World Events: 10-Dec-08 - 13-Mar-09

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World Event

10-Dec-08

Qalat, Zabul - Afghanistan - "Mistaken fire" incident: U.S. troops killed 6 Afghan policemen and one civilian (Al Jazeera-Al Jazeera-Agencies; NYT; Washington Post, 11-Dec-08).

London - U.K. - Rio Tinto to cut 14,000 jobs and to reduce net debt by $10 billion by yearend 2009 (Rio Tinti).

Montreal, QC - Canada - The $50 billion leveraged buyout of BCE was terminated; according to BCE's auditor, the solvency condition would not be satisfied (NYT). (See also: BCE, 11-Dec-08; OTPP, 11-Dec-08.)

11-Dec-08

Charlotte, NC - U.S. - Bank of America to cut from 30,000 to 35,000 jobs over 3 years (Bank of America). (See also: MarketWatch; CNN Money.)

New York, NY - U.S. - Bernard L. Madoff was arrested for being allegedly behind a $50 billion Ponzi scheme (OpenSecrets.org, 15-Dec-08).

Lawrence, NY - U.S. - Lawrence Kulak's "The Appropriate Response To Islamic Terror": "The retaliation that is undertaken should strike hard at the training bases, madrassa schools, and homes of all the properly identified terrorist commanders and fellow terrorists . . . in a series of sustained surprise attacks over a period of time that is aimed at total eradication of the entire network that coordinated this attack. Any and all collateral damage in the form of casualties to friends, relatives, or anyone connected to the lives of these terrorists should be swiftly ignored. Public opinion and what is written in the newspapers should also be ignored by nations seeking to avenge the death of its innocent civilians" (5 Towns Jewish Times-cashe in Google, 11-Dec-08). Mark Glenn's response, "US Media Ignores Call by Mainstream Jewish Newspaper To Murder Innocent Muslims" (American Free Press, 17-Dec-08).

New York, NY; Tronto, ON - U.S.; Canada - Nortel Networks Corp. stock price tumbled 97% in 2008 to less than $1; Nortel risks being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) (Bloomberg).

Tokyo - Japan - Sony to eliminate 6,000 jobs (NYT, 12-Dec-08).

Kirkuk - Iraq - Suicide bomber killed at least 55 people (VOA News). (See also: Los Angeles Times, 12-Dec-08.)

12-Dec-08

Tokyo - Japan - Japan increased its economic rescue package by 23 trillion yen ($255 billion) (BBC News). The package supplements a 26.9 trillion yen ($300 billion) stimulus unveiled in October (AFP). According to an OECD estimate, Japan's debt exceeded 180% of GDP (WSJ). (See also: Bloomberg.)

EU - The European Union agreed to a $260 billion economic stimulus package (average country investment of 1.5% of GDP) (Al Jazeera-Agencies). (See also: Reuters-UK.)

Washington, DC - U.S. - The U.S. Senate rejected a $14 billion bailout deal approved by the House on 10-Dec-08 for GM, Ford, and Chrysler (MarketWatch; Bloomberg; NYT). (See also: General Motors, 2-Dec-08; H.R. 7321, Library of Congress-THOMAS, 11-Dec-08.)

16-Dec-08

New York, NY - U.S. - The Bernard Madoff alleged scam was "sotto voce" at the United Jewish Appeal (UJA)-Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York’s Wall Street Dinner (NYT, 17-Dec-08).

Durham, NC - U.S. - The Center for Responsible Lending issued 2 reports by Joshua M. Frank: "Priceless or Just Expensive? The Use of Penalty Rates in the Credit Card Industry" and "What's Draining Your Wallet? The Real Cost of Credit Card Cash Advances", detailing "widespread practices that deceive and abuse consumers"; practises include the use of penalty repricing (increase of the cardholder's APR for late payment) and unfair allocation of payments forcing borrowers to pay the highest prices (up to 7% higher) (Center for Responsible Lending).

New York, Ny - U.S. - The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 359.61 points (4.20%), closing at 8,924.14 (DJ; Yahoo! Finance).

17-Dec-08

New York, NY - U.S. - Bernard L. Madoff has reportedly confessed to a $50 billion Ponzi scheme (NYT). Madoff clients include: Ascot Partners (run by Jacob Ezra Merkin, GMAC’s chairman); Banco Santander, Optimal Investment Services; Bank Medici; BNP Paribas; Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity; HSBC Holdings; Royal Bank of Canada; Royal Bank of Scotland; Technion-Israel Institute of Technology; Union Bancaire Privee; Yeshiva University (NYT); Madoff clients also include Rothschild & Cie Gestion, part of the Rothschild group, via the Elite fund (Bloomberg, 13-Dec-08). Madoff and others at Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities (BMIS) gave $372,100 in campaign contributions since 1991 (89% to Democrats); BMIS spent $590,000 on lobbying over 11 years (OpenSecrets.org, 15-Dec-08). (On Ponzi schemes, see NYT, 26-Dec-08.)

Detroit, MI - U.S. - Chrysler to close all 30 of its factories for at least one month (NYT).

New York, NY - U.S. - Morgan Stanley 2008 results: Net revenues, $24.7 Billion (down 12%); income from continuing operations, $1.707 billion (down 46.8%). 2008Q4 results: Net revenues, $1.8 billion; loss, $2.36 billion. (Morgan Stanley.) (See also: NYT.)

Oran - Algeria - OPEC "to cut 4.2 million barrels a day from the actual September 2008 OPEC-11 production of 29.045 mb/d, with effect from 1 January 2009" (OPEC). (See also: NYT, 18-Dec-08.)

18-Dec-08

New York, NY - U.S. - Crude-oil futures tumbled ending under $37 per barrel (MarketWatch). (See also: NYT.)

Washington, DC - U.S. - The Federal Reserve Board, the Office of Thrift Supervision, and the National Credit Union Administration to protect credit card users with new rules effective 1-Jul-2010; the new rules prohibit credit card issuers from engaging in such practices as: increases in the interest rate during the first year after account opening and increases in the rate charged on pre-existing credit card balances; and "two-cycle" billing (Federal Reserve). (See also: ABA; MarketWatch.)

19-Dec-08

Tokyo - Japan - The Bank of Japan to reduce the uncollateralized overnight call rate by 0.2% to around 0.1% (Bank of Japan, 27-Jan-09).

22-Dec-08

Paris - France - The Paris Club to cancel $7.8 billion (the last 20%) of Iraq's debt from the Saddam Hussein era (Paris Club; UN News Service, 24-Dec-08).

Japan; Thailan; Taiwan; China - Nov-2008 exports plunged across Asia: Japan, down a record 27%; Thailand, down about 9% (17-year record low); Taiwan, down 23%; China, steepest decline in 7 years (Washington Post, 23-Dec-08).

23-Dec-08

Washington, DC - U.S. - American Express Co. to receive $3.39 billion and CIT Group $2.33 billion under the U.S. government's financial bailout program (U.S. Treasury's Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP)) (NYT-Reuters).

New York, NY - U.S. - Cerberus Capital Management LLC limited investor withdrawals from one of its hedge funds; the hedge fund lost 16% during Jan-Nov-08; Cerberus was founded by Stephen Feinberg, a former Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. banker (Bloomberg).

Worldwide - Reactions to the Madoff scandal: Jews feel embarassed, disgraced, and betrayed; Jews are concerned about their public image (NYT; AP, 25-Dec-08). According to the Anti Defamation League (ADL), the number of Internet anti-semitic comments and anti-Jewish, anti-Zionist conspiracy theories has surged (ADL, 2/31-Oct-08). (See also: Tacitus, "Histories.")

New York, NY - U.S. - Rene-Thierry Magon de la Villehuchet, a co-founder of Access International Advisors, apparently committed suicide; his hedge fund reportedly lost about $1.4 billion in Bernard L. Madoff's alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme (La Tribune; NYT-DealBook). A post by WhistleBlower in the New York Time's DealBook asks: "Suicide . . . or Black Ops operation to keep his mouth shut and send a message to others, their families, and the judiciary? (NYT-DealBook). (See also: Bloomberg, 13-Dec-08.)

New York, NY - U.S. - The United Nations Security Council extended its protection for Iraq's assets against international lawsuits until 31-Dec-09 (VOA News).

U.K.; Yemen; Spain; U.S. - Matthew Levitt and Michael Jacobson of the Stein Program on Counter-terrorism and Intelligence at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy recommend that the Obama administration target terrorists' financing. The estimated costs of terrorist attacks are low: attack on U.S. destroyer Cole in Yemen in 2000, $10,000; train attacks in Madrid in 2004, $10,000; London Jul-05, $15,000; 9/11 attacks, less than $500,000. But the annual budget of a militant group can be significant: about $30 million for al-Qaeda before 9/11 (Los Angeles Times).

24-Dec-08

New York, NY - U.S. - American International Group, Inc. (AIG) announced that Maiden Lane III LLC (MLIII) has purchased an additional $16 billion multi-sector collateralized debt obligations (multi-sector CDOs); the associated credit default swap contracts and similar instruments (CDS) written by AIG Financial Products Corp. (AIGFP) have therefore been terminated. ML III was created by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY) and AIG. As of 24-Dec-08, ML III has purchased about $62.1 billion in par amount of CDOs; the associated notional amounts of AIGFP CDS transactions have therefore been terminated. (AIG.) (See also: Washington Post-Bloomberg News, 25-Dec-08.)

New York, NY - U.S. - Crude oil fell to $35.35 a barrel -- down nearly 76% from a record high of $147.27 in Jul-08 (Los Angeles Time, 25-Dec-08). (See also: MarketWatch.)

McLean, VA - U.S. - Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS): 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.14% for the week ending 24-Dec-08 -- a record low since 1971 (Freddie Mac). National Association of Realtors: "Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – fell 8.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate¹ of 4.49 million units in November from a downwardly revised level of 4.91 million in October, and are 10.6 percent below the 5.02 million-unit pace in November 2007"; the U.S. median existing-home price for all housing types fell 13.2%, from $208,800 in November 2007 to $181,300 in November 2008 (National Association of Realtors, 23-Dec-08). (See also: MarketWatch.)

London - U.K. - Harold Pinter, an English playwright, poet, actor, author, and political activist of Jewish provenance, died from cancer at the age of 78; Pinter was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2005. Sample "Pinteresque" quotes: "I believe that [the United States] will [attack Iraq] not only to take control of Iraqi oil, but also because the American administration is now a bloodthirsty wild animal. Bombs are its only vocabulary" [University of Turin, 27-Nov-02]; "United States is a monster out of control. Unless we challenge it with absolute determination American barbarism will destroy the world. The country is run by a bunch of criminal lunatics, with Blair as their hired Christian thug. The planned attack on Iraq is an act of premeditated mass murder" [Speech at Hyde Park, 15-Feb-03] (Wikipedia, 28-Dec-08). (See also: Nobelprize.org, 13-Oct-05.)

U.S. - Herbert Sandler is the founder of the Center for Responsible Lending. He and his wife Marion Sandler pioneered the option adjustable rate mortgage (the option ARM mortgage, named “Pick-A-Pay” by World Savings). Pick-A-Pay allows homeowners to make monthly mortgage payments that are smaller than even the interest component of the monthly payment in a traditional mortgage -- this trick of course increases the total principal owed. About 2 million homeowners are saddled with option adjustable rate mortgages. The Sandlers sold World Savings to the Wachovia Corporation for about $2.3 billion in shares and cash in 2006. Option ARM delinquencies are expected to increase sharply. (NYT.) The Sandlers are reportedly Jewish (Jewlicious, 11-Oct-08). (See also: Herb Sandler in Wikipedia, 26-Dec-08; Michelle Malkin, 7-Oct-08.)

Washington, DC - U.S. - The Federal Reserve Board announced it approved the application by GMAC LLC and IB Finance Holding Company, LLC to become bank holding companies (Federal Reserve; GMAC Financial Services). The Fed's approval expands GMAC's "opportunities for funding and access to capital"; General Motors Corp. shares increased more than 19% on 26-Dec-08 (MarketWatch, 26-Dec-08). (See also: Washington Post, 25-Dec-08.)

U.S. - Statistics on payday lenders and lending in the U.S.: Americans pay annually about $8 billion to borrow at least $50 billion from payday lenders (about 1000% the level in 1998, according to the California Department of Corporations); the number of payday outlets surged from 0 in 1990 to about 25,000; Check Into Cash, the "granddaddy of modern payday lenders" earned annualized interest rates of 459% (Los Angeles Times).

U.S. - According to an article by Duke Helfand, the Madoff scandal "connects to two deeply felt emotions: reverence for Jewish charity and anxiety about what the rest of the world thinks of Jews" (Los Angeles Times). (For anti-Jewish reactions, see: ADL, 2/31-Oct-08.)

25-Dec-08

Faradje - Democratic Republic of Congo - Rebels in Uganda reportedly massacred 400 civilians on Christmas day and torched 120 homes (CNN, 30-Dec-08). (See also: U.N. News service; Bloomberg.)

Tokyo - Japan - The Bank of Japan to maintain the uncollateralized overnight call rate at around 0.3 percent (Bank of Japan).

Zimbabwe - Zimbabwe cholera outbreak, as of 25-Dec-08: total cases, 26 497; death toll, 1 518 (WHO, 26-Dec-08).

26-Dec-08

Ramadi - Iraq - 13 people were killed, including 6 police officers, in a prison riot; militants escaped (Los Angeles Times, 27-Dec-08).

Islamabad - Pakistan - Pakistan placed its air force on high alert and deployed troops toward its border with India (VOA News; Los Angeles Times). (See also: NYT.)

27-Dec-08

Baghdad - Iraq - 2 bombs killed at least 28 people (Reuters UK). (See also: VOA News.)

New York, NY - U.S. - Berkley Books, a Penguin Group company, canceled the publishing of Herman Rosenblat's “Angel at the Fence”; Rosenblat's book, a memoir of the Holocaust, has been shown to be a hoax; several memoirs of the Holocaust and Nazi concentration camps have been shown to be fabricated (NYT, 28-Dec-08). (See also: The New Republic, 25/29-Dec-08.)

Gaza - Palestine - Israeli airstrikes killed 464 Palestinians and wounded more than 2,000 (Al Jazeera-Al Jazeera-Agencies, 4-Jan-09). The attack was a retaliation for Hamas rocket and mortar attacks (VOA News, 27-Dec-08) [the Hamas attacks were retaliations for Israel's food, medicine, and fuel blockade of Gaza]. (See also: NYT, 27-Dec-08; Los Angeles Times, 28-Dec-08; Al Jazeera-Al Jazeera-Agencies, 28-Dec-08; VOA News-AFP-AP-Reuters, 28-Dec-08; NYT, 28-Dec-08; Christian Science Monitor, 31-Dec-08; Al Jazeera, 30-Dec-08; Al Jazeera-Al Jazeera-Agencies, 1-Jan-09; Al Jazeera-Al Jazeera-Agencies, 2-Jan-09; BBC News, 3-Jan-09.) [27-Dec-08 - 4-Jan-09.]

Tokyo - Japan - The Bank of Japan will encourage the uncollateralized overnight call rate to be at around 0.3% (Bank of Japan).

U.S. - The size of the student loan market in the U.S. is about $85-billion; the average student debt is estimated at $20,000; many students, victims of predatory lending, have private loans with variable interest rates that can exceed 15%, before fees (Los Angles Times).

28-Dec-08

Khost - Afghanistan - A suicide bomber killed at least 7 people (VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters).

Egypt; Iraq; Jordan; Lebanon; Syria; Yemen - People demonstrated throughout the Middle East against Israel's massacre of Palestinians (Los Angeles Times).

Buner - Pakistan - Suicide car bombing killed at least 30 people; Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack (VOA News).

Rome - Italy - The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) requested governments provide $5.2 billion to feed 100 million hungry people in 2009; without such funds, "millions of people in Haiti, the Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Kenya and other hunger hot spots will run out of food assistance by the end of March"; Josette Sheeran, Executive Director of the World Food Programme: “We are at a critical juncture where we risk watching hunger spiral out of control as the world’s population is set to climb toward 9 billion mid-century” (UN WFP). (See also: VOA News, 28-Dec-08.).

29-Dec-08

New York, Ny - U.S. - Bank robberies in New York City during 2008: 431, up 54% (NYT). (See also: NY Daily News, 10-Sep-08.)

Tehran - Iran - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on the United Nations International Criminal Court to sue Israeli leaders for crimes against humanity in Gaza Strip (IRNA; ISNA).

Washington, DC - U.S. - The Federal Reserve to offer $150 billion in 83-day credit through its Term Auction Facility (TAF) (Federal Reserve).

Washington, DC - U.S. - The U.S. Department of the Treasury to purchase $5 billion in senior preferred equity with an 8% dividend from GMAC LLC; GMAC to issue warrants (5% of the preferred stock purchase) paying a 9% dividend if exercised; Treasury to lend up to $1 billion to General Motors (U.S. Department of the Treasury). (See also: GMAC.)

30-Dec-08

U.S. - S&P/Case-Shiller 20-City Composite Home Price Index tumbled 18.0% in the 12-month period ending Oct-08; home prices registered a record low since March 2004 (S&P). (See also: MarketWatch; NYT; VOA News-AFP-AP-Reuters.)

Bangladesh - Sheik Hasina Wajed, former prime minister and leader of the Awami League party, won a landslide victory in Bangladesh's election (VOA News). Khaleda Zia, also former prime minister and Chairperson of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) disputed the election results (China View-Xinhua, 31-Dec-08).

Tehran - Iran - The chairman of Iran's Jewish community, Rahmatollah Rafi, in Teheran protesting "Israeli war crimes and the slaughter of the innocent people in Gaza Strip": "We are here to express our support and sympathy with the Palestinian nation" (Jerusalem Post-IRNA).

New York, NY - U.S. - The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index for December 2008 tumbled to 38.0 (1985=100), an all-time record low (The Conference Board). (See also: NYT; VOA News-AFP-AP-Reuters.)

Palestine - Warning from Hamas: "We tell the leaders of the enemy - if you continue with your assault, we will hit with our rockets further than the cities we have hit so far" (Al Jazeera-Al Jazeera-Agencies).

31-Dec-08

Washington, DC - U.S. - The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to sell the banking operations of IndyMac Federal Bank, FSB, Pasadena, CA, to a thrift holding company controlled by IMB Management Holdings LP, a limited partnership for approximately $13.9 billion (FDIC, 2-Jan-08). (See also: NYT-AP, 2-Jan-08.)

1-Jan-09

Israel - Israel's war on Gaza has been more driven by internal politics (national elections) than by national security concerns (Los Angeles Times). The war has caused psychological harm for Palestinians, especially the children (Al Jazeera). According to the U.N., of the more than 400 Palestinians killed, at least 100 (25%) were civilians (Al Jazeera-Al Jazeera-Agencies).

Helmand - Afghanistan - Taliban militants ambushed and killed 20 of Mullah Abdul Salaam's bodyguards (VOA News-AFP-AP-Reuters).

Bangkok - Thailand - Fire at a nightclub killed at least 59 people (VOA News; Washington Post).

Moscow - Russia - Gazprom cut delivery of natural gas to Ukraine; Ukraine owes Russia more than $2 billion for gas (Washington Post).

2-Jan-09

Tempe, AZ - U.S. - Manufacturing ISM Report On Business: The ISM index (PMI) for Dec-08 fell 3.8% to 32.4, a 28-year record low; the reading signifies a contraction in both the overall economy and the manufacturing sector (Institute for Supply Management). (See also: Washington Post.)

New York, NY - U.S. - Mergers & Acquisitions statistics for 2008, according to Dealogic, in New York: Globally, 37,445 deals, valued at $3.3 trillion, volume down 29% from 2007; U.S. deals valued at $1.1 trillion, volume down 29% from 2007 (Washington Post). (See also: Dealogic.)

Palestine; Jordan; Indonesia; Egypt; Aghanistan; Kashmir; Turkey; Australia; Bangladesh; Philippines; Pakistan - Thousands of people protested against Israel's war on Gaza (Al Jazeera-Agencies).

3-Jan-09

Gaza Strip - Palestine - Israeli forces enter Gaza strip (Al Jazeera-Al Jazeera-Agencies).

7-Jan-09

Calabasas, CA - U.S. - Private National Mortgage Acceptance Company LLC (PennyMac) bought $558 million of home loans from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) for about 30-50 cents on the dollar (Bloomberg). Private National Mortgage Acceptance Company was "created to address the dislocations in the U.S. mortgage market"; it is led by Stanford L. Kurland (former president of Countrywide Financial Corp.) (Private National Mortgage Acceptance Company, 6-Mar-09; PennyMac Loan Services, 6-Mar-09). (See also: Reuters-PRNewswire; MarketWatch, 24-Mar-08.)

12-Jan-09

Washington, DC - U.S. - Federal Reserve to offer $150 billion in 28-day credit through its Term Auction Facility (Federal Reserve)

15-Jan-09

Boston, MA - U.S. - According to a study by United for a Fair Economy, "Many American Blacks today are already experiencing a silent economic depression that, in terms of unemployment, equals or exceeds the Great Depression of 1929. Almost 12% of Blacks are unemployed; this is expected to increase to nearly 20% by 2010. Among young Black males aged 16-19, the unemployment rate is 32.8%,
while their white counterparts are at 18.3%. Overall, 24% of Blacks and 21% of Latinos are in poverty, versus 8% of whites." (United for a Fair Economy.)

Frankfurt am Main - Germany - The Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) decided to decrease the interest rate on the main refinancing operations of the Eurosystem by 0.50% to 2.00% (ECB). ECB to avoid falling into a "liquidity trap" -- when short-term interest rates of 0% fail to boost the economy (MarketWatch).

16-Jan-09

Washington, DC - U.S. - The U.S. Treasury, the Federal Reserve, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to help Bank of America: (1) Treasury and the FDIC to provide protection against possible large losses on an asset pool of loans, securities backed by residential and commercial real estate loans, valued at about $118 billion in exchange for preferred shares; (2) Treasury to invest $20 billion in Bank of America from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) in exchange for preferred stock with an 8% dividend to the Treasury (Federal Reserve).

20-Jan-09

New York, NY - U.S. - The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 332.13 points (-4.01%), closing at 7,949.09 (DJ; Yahoo! Finance).

21-Jan-09

New York, NY - U.S. - The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 279.01 points (3.51%), closing at 8,228.10 (DJ; Yahoo! Finance).

22-Jan-09

Tokyo - Japan - The Bank of Japan to maintain the uncollateralized overnight call rate at around 0.1% (Bank of Japan, 24-Feb-09).

26-Jan-09

New York, NY; Madison, NJ - U.S. - Pfizer to acquire Wyeth in a cash-and-stock transaction valued at approximately $68 billion (Pfizer). (See also: Bloomberg, 9-Mar-09.)

Peoria, IL - U.S. - Caterpillar 2008 profit after tax: Record $3.557 Bn (up 0.45%); to cut ~20,000 Jobs; to reduce compensation for senior managers 5%-35% (Caterpillar, 22-Dec-08; 26-Jan-09). (See also: MarketPlace, 26-Jan-09.)

28-Jan-09

Washington, DC - U.S. - The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC): (1) to keep its target range for the federal funds rate at 0% to 0.25%. The Federal Reserve: (2) to continue to purchase agency debt and mortgage-backed securities in support of the mortgage and housing markets; (2) to purchase, if necessary, longer-term Treasury securities to improve conditions in private credit markets; (3) to implement the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility to facilitate the extension of credit to households and small businesses. (Federal Reserve.)

Washington, DC - U.S. - The U.S. House of Representatives approved President Barack Obama's $819 billion economic stimulus plan; the plan was opposed by Republicans (MarketWatch; Washington Post; NYT).

Chicago, IL - U.S. - Boeing 2008 results: total revenues $60.925 billion (down 8.2%); net earnings, $2.702 billion (down 33.7%); cash and cash equivalents asc at 31-Dec-08, $3.268 billion (down 53.6%) (Boeing). Boeing plans to cut about 10,000 jobs (MarketWatch).

