealer Credit Facility (PDCF) and for the Term Securities Lending Facility (TSLF) has been expanded. Also, Schedule 2 TSLF auctions will be conducted each week, instead of every 2 weeks. (Federal Reserve Board.)

New York, NY - U.S. - Oil futures fell below $100 (Bloomberg; NYT, 15-Sep-08; CNN Money, 15-Sep-08).

Washington, DC - U.S. - Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, regarding the seizure of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the collapse of Lehman Brothers, on ABC's This Week program: "This is a once in a half century, probably once in a century, type of event. There is no question that this is in the process of outstripping anything I have seen. And it still is not resolved and it still has a way to go" (VOA News). (See also ABC News-Reuters.)

15-Sep-08

New York, NY - U.S. - Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (LBHI) intends to file a petition under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code; none of the broker-dealer subsidiaries or other subsidiaries of LBHI will be included in the Chapter 11 filing (Lehman Brothers). America's financial problems can be traced to a mostly unregulated “shadow banking system" (NYT-Op-Ed, 15-Sep-08). (See also: MarketWatch; NYT.)

Charlotte, NC; New York, NY - U.S. - Bank of America Corporation to acquire Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. in a $50 billion transaction (Bank of America; Merrill Lynch). (See also: WSJ.)