Washington - Art has not escaped the downward pressure of the economy, as Christie's failed to get even half of the minimum prices expected for a raft of late 19th and 20th Century artworks.
The New York auction house brought in only 47 million dollars instead of the 104 million dollars projected as the minimum values in its auction late Wednesday night.
Nearly 30 per cent of the work for sale found no buyer, including works by Manet, Cezanne, Rothko and de Kooning.
Washington - The International Monetary Fund's executive board on Thursday approved emergency loans for Ukraine and Hungary, both of which have found themselves in severe financial jeopardy in amid a global credit crisis.
Manila - The Asian Development Bank said Friday that it approved a 1-million-dollar technical assistance grant to help boost the Philippine government's efforts to attain food security amid sharp surges in global food prices.
Washington - Chief executives of the ailing "Big Three" US automakers - General Motors, Ford and Chrysler - met Thursday with two top Congressional leaders to discuss a further bail-out package and the future of the loss-making industry.
Hong Kong - India and Indonesia have Asia's highest levels of consumer confidence in the face of the global economic slump, according to a survey published Friday.
