Washington - The US Federal Reserve cut interest rates Wednesday by 0.5 percentage points to 1 per cent, the lowest level since June 2004, in an effort to keep the US economy out of a prolonged recession.
The US central bank acknowledged that economic activity had "slowed markedly" but made no mention of a recession that many economists expect is inevitable.
Munich - A Catholic archbishop in Germany published a book Wednesday attacking capitalistic excesses.
Not only is the book called Das Kapital, but the author's name is Marx.
Archbishop Reinhard Marx of Munich is not related to 19th-century communist founding father Karl Marx, but the most reverend clergyman's surname draws wonderment and wisecracks wherever he goes.
The archbishop is also the most outspoken of Germany's 27 diocesan leaders in his criticism of big business.
Sao Paulo - Unemployment in Brazil dropped to 14.1 per cent in September, its lowest level for that month since 1998, the trade- union research institute Dieese said Wednesday in Sao Paulo.
According to Dieese, unemployment in September in the six metropolitan regions that were studied - Sao Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre, Recife, Salvador de Bahia and Brasilia - fell by 0.4 percentage points in relation to August.
Jerusalem - Israeli Interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is due to meet US President George W Bush at the White House "soon," a statement issued by his office said.
Bush spoke with Olmert on the telephone Wednesday afternoon and invited the Israeli leader to Washington, the statement said.
Olmert resigned last month to fight corruption allegations, but has since continued to rule Israel at the head of a transitional government which will be in place until early elections are held on February 10.
With the financial crisis weighing on American household budgets and the US consumer appearing to be in a foul mood, the effects on investors and the economy are likely to be harsh. The Conference Board, a New York-based business research group, said Tuesday that its Consumer Confidence Index plummeted to 38 in October from an upwardly revised reading of 61.4 in September. This decline brings the index to its lowest level since its inception in 1967.
Washington - The US Federal Reserve cut interest rates Wednesday by 0.5 percentage points to 1 per cent, the lowest level since June 2004, in an effort to keep the US economy out of a prolonged recession.
Munich - A Catholic archbishop in Germany published a book Wednesday attacking capitalistic excesses.
Sao Paulo - Unemployment in Brazil dropped to 14.1 per cent in September, its lowest level for that month since 1998, the trade- union research institute Dieese said Wednesday in Sao Paulo.
Jerusalem - Israeli Interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is due to meet US President George W Bush at the White House "soon," a statement issued by his office said.
With the financial crisis weighing on American household budgets and the US consumer appearing to be in a foul mood, the effects on investors and the economy are likely to be harsh. The Conference Board, a New York-based business research group, said Tuesday that its Consumer Confidence Index plummeted to 38 in October from an upwardly revised reading of 61.4 in September. This decline brings the index to its lowest level since its inception in 1967.
