10.24.08 Stocks dive on belief global recession is at hand

NEW YORK (AP) October 24 - Wall Street joined world stock markets in a precipitous plunge Friday, with the Dow Jones industrials dropping more than 300 points in early trading. The growing belief that the world will suffer a punishing economic recession has investors furiously dumping stocks. The massive decline was caused by increasingly grim news from overseas. In Japan, shares of Sony sank more than 14 percent after it slashed its earnings forecast for the fiscal year. In Germany, Daimler's stock dropped 11.4 percent in morning trading after it reported lower third-quarter earnings and abandoned its 2008 profit and revenue guidance.

Japan's Nikkei stock average fell a staggering 9.60 percent. In Europe, Germany's benchmark DAX index was down 9 percent, France's CAC40 dropped 8.9 percent while Britain's FTSE 100 sank 8.2 percent after the government said its gross domestic product fell 0.5 percent in the third quarter, putting the country on the brink of recession.

The dour outlook convinced investors that the world economy is headed for a long and severe downturn despite a raft of government rescue efforts aimed at pulling the financial system from the brink. It also indicated that the tremors caused by the global credit crisis may have only begun to be felt in their true scope and magnitude. "There's a lot of panic out there today," said Scott Fullman, director of derivatives investment strategy for WJB Capital Group in New York. "People have been saying that we're in a recession. This is the realization." [More>>thejakartapost.com; See related stories:

nytimes.com, October 24, "US stocks slide after rout overseas": When is a 300-point plunge a relief? Wall Street was pondering that question on Friday as stocks in the United States picked up a sharp sell-off that began in Asia and Europe. But before the opening bell, things appeared much worse. Stock futures, essentially what investors are betting will happen once trading begins, fell so sharply that their trading had to be halted early Friday morning. The size of the declines had reached a set limit, with futures on the Dow Jones industrial average down by 550 points.

The actual declines after 9:30 a.m., while large, did not indicate an uncontrolled selling frenzy. Shortly after 12:30 p.m., the Dow was down less than 400 points. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index was off 4.1 percent and the Nasdaq had fallen about 3 percent. Dismal corporate earnings and poor economic data around the world were the immediate causes for the sell-off, which sent major exchanges in Asia and Europe down by more than 8 percent.

japantoday.com, October 24, "Wall Street layoffs could surge past 200,000" : Traders and investment bankers might have more to worry about than dwindling bonus pools this year as mass firings on Wall Street are set to hit a record. The fallout from this year's global credit crisis has claimed jobs on all corners of Wall Street, from hedge fund managers to floor traders and beyond. More than 110,000 have lost their jobs so far this year, and some industry experts forecast it could come close to 200,000 before the year is over.

Even the financial industry's biggest name isn't immune. Goldman Sachs Group Inc, the world's biggest investment bank, made plans on Thursday to cut 3,200 positions from its staff of 32,000. Barclays Capital is in the midst of purging 3,000 jobs as part of its takeover of Lehman Brothers, and Bank of America Corp's acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co is sure to add thousands more. Major US financial companies are getting rid of redundancies caused by this year's rapid-fire consolidation. They are also adapting to an environment of more regulation, less risk, and dwindling profits...

koreaherald.co.kr, October 24, "Stocks, won tumble on economic woes" : Korea's stocks and currency continued to nosedive yesterday as local economic woes and disappointing corporate earnings added concerns to investors, who have been already panicking over growing worries on a global recession, analysts said. The benchmark KOSPI plunged 110.96 points, or 10.57 percent, to 938.75 points, on heavy selling by foreign and institutional investors. It was the first time the index fell below the psychologically important level of 1,000 since 999.08 recorded on June 29, 2005. Compared with the highest peak of 2,064.85 on October 31, last year, the stock index lost more than half the value. The won dropped 1.08 percent, or 15.2 won, to close at 1,424 won against the greenback...

washingtonpost.com, October 24, "Treasury investing in regional banks": The Treasury Department plans to announce as early as this afternoon that as many as 22 regional banks — including Capital One of McLean and PNC bank of Pittsburgh — have accepted billions in capital injections from the government that are designed to spur lending and to drive consolidation in the banking industry, according to industry sources.

Separately, Treasury is working on ways to get some of the $700 billion in rescue money granted to it by Congress to insurance companies that are a critical backstop to a wide range of deals, bond issues and leasing arrangements, an industry source said. Treasury officials said that many insurance companies are eligible for government investment because they are regulated as thrift holding companies by the Office of Thrift Supervision.

Concerns about insurers grew this week when Metro and other transit agencies faced demands to pay billions of dollars to their banks as years-old financing deals unraveled. The deals were guaranteed by insurer American International Group, which was taken over by the government last month after it nearly collapsed, and now officials are concerned that other insurers, which report financial results next week, are facing similar problems...

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10.24.08 Oil price falls despite supply cut by producers

October 24 - Oil producers this morning unanimously voted to cut their output by 1.5 million barrels a day, following an emergency meeting in Vienna to discuss the plunging price of crude. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), which is responsible for 40 per cent of the world's production, said the cut, which was more than the one million barrel forecast, would come into effect from November 1.

While a fall in daily output is expected to increase the price of oil, Brent North Sea crude slumped to a 17-month low of $61.08 a barrel and New York prices declined to $63.05 after concerns about the global economy's march towards recession overrode fears about shrinking fuel supply. Ministers from the oil producing nations are thought to be keen to push prices above $70 a barrel, although they said this morning that they had not set a price target. [More>>timesonline.co.uk]

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10.24.08 Iran turns tables, threatens strike on Israel

JERuSALEM, October 24 - In an upping of the tit for tat rhetoric between Tel Aviv and Tehran, several senior Iranian officials have recommended a pre-emptive strike on Israel in order to neutralize any Israeli attempt to bomb the Islamic republic's alleged nuclear facilities. A senior Iranian official, Seyed Safavi, the head of the Research Institute of Strategic Studies in Tehran and an adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned foreign diplomats in London recently that such an option was being lobbied by a small group of senior officials in the Iranian capital.

The diplomats had gathered to discuss the effects and consequences of a possible Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear reactor. Numerous Israeli threats in recent years to carry out an offensive strike on Iran appear to have backfired badly as some Iranian hardliners believe that the only way to prevent such an Israeli attack is by hitting Israel first. [More>>metimes.com]

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10.24.08 Some 400 Iraqi Christians flee to Syria

BAGHDAD (DPA) October 24 - After a series of atrocities against Iraqi Christians in Mosul, around 400 Christians arrived in Syria to escape the harsh conditions of home, according to a statement by a Syrian refugee assistance organization Friday. In the last few days, some 20 Christian families arrived in the city of Qamhley, which is close to the Syrian-Iraqi border, said Lauren Gul, a representative of the refugee assistance group. Since the end of September, Iraqi Christians in Mosul, which lies 405 kilometres north of Baghdad, have been targeted by extremists.

Hundreds have been killed, while the rest have received death threats. Most have sought protection in surrounding villages. The UNHCR is currently assisting hundreds of Iraqi Christians who fled from Mosul to Syria. Most of them asserted that they would return home soon. Meanwhile, Christian lawmakers condemned the Iraq security forces for failing to protect Mosul’s Christians. [More>>khaleejtimes.com]

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10.24.08 40 men gang-raped me, says nun

NEW DELHI, October 25 - A nun in eastern India has spoken out for the first time on live television about allegations she was gang-raped by more than 40 men in August, accusing police of complicity in Hindu attacks on Christians. A string of attacks on Christians by Hindus over the controversial issue of conversions in poor tribal areas has killed at least 37 people in the past two months, mainly in Orissa state where most of the violence is concentrated. "State police failed to stop the crimes, failed to protect me from the attackers, they were friendly with the attackers," Sister Meena told a news conference on Friday. The nun's case became part of the wider controversy surrounding the violence, which sparked an international outcry and drew strong condemnation from Pope Benedict. [More>>news.com.au]

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10.24.08 Sharia incompatible with human rights: House of Lords

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10.23.08 Markets tumble as Brown admits UK faces recession

October 23 - Gordon Brown admitted for the first time that Britain would go into recession as a survey showed a big increase in his standing among businessmen, who are losing confidence in the Conservatives. The Prime Minister, who has previously avoided using the word "recession," prepared the public for the worst ahead of official figures that will show Britain slipping into negative growth in the past three months.

Share prices fell dramatically yesterday after the gloomy forecast. The FTSE 100 ended down 4.5 per cent, with recession fears further undermining sentiment on ailing banks and commodity stocks. A late sell-off in New York meant the Dow closed down 5.7 per cent at 8,519.2. The 514-point decline was the seventh largest on record. Although there is only a technical recession when the economy shrinks in two successive quarters, Mr. Brown's statement was an admission that that is now inevitable.

Figures to be released by the Office for National Statistics are expected to confirm that the British economy shrank by about 0.2 per cent during the period from July to September. This follows the zero growth recorded during the second quarter of this year, and thus leaves the British economy on the brink of its first decline since 1992. The National Institute for Economic and Social Research predicted 18 months of contraction or stagnation in the economy, with unemployment reaching two million by Christmas. [More>>independent.co.uk; See related stories:

washingtonpost.com, October 23, "Greenspan: 'Crisis broader than anything I could have imagined' " : Former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan called today for imposing some of the same sorts of regulations on mortgage securities he resisted when he was in office, acknowledging that the current financial crisis had exposed "a flaw" in his view of how the world and markets function. The absence of significant controls on how mortgages are repackaged into larger and more complex securities has been cited as a central cause of the current financial crisis.

In testimony before the House Government Oversight Committee, Greenspan said that as a result of the current situation the United States is heading for a "significant rise in layoffs and unemployment" and a continued downturn in home values as the world works through a crisis that is "broader than anything I could have imagined."

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10.23.08 Russia lines up new anti-missile system to counter US missile shield plans

MOSCOW, October 22 - Russia's Strategic Missile Forces are being equipped with new anti-ballistic missile systems in response to US plans to deploy a missile shield in Europe, Interfax reported Wednesday. "Considering the changing military and political situation in the world, and US plans to deploy missile shield, as well as the need to adequately respond to these plans, a set of measures are being taken to develop the Strategic Missile Forces," Commander Col. Gen. Nikolai Solovtsov told Interfax news agency.

New types of silo-based and mobile missile systems capable of countering the prospective US missile defense system will be created, he said, adding that a fifth-generation RS-24 multiple-warhead missile system will enter service with the forces in 2009. The new system will strengthen Russia's nuclear deterrence, including its capability to penetrate missile defense shields, he said. [More>>xinhuanet.com]

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10.23.08 Suspected missile strike kills 11 in Pakistan: Officials

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (AP) October 23 - Suspected US spy drones fired missiles early on Thursday into a school set up by a top Taliban commander in a tribal area bordering Afghanistan, killing 11 people, security officials said. The air strike apparently targeting veteran militant Jalaluddin Haqqani, a major target for US forces, was the latest in a string of attacks on Pakistani soil that have raised tensions between Islamabad and Washington...Security officials said the madrassa, or religious school, near Miranshah, the main town in troubled North Waziristan region, was set up by Haqqani during the 1980s "jihad" against Soviet forces in Afghanistan. It was currently run by one of Haqqani's own commanders, Mullah Mansoor, and was recently used as a guest house for "international and local students traveling from other areas."

"At 2:25 am, two spy drones fired three missiles at the madrassa of Mullah Mansoor. Eleven people have been killed in the missile strike," a security official said. "Locals are still looking for more people in the rubble," he said. A similar missile strike targeting another house owned by Haqqani on September 8 killed 23 people, including members of Haqqani's extended family, security officials said. Haqqani was one of the most prominent Afghan commanders who fought the Red Army between 1978 and 1989. He subsequently became close to Mullah Omar, the leader of the 1996-2001 Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Since the fall of the Taliban, Haqqani has become one of the most active Taliban commanders launching attacks on international forces in Afghanistan from safe havens in Pakistan, security officials said. His son Sirajuddin, also a leading Taliban commander, was an occasional visitor at the madrassa that was hit on Thursday, a senior security official handling tribal unrest said. [More>>timesofindia.indiatimes.com]

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10.23.08 Bomber hits Iraqi minister's convoy

October 23 - A suicide car bomber has struck the convoy of Iraq's minister of labour and social affairs, killing 11 people and wounding 22 others, Reuters says. A spokesman for the ministry said the minister, Mahmoud al-Sheikh Radhi, was unhurt. Three of his bodyguards were among the dead in Thursday's attack. A Reuters television cameraman in the vicinity filmed the blast but an Iraqi soldier confiscated his videotape. The cameraman, about 150 metres away at the time of the explosion, saw a car drive into a convoy of six or seven 4WD vehicles and explode near Tahrir square in central Baghdad. Police and bodyguards in the convoy opened fire after the blast. Several vehicles crashed and others sped away. [More>>aljazeera.net]

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10.23.08 US hands 'triangle of death' to Iraqi troops

BAGHDAD (Reuters) October 23 - US forces declared an area once known as the The province south of Baghdad is the 12th of Iraq's 18 provinces in which primary responsibility for security has been given to Iraqi forces. With violence at four-year lows, only the capital Baghdad, four ethnically and religiously mixed northern provinces and Wasit province along the Iranian border still require day-to-day US patrols of Iraqi streets. Iraq's National Security adviser Mowaffaq al-Rubaie said at a handover ceremony in the provincial capital Hilla that Iraqis will also take control of Wasit province within days. [More>>khaleejtimes.com]

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10.23.08 Wanted German terrorist surfaces on al-Qaeda video

October 23 - A 21-year old German citizen whom officials feared was preparing to carry out an attack in the US or Europe has surfaced in a new al-Qaeda video, claiming he is still in Afghanistan. "I am in Afghanistan and, personally, do not plan to carry out an attack on Germany," Eric Breininger said on the video downloaded by ABCNews.com from a internet site often used by al-Qaeda. Last month, German officials issued a wanted poster with Breininger's photo warning that his German passport and Caucasian appearance would make it easy for him to slip into Germany or the US without notice. On the video, Breininger is seen in traditional Afghan garb firing an automatic weapon. [>abcnews.go.com; See related story:

dw-world.de, October 23, "Germany arrests alleged courier for terror group": German police arrested a Turkish national on suspicion that he ferried money and equipment for an Afghanistan-based group widely seen as a successor to al-Qaeda. The suspect, Burhan Y, aged 21, was picked up Wednesday, Oct. 22, at his home near Frankfurt, said the prosecutor-general's office in Karlsruhe. He is the younger brother of a man arrested last year for allegedly plotting bomb attacks in Germany on behalf of the Islamic Jihad Union, or IJU. The arrested man allegedly met with an IJU courier to pass over a night-vision device, a digital camera and a pair of binoculars needed by the IJU at its bases in the wilds along the Pakistan-Afghan border. A German news website, Focus Online, said they met in Turkey...

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10.23.08 Bomb kills three coalition soldiers in Afghanistan

KABUL (Reuters) October 23 - A roadside bomb has killed three soldiers from the U.S.-led coalition force in Afghanistan, the US military said. Violence has surged to its worst level this year, resulting so far in the killing of some 4,000 people, a third of them civilians, the bloodiest period since US-led troops overthrew the Taliban government in 2001. The roadside bomb hit a vehicle of the coalition soldiers on Wednesday evening in the western part of the country, the US military said in a statement late the same day. It did not give the nationality of the victims.

Resurgent Taliban fighters use suicide and roadside bomb attacks in their attempt to topple the Western-backed government and to cause the withdrawal of foreign forces from the country. On Thursday, unknown gunmen seized two Bangladeshi aid workers near a government building in the heart of Ghazni town which lies to the southwest of Kabul, police said. No one has claimed responsibility for the abduction. [>khaleejtimes.com]

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10.22.08 Stocks decline as earnings reveal fallout of credit crisis

October 22 - Worries about the corporate sector sent stocks on Wall Street sharply lower again on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones industrials dropping more than 400 points before recovering slightly in the early afternoon. Improvements in the credit markets — including the third straight day of declines in bank borrowing rates — did little to placate stock investors who are eying the corporate consequences of an economy that many economists believe is already in a recession. Earnings reports have been weak this week, and many companies have warned about lower sales and a bleak outlook for the remainder of the year.

The problems have appeared in a range of industries. The aviation giant Boeing saw profits fall 38 percent last quarter. Merck, the pharmaceutical company, posted a 28 percent drop in net income and will cut jobs. The North Carolina-based bank Wachovia, which was recently acquired by Wells Fargo, suffered a $23.7 billion net loss. At 1pm, the broad Standard & Poor's 500-stock index was down 3.6 percent. The Nasdaq composite index was off about 1.5 percent, despite gains in shares of Apple and Yahoo. The Dow, after falling more than 200 points on Tuesday, was off 312.30 points to 8,721.36, a decline of 3.5 percent, with 28 of the 30 components of the index in retreat. Only McDonald's and 3M showed gains. [More>>nytimes.com; See also:

timesonline.co.uk, October 22, "Wachovia reports record credit crunch loss." and

thejakartapost.com, October 22, "Asian markets slide on glum corporate outlook": Asian markets veered sharply lower Wednesday, with Tokyo's Nikkei index tumbling nearly 7 percent, amid spreading pessimism over corporate earnings outlooks in the US and at home. As credit markets show signs of improving, investors are turning their attention to dismal forecasts from major US companies and Japanese media reports of disappointing sales and profit results. Asian markets opened lower after an overnight decline on Wall Street but extended losses as the day progressed. Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average fell for the first time in three days, dropping 631.56 points, or 6.79 percent, to 8,674.69. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 6.2 percent, while South Korea's main index shed 5.1 percent...

cnn.com, October 22, "Mass layoffs at the highest level since 9/11 attacks" : NEW YORK - The number of layoff announcements involving at least 50 workers rose in September to the highest level since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks seven years ago, the government said Wednesday. There were 2,269 mass layoff actions, up 497 from August, according to statistics released by the Labor Department. That was the most mass layoffs since the 2,407 in September 2001...