29-Jan-09

Washington, DC - U.S. - Remarks by President Barack Obama: "One point I want to make is that all of us are going to have responsibilities to get this economy moving again. And when I saw an article today indicating that Wall Street bankers had given themselves $20 billion worth of bonuses -- the same amount of bonuses as they gave themselves in 2004 -- at a time when most of these institutions were teetering on collapse and they are asking for taxpayers to help sustain them, and when taxpayers find themselves in the difficult position that if they don't provide help that the entire system could come down on top of our heads -- that is the height of irresponsibility. It is shameful." (White House.)

Springfield, IL - U.S. - Illinois Senate voted to impeach Gov. Rod Blagojevich (MarketWatch). [See 8-Dec-09.]

3-Feb-09

Washington, DC - U.S. - Federal Reserve extended through 30-Oct-09 its liquidity programs that were scheduled to expire on 30-Apr-09; liquidity programs include: the Asset-Backed Commercial Paper Money Market Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility (AMLF), the Commercial Paper Funding Facility (CPFF), the Money Market Investor Funding Facility (MMIFF), the Primary Dealer Credit Facility (PDCF), and the Term Securities Lending Facility (TSLF); the Term Auction Facility (TAF) does not have an expiration date (Federal Reserve).

4-Feb-09

New York, NY - U.S. - Fitch Ratings on losses on credit cards in Jan-09: geneneral credit cards, 7.5% (up 40% from Jan-08)' private label credit cards, 10.51% (up 44% from Jan-08) (MarketWatch-Fitch Ratings, 4-Feb-09; NYT, 9-Feb-09).

5-Feb-09

London - U.K. - The Bank of England’s (BOE) Monetary Policy Committee reduced the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves by 0.5% to 1.0% (BOE).

7-Feb-09

New South Wales; South Australia - Australia - Wildfires killed 209 people (Al Jazeera-Agencies, 22-Feb-09). Arson is suspected (The Guardian). (See also: BBC, 8-Feb-09; The Guardian, 9-Feb-09; NYT, 9-Feb-09; VOA News, 9-Feb-09.) [7-Feb-09 - 10-Feb-09.]

Manacapuru river - Brazil - Plane crash killed 24 people (VOA News-AFP-AP-Reuters, 8-Feb-09)).

9-Feb-09

New York, NY - U.S. - Price of crude-oil futures fell below $40 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) (MarketWatch).

Tokyo - Japan - Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. to cut 20,000 jobs (~8.5%, of its work force) (Nissan). (See also: NYT.)

Sri Lanka - Female Tamil Tiger (LTTE) suicide bomber killed 20 soldiers and 8 civilians (Al Jazeera-AlJazeera-Agencies). (See also: VOA News.)

Beijing - China - Fire hits the Mandarin Oriental hotel (VOA News).

Johannesburg - South Africa - Mining firm AngloPlatinum to cut 10,000 jobs (VOA News-AP).

Washington, DC - U.S. - Federal Reserve will offer $150 billion in 28-day credit through its Term Auction Facility (TAF) (Federal Reserve).

10-Feb-09

Zurich; Basel - Switzerland - UBS financial results: 2008Q4 loss, CHF 8.1 billion ($6.9 billion); 2008 loss, CHF 19.7 billion (UBS). (See also: NYT.)

Detroit, MI - U.S. - GM to cut 10,000 jobs (~13.7% of salaried employees) in 2009 (WSJ-GM).

Washington, DC - U.S. - Federal Reserve to expand Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF) to as much as $1 trillion and to broaden eligible collateral to include newly issued AAA-rated asset-backed securities (ABS) (commercial mortgage-backed securities, private-label residential mortgage-backed securities, and other asset-backed securities) (Federal Reserve). (See also: Market Watch.)

Washington, DC - U.S. - U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner: "Last Friday we learned that the economy had lost three million jobs last year, and an additional 600,000 just last month. . . Instead of catalyzing recovery, the financial system is working against recovery. And at the same time, the recession is putting greater pressure on banks. This is a dangerous dynamic . . . We have to both jumpstart job creation and private investment, and we must get credit flowing again to businesses and families. . . There were systematic failures in the checks and balances in the system, by Boards of Directors, by credit rating agencies, and by government regulators. . . These failures helped lay the foundation for the worst economic crisis in generations. . . [We] will replace the current program with a new Financial Stability Plan to stabilize and repair the financial system, and support the flow of credit necessary for recovery." (U.S. Department of the Treasury.)

Washington, DC - U.S. - U.S. Senate approves $838 Bn Economic Stimulus Plan: H.R.1 - Making supplemental appropriations for job preservation and creation, infrastructure investment, energy efficiency and science, assistance to the unemployed, and State and local fiscal stabilization, for fiscal year ending September 30, 2009, and for other purposes (Library of Congress- THOMAS).

Lisbon - Spain - 8th European Regional Meeting of the International Labour Organization (ILO): ILO forecast: The economic downturn could increase global unemployment by 50 million; almost 8 million of the increase could be in ILO member States in Europe and Central Asia – about 50% in the EU-27. ILO Director-General Juan Somavia, regarding the economic crisis: It is “worsening still further into a potential global social recession provoking tensions, political uncertainties and even possible security risks.” The ILO called for a "coordinated effort to maintain employment and restore economic growth" amid “the most serious economic crisis to hit Europe for 60 years.” (ILO, 10/13-Feb-09.) [10-Feb-09 - 13-Feb-09.]

New York, NY - U.S. - The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 381.99 points (-4.62%), closing at 7,888.88 (DJ; Yahoo! Finance).

11-Feb-09

Houston, TX - U.S. - KBR announced it settled with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding "violations under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) occurring between 1994 and 2004": Total financial penalties are $579 million; KBR to pay $20 million over 8 quarters to the DOJ; Halliburton to pay the remainder (Halliberton; KBR). (See also: NYT-Editorial-14-Feb-09.)

14-Feb-09

Iskandiriya - Iraq - Female suicide bomber targeted Shia pilgrims and killed at least 40 people, mostly women and children (Al Jazeera-Agencies, 14-Feb-09). (See also: AP, 14-Feb-09; BBC News.)

Ladha, South Waziristan - Pakistan - U.S. drones killed at least 27 Uzbeks; US drones killed >220 people in 2008 (Al Jazeera-Al Jazeera-Agencies, 15-Feb-09). (See also: Reuters India.)

U.S. - David Colker documented the U.S. foreclosure process (Los Angeles Times). (See also: Los Angeles Times, 7-Dec-08.)

15-Feb-09

Caracas - Venezuela - President Hugo Chavez won the referendum to end term limits (VOA News, 15-16-Feb-09; Washington Post, 16-Feb-09; Al Jazeera-Al Jazeera-Agencies, 16-Feb-09).

West Bank; Israel - Israel grabs West Bank land (VOA News-AP; Al Jazeera-Al Jazeera-Agencies, 16-Feb-09).

Lynchburg, VA - U.S. - Peanut Corporation of America filed for bankruptcy protection following a scandal alleging the company sold peanut products contaminated with salmonella bacteria; contaminated peanuts were linked to 9 deaths (Washington Post). (See also: Peanut Corporation of America, 8-Feb-09.)

Japan; U.S. - Japan's economy contracted at an annual rate of 12.7% in 2008Q4 -- a 35-year record (Los Angeles Times, 16-Feb-09). The U.S. economy contracted at an annual rate of 3.8% in 2008Q4 (NYT).

16-Feb-09

Kurram - Pakistan - Suspected U.S. missile strike killed at least 12 people (VOA News-AFP-AP-Reuters).

Russia - Russia's industrial output fell 19.9% in Jan-09 (month-over-month) (VOA news-AFP).

Baghdad - Iraq - 2 bombs targeting Shia pilgrims killed at least 8 people (Al Jazeera-Agencies; VOA News-AFP-AP-Reuters).

Swat Valley - Pakistan - Swat Valley adopts Sharia law (Washington Post; Los Angeles Times, 17-Feb-09).

Houston, TX - U.S. - United States District Court judge for the Northern District of Texas signed an order appointing a receiver to take possession of all the assets of Stanford Financial Group and other associated entities (Case No.: 3:09-cv-0298-N) (Stanford Financial Group Receivership-Stanford Financial Group). (See also: SEC, 17-Feb-09.)

17-Feb-09

Bentonville, AR - U.S. - Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. financial results for FY2009: Net sales, $401.244 billion (up 7.2%); income from continuing operations, $13.254 billion (up 3.0%). Results for FY2009 Q4: Net sales, $107.996 billion (up 1.7%); income from continuing operations, $3.792 billion (down 7.7%). (Wal-Mart.)

Atlantic City, NJ - U.S. - Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection (Trump Entertainment Resorts). (See also: NYT-Reuters.)

Denver, CO - U.S. - President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (White House) -- a $787 billion economic stimulus plan (VOA News, 24-Feb-09).

New York, NY - U.S. - The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 297.81 points (-3.79%), closing at 7,552.60 (DJ; Yahoo! Finance).

20-Feb-09

Swat Valley, North West Frontier - Pakistan - Ceasefire between Pakistan's military and the Taliban (Al Jazeera-Al Jazeera-Agencies, 22-Feb-09). (See also: CNN Asia, 22-Feb-09.)

Dera Ismail Khan - Pakistan - Suicide bomb attack killed at least 30 people (Al Jazeera-Al Jazeera-Agencies, 21-Feb-09).

Berlin - Germany - Germany approved a €50 billion ($63 billion) stimulus package (BBC News). Germany approved an initial €31 billion package in 2008 (AFP). (See also: Washington Post, 26-Feb-09.)

23-Feb-09

Washington, DC - U.S. - Federal Reserve to offer $150 billion in 84-day credit through its Term Auction Facility (TAF) (Federal Reserve Board).

Washington, DC - U.S. - The U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Office of Thrift Supervision, and the Federal Reserve Board: "The U.S. government stands firmly behind the banking system during this period of financial strain to ensure it will be able to perform its key function of providing credit to households and businesses. The government will ensure that banks have the capital and liquidity they need to provide the credit necessary to restore economic growth" (Federal Reserve Board).

New York, NY - U.S. - The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 250.89 points (-3.41%), closing at 7,114.78 (DJ; Yahoo! Finance) -- a 6-year record low (Bloomberg, 19-Feb-09).

24-Feb-09

New York, NY - U.S. - The Standard & Poors/Case-Shiller U.S. national home price index (20-city composite) fell 18.55% in 2008Q4 (YOY) (S&P) -- a record low for the time period since 1988 (S&P).

Dulles, VA; Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA - U.S. - The launch of a Taurus XL rocket carrying the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) satellite for NASA failed (Orbital Sciences Corporation; NASA); the satellite was to monitor greenhouse gas emissions (VOA News-AP-Reuters).

Washington, DC - U.S. - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to the Congress: " . . . the unemployment rate has moved up to 7.6 percent. . . overall consumer price inflation measured on a 12-month basis was close to zero last month . . . The principal cause of the economic slowdown was the collapse of the global credit boom and the ensuing financial crisis . . . The central tendency for the unemployment rate in the fourth quarter of 2009 was marked up to a range of 8-1/2 percent to 8-3/4 percent. . . " (Federal Reserve Board). (See also: NYT.)

Washington, DC - U.S. - President Obama, address to a joint session of Congress: "But while our economy may be weakened and our confidence shaken; though we are living through difficult and uncertain times, tonight I want every American to know this: We will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before. The weight of this crisis will not determine the destiny of this nation. The answers to our problems don’t lie beyond our reach. . . In other words, we have lived through an era where too often, short-term gains were prized over long-term prosperity; where we failed to look beyond the next payment, the next quarter, or the next election. A surplus became an excuse to transfer wealth to the wealthy instead of an opportunity to invest in our future." (White House.)

Munich - Germany - Ifo Economic Research Institute: The Ifo Business Climate index for industry and trade in Germany tumbled to a record low 82.6 points (down 23.4% from a record high of 109.1 in Dec-06). Germany entered recession in 2008Q3; its economy fell 2.1% in 2008Q4 -- a 20-year record (Deutsche Welle-DPA-Reuters-AFP).

