Washington - Wall Street indices continued their decline in midday trading Wednesday, adding to the gloomy mood on European markets as US investors reacted to depressed earnings reports.

Wall Street opened down 2.5 per cent and stocks slid in Asia, Europe's blue-chip Stoxx 50 index dropped 5 per cent to 2235 in late trading as concerns set in about the outlook for the global economy and profits.

Wachovia Corp, which is bein

Washington - Democratic White House hopeful Barack Obama Wednesday refuted attacks by Republican rival John McCain that he was advocating socialism by wanting to raise taxes on the wealthier, saying the McCain campaign was grasping at desperate straws.

Over the past week, McCain, 72, who is lagging behind Obama in the backstretch to the November 4 elections, has drawn enthusiastic "boos" from supporters whenever he mentions that Obama wants to "spread the wealth."

Washington - Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf said her country was on track to become a strong and democratic economy after more than a decade of civil war, and welcomed US help after a meeting with President George W Bush.

Bush, who travelled to Liberia earlier this year, said the African nation still needed help from both the US and other countries, as it rebuilds its institutions following the ouster of long-time leader Charles Taylor in 2003.

Rome - Al-Qaeda has become the world's "first terrorist nuclear power without demonstrating possession of a single nuclear weapon," according to US expert Brian Jenkins.

A senior advisor at the US think-tank, the Rand Corporation, Jenkins was commenting Wednesday on remarks made this week by US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) chief, Michael Hayden, that al-Qaeda is "the CIA's top nuclear concern."

"The CIA director based his assessment on intentions rather than capabilities," Jenkins, author of a new book Will Terrorists Go Nuclear?, said in an interview with Rome-based news agency Adnkronos International (AKI).