abcnews.go.com, October 22, "AIG cuts $19 million Golden Parachute strings": AIG says it will freeze millions of dollars of payments to former CEO Martin Sullivan and other top executives, according to an agreement reached with New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. Sullivan, who left AIG in June, was due to be paid about $19 million as well as other benefits. Cuomo is currently investigating AIG for "unwarranted and outrageous" executive payouts after the company received billions of dollars in rescue money from taxpayers. [end]

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10.22.08 Columbia says smashes drug ring with Hezbollah ties

BOGOTA, Columbia (Reuters) October 22 - Colombian authorities said on Tuesday they broke up a drug and money-laundering ring in an international operation that included the capture of three people suspected of shipping funds to Hezbollah guerrillas. More than 100 suspects were arrested in Colombia and overseas on charges they trafficked drugs and laundered cash for Colombia's Norte del Valle cartel and for outlawed paramilitaries in a network that stretched from South America to Asia, the attorney's general office said. "The criminal organization used routes through Venezuela, Panama, Guatemala, Middle East and Europe, bringing in cash from the sale of these substances," the statement said.

Among those arrested in Colombia were three people suspected of coordinating drug smuggling to send some of their profits to groups such as Hezbollah, the office said. Those suspects — Chekry Mahmoud Harb, Ali Mohamad Abdul Rahim and Zacaria Hussein Harb — used front companies to send drug cash overseas, it said without providing further details. Colombia, a key US ally, remains the world's No. 1 cocaine producer, although over the last seven years Washington has sent more than $5 billion in aid that has helped weaken the country's FARC rebels and reduce violence from its conflict. Washington has often complained that Iran-backed Hezbollah and other Islamic groups that it considers terrorist organizations are active in Arab communities in South American countries such as Brazil and Venezuela. [>khaleejtimes.com]

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10.22.08 Iraqi Qaeda-linked group confirms a leader killed

DUBAI (Reuters) October 22 - The al-Qaeda linked group Islamic State in Iraq confirmed the killing of one its leading members in an Internet audio tape posted on Wednesday. The US military had described the militant as ISI's second-in-command and said he was killed in a raid in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Oct. 15...the militant identified by the alias Abu Qaswara al-Maghrebi, who had Swedish citizenship. [Full story>>thestar.com.my; See a related story about a "convert" from al-Qaeda, also of Swedish citizenship, who was 'the al-Qaeda in Iraq media person,' :

metimes.com, October 22, "Former al-Qaeda emir in crosshairs' : AD-DULUYIAH, Iraq - Najim Mahmoud Khalil al-Jabouri, a charismatic preacher in this town north of Balad, is a marked man...Najid moved to Baghdad as Jaish Islami's media head until he was caught in an anti-terrorist sweep and sent to Abu Ghraib prison, where he was thrown in with al-Qaeda detainees. "At that time I spent five or six months listening to their ideology," he said. "…They gave a new ideology and talked about a big program to building an Islamic state in Iraq with all the different groups working together. "At that time, al-Qaeda soldiers were ready to fight, really ready to fight, better than our organization. And when they talked to me I decided at last to follow this group."

He moved from house to house while al-Qaeda's media emir and spoke at more than 13 mosques. Captured in southeast Baghdad in 2006 by US forces, he was sent to the Camp Cropper detention facility near Baghdad's international airport. "The first time I was a detainee, I believed in continuing the fight," he said. The second time it was different. At Cropper they treated me kindly and I made friendship with a soldier. This guy treated the detainees differently than at Abu Ghraib. All the time they talked to me, and after six months they decided that I had changed. "When I got released, I [decided] to tell al-Qaeda, 'if you don't put your weapons away and fight on the political side I will fight you.' "

...Today Najid is a member of a board that helps facilitate the process of government and insurgent reconciliation. More than 600 fighters have utilized it. He also coordinates at least five, 50-man groups of SOI, the armed neighborhood watch groups credited by both the US and the Iraqi government with playing a key role in the success of the US surge and the dramatic downturn in violence in much of the country...

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10.22.08 Iraq says flight of Mosul Christians ceased

BAGHDAD (AFP) October 22 - Nearly 2,275 families fled the city. The flight of Iraqi Christians from Mosul has been stemmed, a government official said Wednesday, but only after nearly half the 20,000-strong minority fled the northern city due to a spate of attacks. "The flight of Christians from Mosul has ceased," Ghanem al-Ghanam, director of Iraq's human rights ministry, said in a statement. Ghanam said a fact-finding mission found that 2,275 families — based on an average of four persons per family — had abandoned their homes and jobs, taking shelter in Christian villages on the northern and eastern fringes of Nineveh province. He did not identify who was behind the violence although various officials have blamed Sunni and Kurd extremists or al-Qaeda. [More>>alarabiya.net]

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10.22.08 55 militants killed in southern Afghanistan

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, October 22 - International and Afghan forces killed 55 militants after coming under attack in southern Afghanistan, the US military said Wednesday. "ANSF (Afghan National Security Forces) and coalition forces responded with small-arms, rocket-propelled grenade, heavy-weapons and supporting fire, killing 55 militants," the US Forces in Afghanistan said.

Police had said earlier that 35 Taliban were killed in the fighting in the southern province of Uruzgan that started late Tuesday when about 100 militants had tried to attack a district centre. "More than 100 Taliban launched an attack to capture the district of Dih Rahwud. Our police bravely resisted and killed 35 Taliban whose bodies are left in the area," provincial police chief said. "Three of our policemen were also martyred and nine others were injured in the fighting," he said, adding international military war planes were called in to help. [>thenews.com.pk; See related story:

washingtonpost.com, October 22, "Coalition airstrke kills 9 Afghan soldiers - Officials say" : ...Coalition soldiers called for air support after exchanging fire with Afghan troops near an Afghan army checkpoint in the Sayed Kheil area in what military officials said could be "a case of mistaken identity on both sides." ...

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10.22.08 Organic farming 'could feed Africa'

October 22 - Traditional practices increase yield by 128 per cent in east Africa, says UN. Organic farming offers Africa the best chance of breaking the cycle of poverty and malnutrition it has been locked in for decades, according to a major study from the United Nations to be presented today. New evidence suggests that organic practices — derided by some as a Western lifestyle fad — are delivering sharp increases in yields, improvements in the soil and a boost in the income of Africa's small farmers who remain among the poorest people on earth. The head of the UN's Environment Programme, Achim Steiner, said the report "indicates that the potential contribution of organic farming to feeding the world maybe far higher than many had supposed".

The "green revolution" in agriculture in the 1960s — when the production of food caught and surpassed the needs of the global population for the first time — largely bypassed Africa. Whereas each person today has 25 per cent more food on average than they did in 1960, in Africa they have 10 per cent less. A combination of increasing population, decreasing rainfall and soil fertility and a surge in food prices has left Africa uniquely vulnerable to famine. Climate change is expected to make a bad situation worse by increasing the frequency of droughts and floods.

...An analysis of 114 projects in 24 African countries found that yields had more than doubled where organic, or near-organic practices had been used. That increase in yield jumped to 128 per cent in east Africa...The study found that organic practices outperformed traditional methods and chemical-intensive conventional farming. It also found strong environmental benefits such as improved soil fertility, better retention of water and resistance to drought. And the research highlighted the role that learning organic practices could have in improving local education. Backers of GM foods insist that a technological fix is needed to feed the world. But this form of agriculture requires cash to buy the patented seeds and herbicides – both at record high prices currently – needed to grow GM crops. [Full story>>independent.co.uk]

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10.21.08 Sarkozy calls for halt to foreign ownership

October 21 - Nicolas Sarkozy risked blowing apart the European consensus over how to deal with the financial crisis by proposing today that each country launch sovereign wealth funds to take stakes in key industries to stop them [from] falling into foreign hands. The French President argued that falling share prices meant that big industries were in imminent danger of being taken over and called for the EU to follow the US Congress pledge to take $25 billion stakes in the country's three main car-making companies.

With France holding the rotating presidency of the EU, Mr. Sarkozy is in a strong position to push through his plans for sovereign wealth funds as world leaders prepare to re-write global financial rules at a series of Bretton Woods-style meetings starting next month. "Stock markets are at historic lows. I do not want European citizens to wake up a few months from now and discover that European companies belong to non-European capital which has bought at the lowest point of the stock exchange," Mr. Sarkozy told MEPs. [More>>timesonline.co.uk]

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10.21.08 Fed adds to its efforts to aid credit markets

October 21 - Adding to its efforts to unclog the credit markets, the Federal Reserve said on Tuesday that it would provide financing to shore up money market mutual funds, the consumer investment funds that have traditionally been considered as safe as bank accounts. Under the program, the Fed will help buy up to $600 billion in short-term debt, including certificates of deposit and commercial paper that expires in three months or less. This type of debt has historically been used by money-market funds seeking safe, conservative returns for their clients, but the recent turmoil has roiled the market and caused a prominent fund to fall below $1 a share, an extremely rare occurrence.

Since that fund "broke the buck," many money market funds have had trouble selling assets to meet redemption requests. The new program "should improve the liquidity position of money market investors, thus increasing their ability to meet any further redemption requests and their willingness to invest in money market instruments," the Fed said in the statement. "Improved money market conditions will enhance the ability of banks and other financial intermediaries to accommodate the credit needs of businesses and households." [More>>nytimes.com]

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10.21.08 The widlest ride

October 21 - Up, down. Way up, way down. Stock volatility has reached historic levels -- as one market expert said, "We have no idea where things are going." The market's wild hour-by-hour swings have come to exemplify the turbulence of the financial crisis, but they're still puzzling for many market professionals. The Dow Jones industrial average now routinely travels hundreds of points in a matter of hours, only to reverse direction in many cases. During a single day earlier this month, the Dow spanned 1,000 points for the first time in history. On another, a 400-point rally during the last hour of trading sent the Dow to a historic 936-point gain. During the final hour of trading yesterday, the Dow surged more than 100 points.

Financial analysts suggest that the sharp ups and downs reflect investors' uncertainty about how quickly the financial crisis can be resolved and whether a recession will seep from the banking sector to other parts of the economy. Precipitous gains and losses have also been triggered as stocks reach pre-set selling or buying levels, prompting automated trading and causing investor whiplash, analysts said. The largest swings have often occurred during the last hour of trading, prompting a closer look by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, a nongovernmental regulator of securities firms. The end of the trading day is when institutional investors, including hedge funds and mutual funds, rush to meet client demands to pull cash out of the market, analysts said.

The gyrations have turned even seasoned market professionals into skittish investors, waiting for a news tidbit that will turn the market's mood and start a stampede in either direction. "Psychology and emotion are a big part of what moves the market," said Andrew Brooks, head of stock trading at T. Rowe Price. "We are clearly in a highly emotional and schizophrenic point." [More>>washingtonpost.com]

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10.21.08 The ones to blame for the meltdown?

October 21 - Congress to Grill Credit Rating Executives Tomorrow. Next to face the bright lights of a Congressional hearing: the top dogs of the big three credit rating companies, whose firms reaped millions in profits while helping sell trillions in dubious mortgage-related investments which led to the world's current financial meltdown. The executives are likely to face questions about how their firms – including Standard & Poor's, Moody's Corporation and Fitch Ratings — pulled down record profits while assigning undeservedly high ratings to mortgage-backed securities which held questionable subprime loans. When mortgage-holders began defaulting at record rates, those investments' worth plummeted, sparking the global economic collapse.

One firm, Moody's, rang up profit margins three to four times those of Exxon Mobil Corp. while assuring investors that complex mortgage-backed investments were safer bets than they really were, according to Bloomberg News. A spokesman for the firm confirmed that Moody's CEO Raymond W. McDaniel was planning to appear at tomorrow's hearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, but declined to answer questions about the company's performance. [>abcnews.go.com]

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10.21.08 Further banks may fail, says IMF

October 21 - More European banks "may fail" as doubts persist about the viability of their business models, the International Monetary Fund has warned. Private funding is "virtually unavailable" and banks will have to rely on public intervention, asset sales and consolidation, it said. The six-monthly study also warns that eurozone economic growth will almost grind to a halt next year. Growth in the 15 euro countries will fall to just 0.2% in 2009, it forecast. [More>>bbc.co.uk]

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10.21.08 Most Asia markets rise on possible US economic aid

(AP) October 21 - Most Asian markets rose Tuesday, following Wall Street's gains after the chairman of the US central bank signaled support for more government aid to revive the country's slumping economy. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average rose 300.66 points, or 3.34 percent, to close at 9,306.25, marking the third consecutive day of gains. While shares in most other countries moved higher, several key stock measures sold off early gains to close in the red. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index lost 1.84 percent, Shanghai's benchmark fell 0.8 percent and South Korea's index shed about 1 percent.

As trading opened in Europe, benchmarks in Britain, Germany and France were higher. Market sentiment was helped by an overnight surge on Wall Street, where the Dow Jones industrial average rose 413.21, or 4.67 percent, to 9,265.43 as investors took heart from further slackening in bank-to-bank lending rates in light of government moves to boost liquidity. [More>>thejakartapost.com]

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10.21.08 Goods traded through Kashmir pass after 60 years

October 21 - Rumbling trucks of fruit, honey and maize today made history as Kashmiris traded goods rather than gunfire when a new business route opened between India and Pakistan. For the first time since partition, trucks crossed the Line of Control (LoC) that divides troubled Kashmir and marks the border between the two countries. Thirteen lorries bearing mainly apples set off from the Indian-administered part of Kashmir and 14 trucks also carrying fruit and other goods set off from the Pakistan-controlled Kashmir for India.

The distinction of being the first Pakistani driver went to Mazhar Hussain, who was carrying 1600kg of rice and spices destined for the Indian-administered town of Salamabad. As a police band strained the chords of the national anthem and schoolchildren sang patriotic songs, he could scarcely contain his emotion. "I'm very happy. I've never been to the other side. I had always dreamed of it," he said, setting off at noon. "We couldn't achieve anything through fighting, hopefully we can achieve peace through trade." [More>>independent.co.uk]

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10.21.08 Police: Blast in India's northeast kills 14

GAUHATTI, India, October 21 - A bomb exploded outside a police training center in northeast India on Tuesday, killing at least 14 people and wounding 20 more, police said. The bomb was apparently planted on a motorcycle and placed outside the center in the city of Imphal, said city police chief Radheshyam, who goes by just one name...Dozens of militant separatist groups are active in India's northeast, an isolated region wedged between Bangladesh, Bhutan, China and Myanmar with only a thin corridor connecting it to the rest of India. [Full story>>washingtonpost.com]

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10.21.08 Western diet causes heart attacks

WASHINGTON, October 21 - The typical Western diet, which includes red meat, fried foods, dairy products and salty snacks, is responsible for 30 per cent of the world's heart attacks, according to a study of dietary patterns in 52 countries. The study has been reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. Researchers identified three dietary patterns in the world: Oriental, which include higher intake of tofu, soy and other sauces; Prudent, which includes higher intake of fruits and vegetables; and Western, which includes higher intake of fried foods, salty snacks, eggs and meat.

The Prudent diet was associated with a lower heart attack risk than the Oriental, researchers said. "The objective of this study was to understand the modifiable risk factors of heart attacks at a global level," said Salim Yusuf, D.Phil., the study's senior author. Researchers analyzed the INTERHEART study, which documents the association of various risk factors and the risk of heart attack in about 16,000 participants in 52 countries. Here, they analyzed 5,761 heart attack cases and compared them to 10,646 people without known heart disease (controls). [More>>timesofindia.indiatimes.com]

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10.21.08 India set for moon mission

October 21 - India is set to send a mission to the moon in an Asian space race project that will boost its space programme into the same league as regional powerhouses Japan and China. The unmanned lunar orbiting spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 is scheduled to blast off aboard an Indian-built rocket at 6.20am (0050GMT) on Wednesday from Sriharikota on India's southeastern coast. For India, the $80m mission puts the country on the inside track of a fast-developing Asian space race. Kapil Sibal, India's science and technology minister said: "It is a proud moment for us."...The Chandrayaan-1 is being sent on a two-year orbital mission to provide a detailed map of the mineral, chemical and topographical characteristics of the moon's surface. [Full story>>aljazeera.net]

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10.21.08 Journalist jailed for Prophet Mohammad blasphemy

KABUL, October 221 - Afghanistan's appeal court sentenced an Afghan journalist to 20 years in jail, commuting an earlier death sentence, for distributing an Internet article that said the Prophet Mohammad had ignored the rights of women. Perwiz Kambakhsh, 23, a reporter with the Jahan-e Now daily, was sentenced to death in January by a court in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif.

The arrest and sentencing of Kambakhsh, also a university student, drew criticism from a number of Western nations, the Afghan media and rights groups. Kambakhsh downloaded an Iranian article from the Internet and distributed it to friends."The court has sentenced Perwiz Kambakhsh to 20 years jail for the crime he has committed. But this is not the final hearing, he has the right to appeal," judge Abdul Salaam Qazizada told the court. [>news.com.au; See more details, alarabiya.net, October 21, "Afgthan court spares 'anti-Islam' reporter."]

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10.21.08 Suspected Saudi militants indicted for terrorism

RIYADH,Saudi Arabia (AP) October 21 - Saudi authorities have indicted 991 suspected militants for participating in terrorist attacks carried out over the last five years, the interior minister said early Tuesday. The legal proceedings mark a significant step in the kingdom's fight against terror. Authorities have been reluctant to resort to trials for terrorism charges that could result in death sentences until they had shown the public that every effort had been made to give the men a chance to repent.

The militants, he said, have been responsible for over 30 attacks in the kingdom since May 2003, killing 164 people, including 74 security officials. They also have wounded 657 security officials and 439 civilians. Another 160 attacks were foiled...The government fears a public backlash against its crackdown if it takes overly harsh measures against the militants and wants to avoid accusations it is moving against them just to please the United States. There is a degree of public sympathy for Saudis who leave the country to perform jihad in occupied Muslim countries. [Full story>>khaleejtimes.com; See other details, alarabiya.net, October 21, "Saudi refers 991 terrorist suspects to court" and related stories:

xinhuanet.com, October 21, "China identifies alleged 'Eastern Turkistan' terrorists."

metimes.com, October 21, "Switzerland, a possible target of Islamist terrorism?"

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10.20.08 ING taps Dutch state for €10bn of capital

10.18.08 Suicide attack wounded 5 NATO soldiers in Afghanistan