Washington - With a financial system on the verge of meltdown and an economy facing a prolonged recession, the final weeks of the US election campaign have mostly focused on something much narrower: taxes. 

Some of it is attributable to the sheer complexity of the financial turmoil that has ballooned out of control since September. Mortgage-backed securities, short-selling and mark-to-market accounting don't make for snappy soundbites in a 24-hour news cycle. 

"Part of the reason why taxes matter is that people identify with them," said Roberton Williams, a research associate with the Tax Policy Centre, a non-partisan think-tank. "I mean, what's a credit default swap?" 

Washington - The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday approved a new programme to provide emergency loans to countries facing serious cash shortages in the wake of an ongoing financial crisis.

Countries with a "track record" of solid economic policies can now apply for three-month loans without the usual conditions attached, IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said.

Washington - NASA scientists said Wednesday that a flyby of Mercury earlier this month has sent images showing 30 per cent of the planet never seen before.

"The region of Mercury's surface that we viewed at close range for the first time this month is bigger than the land area of South America," scientist Sean Solomon said. "When combined with data from our first flyby and from Mariner 10, our latest coverage means that we have now seen about 95 per cent of the planet."

Washington - The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday approved a new programme to provide emergency loans to countries facing serious cash shortages in the wake of an ongoing financial crisis.

Countries with a "track record" of solid economic policies can now apply for three-month loans without the usual conditions attached, IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said. Typical IMF loans come with certain policy expectations.

Montreal - A Canadian software developer was found guilty of terrorism charges Wednesday in a foiled trans-Atlantic plot to bomb nightclubs, railway stations and subways in Britain.

Momin Khawaja, a former contract employee of Canada's Foreign Affairs Department, was found guilty of several counts under the Anti-Terrorism Act in the first major test of the controversial legislation rushed into law after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.