25-Feb-09

Amsterdam - The Netherlands - A Turkish Airlines Boeing 737 crashed while landing killing 9 people (VOA News).

Iran - Inaugural test run of Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant (VOA News).

Montreal, QC - Canada - Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec, 2008 financial results: Record loss of C$39.8 billion ($31.7 billion); total assets under allocation $120.1 billion (down from $155.4 billion in 2007) (Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec). (See also: Financial Post; Globe and Mail; Bloomberg.)

Washington, DC - U.S. - National Association of Realtors: Existing-home sales fell 5.3% in Jan-09 (MOM), and 8.6% (YOY) (National Association of Realtors). (See also: Washington Post.)

Washington, DC - U.S. - U.S. State Department released "2008 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices" (U.S. Department of State).

26-Feb-09

London - U.K. - Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) 2008 financial results: Record loss attributable to shareholders, £24.1 billion ($34.2 billion); loss before tax, £40.7 billion; impairment losses, £8.1 billion; over 50% of losses pertained to ABN AMRO-originated portfolios (RBS). The U.K. government to inject up to £25.5bn in RBS (Financial Times). (See also: NYT.)

Detroit, MI - U.S. - General Motors 2008 financial results: Loss, $30.9 billion; revenue, $149 billion (down 17.2% from $180 billion in 2007) (GM). (See also: NYT; Washington Post.)

Washington, DC - U.S. - Office of Management & Budget Director Peter Orszag, FY2010 Government of the U.S. Budget: "The budget that we are releasing this morning fulfills the President's campaign promises to be honest and responsible . . Under current policies, and without any policy intervention, our estimates suggest that we would face $9 trillion in budget deficits over the next decade" (White House; OMB).

U.S. - U.S. banks lost more than $26 billion in 2008Q4; the number of "troubled" banks increased by nearly 50% (VOA News).

27-Feb-09

New York, NY; Washington, DC - U.S. - Citigroup to convert up to $25 billion of bailout funds into a 36% equity stake in Citigroup for the U.S. Department of the Treasury (VOA News).

Camp Lejeune, NC - U.S. - President Barack Obama, on responsibly ending the War in Iraq: "Let me say this as plainly as I can: by August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end. . . [O]ur mission will change from combat to supporting the Iraqi government and its Security Forces . . . we will retain a transitional force to carry out three distinct functions: training, equipping, and advising Iraqi Security Forces . . .; conducting targeted counter-terrorism missions; and protecting our ongoing civilian and military efforts within Iraq. Initially, this force will likely be made up of 35-50,000 U.S. troops" (White House).

Washington, DC - U.S. - Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA): The real gross domestic product of the U.S. decreased at an annual rate of 6.2% (BEA).

Washington, DC; Memphis - U.S. - The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused 2 Stanford Financial Group executives, including Robert Allen Stanford, of involvement in a “massive Ponzi scheme”; funds were misappropriated and more than $1.6 billion in “bogus” loans to Mr. Stanford were made (NYT). (See also: Stanford Financial Group Receivership-Stanford Financial Group.)

28-Feb-09

Hua Hin - Thailand - 14th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit: Key issues: Political security; socio-cultural community blueprint; ASEAN integration; food security; global economic and financial crisis; and petroleum security. ASEAN member states: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam (ASEAN; Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Thailand.) (See also: VOA News.) [28-Feb-09 - 1-Mar-09.]

1-Mar-09

Washington, DC - U.S. - The U.S. Treasury: (1) to exchange its existing $40 billion cumulative perpetual preferred shares for new preferred shares that resemble common equity; and (2) to offer American International Group (AIG) as much as $30 billion in exchange for non-cumulative preferred stock to the U.S. Treasury; also, the Federal Reserve to take actions relating to the $60 billion Revolving Credit Facility for AIG established by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in Sep-08 (U.S. Department of the Treasury; Federal Reserve Board). AIG has received $150 billion in taxpayers funds; the credit default swap market, in which AIG has participated, is estimated at $28.5 trillion (Reuters UK). (See also: VOA News-Bloomberg-Reuters; USA TODAY; MarketWatch, 2-Mar-09.)

Kiev - Ukraine - Ukraine on the edge of financial collapse; thousands of jobs have been lost (NYT).

London - U.K. - MI5 reportedly issued an alert on potential for bank riots (Daily Express). (See also: BBC News.)

2-Mar-09

New York, NY - U.S. - American International Group, Inc. (AIG) financial results: 2008Q4 net loss, $61.659 billion (vs. a net loss of $5.3 billion in 2007Q4); 2008 net loss, $99.289 billion (vs. a net income of $6.2 billion in 2007) (AIG).

London - U.K. - HSBC Holdings plc, 2008 financial results: Pre-tax profit, US$9.3 billion (down 62%); profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company, $5.728 billion (down 70%). HSBC: to increase its capital by $17.7 billion via fully underwritten Rights Issue; to close substantially all branch offices of US Consumer Lending business and terminate 6,100 jobs (HSBC). (See also: MarketWatch; Financial Times, 1-Mar-09.)

New York, NY - U.S. - The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 299.64 points (-4.24%), closing at 6,763.29 (DJ; Yahoo! Finance) -- a record low since 25-Apr-1997 (Yahoo! Finance-AP).

5-Mar-09

Washington, DC - U.S. - Bankruptcy filings in U.S. federal courts: 1,117,771, in 2008 (up 31%); 850,912, in 2007; 617,660, in 2006; 2,078,415, in 2005; 1,597,462, in 2004 (US Courts).

New York, NY - U.S. - The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 281.40 points (-4.09%), closing at 6,594.44 (DJ; Yahoo! Finance).

London - U.K. - The Bank of England’s (BOE) Monetary Policy Committee reduced the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves by 0.5% to 0.5% and announced a £75 billion program to purchase gilts (U.K. government bonds) (BOE).

Washington, DC - U.S. - The Federal Reserve Board has published tips to help consumers avoid foreclosure scams (Federal Reserve Board).

Beijing - China - Second Session of the 11th National People's Congress (NPC) (China View-Xinhua). [5-Mar-09 - 13-Mar-09.]

6-Mar-09

Hamza, Babil - Iraq - A car bomb killed at least 12 people (BBC News).

Sri Lanka - Sri Lanka's military killed at least 150 Tamil Tiger rebels (VOA News-AFP-Reuters). [6-Mar-09 - 8-Mar-09.]

Washington, DC - U.S. - Robert B. Zoellick and Justin Yifu Lin: "The root cause of broader global payment imbalances is structural: overconsumption in the United States and oversaving in China. For the United States, the consumption boom was fueled by bubbles in stocks and housing. This was accompanied by a collapse in the U.S. savings rate. For China, the savings surplus is a result of structural distortions in the financial, corporate and resource sectors" (World Bank; Originally published in the Washington Post).

7-Mar-09

Malmo - Sweden - About 7,000 people protest Israel's attack on Gaza (Al Jazeera-Al Jazeera-Agencies ).

Vienna - Austria - Amazing Op-Ed contribution, "The Armageddon Waltz," by Frederic Morton in the New York Times. The Op-Ed piece connects the dots: The Vienna Bankers Club's "Bankruptcy Ball" in 1913; the Vienna (and Europe's) "housing problem"; government debt; the military commitment to "mostly Muslim" Albania; the killing of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by a Serbian nationalist; and World War I (NYT).

8-Mar-09

Baghdad - Iraq - A suicide bomber killed at least 28 people at a police academy (VOA News; BBC News). (See also: Al Jazeera-Agencies.)

South China Sea - Chinese vessels harass the USNS Impeccable (The Washington Post).

9-Mar-09

Washington, DC - U.S. - The Federal Reserve to offer $150 billion in 28-day credit through its Term Auction Facility (TAF) (Federal Reserve Board).

Whitehouse Station, NJ; Kenilworth, NJ - U.S. - Merck & Co., Inc. and Schering-Plough Corporation to merge in a transaction valued at $41.1 billion (Merck; Schering-Plough). (See also: Bloomberg.)

Midland, MI; Philadelphia, PA - U.S. - Dow Chemical Co. settled a $15.3 billion dispute to buy Rohm & Haas (Dow Chemical; Rohm & Haas; NYT). (See also: MarketWatch.)

Washington, DC - U.S. - President Barack Obama issued a new Presidential memo on scientific integrity, and lifted barriers to scientific research involving human stem cells (White House). (See also: VOA News; CNN Politics.)

U.S. - Warren Buffett said the U.S. economy had "fallen off a cliff" (Bloomberg).

Manila - Philippines - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) released a study titled "Global Financial Turmoil and Emerging Market Economies: Major Contagion and a Shocking Loss of Wealth?" According to the study, global financial assets fell by more than $50 trillion in 2008 (the study was prepared by Claudio M. Loser, President of Centennial Group, as discussion materials for the "South Asia Forum on the Impact of Global Economic and Financial Crisis") (ADB). (See also: Bloomberg; VOA News-AP-Bloomberg.)

10-Mar-09

New York, NY - U.S. - The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 379.44 points (5.80%), closing at 6,926.49 (DJ; Yahoo! Finance).

10-Mar-09

Hartford, CT - U.S. - United Technologies to cut 11,600 jobs (United Technologies).

U.S. - HedgeFund Intelligence survey: Funds of hedge funds lost more than $300 billion (~33%) of their assets in 2008H2; 35% of the industry’s assets are managed by the top 10 fund-of-funds (NYT-DealBook). The Eurekahedge Report: Hedge fund assets fell $69 billion to $1.4 trillion as at Jan-09 (Eurekahedge, Feb-09). (See also: Bloomberg.)

Copenhagen - Denmark - International Scientific Congress on Climate Change, organized by International Alliance of Research Universities: Climate change likely to increase sea level by at least 50 cm, perhaps even 100 cm, by 2100; about 600 million people to be affected (Environment News Service, 10-Mar-09; Scientific American-Reuters, 10-Mar-09). (See also: University of Copenhagen, 10/12-Mar-09; International Alliance of Research Universities, 12-Feb-09.) [10-Mar-09 - 12-Mar-09.]

Washington, DC - U.S. - Charles Freeman, president of the Middle East Policy Council (MEPC) think-tank: "The tactics of the Israel Lobby plumb the depths of dishonor and indecency and include character assassination, selective misquotation, the willful distortion of the record, the fabrication of falsehoods, and an utter disregard for the truth. The aim of this Lobby is control of the policy process . . . " (WSJ). (See also: Al Jazeera-Al Jazeera-Agencies, 11-Mar-09; JTA, 11-Mar-09; Bloomberg, 11-Mar-09; Washington Post, 12-Mar-09; Middle East Policy Council.)

Baghdad - Iraq - Suicide bomber killed 33 people outside Baghad (NYT).

11-Mar-09

Winnenden - Germany - A 17-year-old gunned down at least 15 people (Deutsche Welle-SP-JC-SMS-DPA-AFP-Reuters). (See also: Spiegel International.)

Kinston, AL; Samson, AL; Geneva, AL - U.S. - Gunman killed 11 people, including family members and himself (AP; ABC News).

12-Mar-09

Basel; South San Francisco, CA - Switzerland; U.S. - Roche to acquire Genentech for approximately $46.8 billion (Roche; Genentech).

New York, NY - U.S. - Bernard L. Madoff pleaded guilty to all 11 charges, including fraud, money laundering, making false statements, perjury, and theft (NYT; Bloomberg; BBC News). (U.S. v. Madoff, 09-cr-00213, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.)

Karachi - Pakistan - Pakistan's government counters countrywide large-scale protests with detentions of hundreds of people (Los Angeles Times; AP; BBC News).

St. Johns, NL - Canada - S-92 Sikorsky helicopter transporting offshore oil workers crashed in the Atlantic Ocean off Newfoundland; 16 people are missing (CNN International).

13-Mar-09

Beijing - China - Chinese premier Wen Jiabao is concerned about the safety of China’s $1 trillion investment in U.S. treasuries and asked “the U.S. to maintain its good credit" (Bloomberg; NYT; WSJ). China's foreign exchange reserves at yearend 2008: A record $1.95 trillion (China View-Xinhua).

N90/13-Mar-09

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