Washington - US stocks rallied for the first time in three days as the US House of Representatives began debate Friday on a new version of the finance rescue plan that the White House says is desperately needed.
Wachovia Corp rallied as much as 80 per cent after Wells Fargo & Co, the biggest West Coast bank, agreed to buy the lender for about 15.1 billion dollars.
The US jobless rate remained steady at a rate of 6.1 per cent in September, unchanged from the month before, but non-farm payrolls have shed another 159,000 jobs and employment continued to fall in construction, manufacturing and retail trade, the US Department of Labour said Friday.
Islamabad - At least three people were killed and half a dozen injured on Friday as a US drone attacked a house in Pakistan's tribal area along the Afghan border.
A security official said a pilotless US drone fired missiles at a house in Mohmmad Khel village in North Waziristan.
More casualties were feared as some people were believed to be buried under the rubble, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
However, a spokesman from the Pakistan Army denied the report saying the US planes only hit targets on Afghan side of the border.
The House of Representatives Friday began 90 minutes of debate on the new version of the finance rescue plan, but in a mood of resignation about the politically unpopular bail-out of Wall Street.
Representative Charles Rangel of New York began the speech-making, saying Congress was acting on the 700-billion-dollar rescue plan "with a political pistol at our heads."
Washington - Unemployment in the United States remained steady at a rate of 6.1 per cent in September, unchanged from the month before, with some 9.5 million people out of work, the US Labor Department reported Friday.
But the department noted that non-farm payrolls had shed 159,000 jobs, with employment continuing to fall in construction, manufacturing and retail trade.
In August, unemployment had risen by 0.4 percentage points.
New York - In a surprise development, Wells Fargo bank and the fourth-largest US bank Wachovia Corp. announced Friday that Wells Fargo had entered the bidding with an offer for a complete merger with Wachovia.
The announcement said Wells Fargo had presented Wachovia with a signed and board-approved offer to buy Wachovia as an intact company in a stock-for-stock merger which could be carried out without government help.
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Islamabad - At least three people were killed and half a dozen injured on Friday as a US drone attacked a house in Pakistan's tribal area along the Afghan border.
The House of Representatives Friday began 90 minutes of debate on the new version of the finance rescue plan, but in a mood of resignation about the politically unpopular bail-out of Wall Street.
Washington - