Washington  - US President George W Bush and Congress are nearing a deal to approve a 15-billion-dollar bail-out plan for the troubled automotive industry, the White House said Monday.

"Indications are that the legislation is moving more towards what the president could support," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said, adding "it's very likely" the two sides will arrive at a proposal by late Monday.

Washington  - US President George W Bush and Congress are nearing a deal to soon approve a 15-billion-dollar bailout plan for the troubled automotive industry, the White House said Monday.

"Indications are that the legislation is moving more towards what the president could support," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said, adding "it's very likely" the two sides will arrive at a proposal by the end of Monday.

London, Dec 8 : A survey has pointed out that global advertising spending will fall 0.2 per cent next year, which is worse than the performance in the 1990s recession.

The prediction being made by Zenith Optimedia, the industry forecaster, on December 8 at the annual UBS media conference in New York, came after cutting its previous forecast of 4 per cent growth.

“This is comparable with but slightly worse than the picture in 1991, when ad revenues rose slightly. It is worse than 2001, when that downturn was the bursting of the Internet ad bubble. Here the real economy is hurting,” Times Online quoted Jonathan Barnard, its head of publications, as saying.

Beijing  - Chinese leaders gathered in Beijing Monday to plan the country's economic policy for 2009, trying to find ways to offset the negative impact of the global financial crisis.

The three-day meeting is aimed at developing strategies to fight the economic slump affecting small and medium-sized companies and transform the structures of China's economic growth, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Sydney  - Millions of Australians were given cash from the government's piggy bank Monday and ordered to go on an anti-recession spending spree.

"Go out and spend the money," Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said as he waved goodbye to half the 21-billion-Australian-dollar (13-billion-US-dollar) budget surplus built up over the previous six years. "By spending their payments, families and pensioners will help create Australian jobs and strengthen the Australian economy."

Even 50,000 Australians living abroad will find that Canberra has deposited money in their bank accounts.

Hong Kong  - Rents for luxury homes are set to slump as jobs are cut in the face of the global economic downturn, a media report said Monday.

Property consultants expected rents for high-end homes, which were at record levels earlier this year, to drop by 15 per cent in the fourth quarter, with a further fall of 25 per cent anticipated next year, the South China Morning Post said.