Washington - Americans took advantage of foreclosures in August by signing more contracts to purchase previously owned homes, according to data released Wednesday by a real estate organization.

Pending home sales climbed by 7.4 per cent in August, but the National Association of Realtors cautioned that mortgages from the home sales must still be approved at a time when the financial crisis is making credit for loans difficult to secure.

Munich - As the bail-out of mortgage lender Hypo Real Estate (HRE) kicked into gear Wednesday, details emerged of its tussle with the German government.

Berlin was angry that HRE's complex corporate structure made it practically impossible for regulators to check up on HRE's true cash position during the crisis, officials said.

Meanwhile, a newspaper reported that HRE was preparing to sue German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck over remarks last week suggesting that HRE would be broken up.

Bratislava - The Slovak government Wednesday agreed to provide unlimited guarantees for bank deposits of individuals and small businesses, officials said.

The proposal, in line with such decision taken by Germany and Austria, requires parliamentary approval.

Slovakia currently protects 90 per cent of deposits up to 600,000 Slovak koruny (27,000 dollars).

Slovak banks contribute 0.2 per cent of new deposits to a compensation fund. The government so far does not propose to increase the payments, according to spokesman Branislav Ondrus.

Mexico City - Seven out of 10 Mexicans believe their country has already fallen victim to the global economic crisis, although Mexican authorities insist that the country is in a position to face the storm.

According to an opinion poll published in the daily El Universal on Wednesday, 91 per cent of Mexicans think the US crisis will impact their country, and 77 per cent believe that the crisis in Mexico itself has already started.

Of 500 people interviewed in the telephone survey, however, 51 per cent still claim that they do not personally feel the impact of the crisis.

Rome - Italian Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti indicated Wednesday that Italy could follow Britain's example in fashioning a financial crisis package.

A government statement said Tremonti "agrees with the measures announced this morning by the British government," a reference to London's rescue package for leading banks of 50 billion pounds (87 billion dollars).

Washington  - Sharp increases in food and fuel prices will send inflation soaring to 12 per cent this year in sub-Saharan Africa, the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday.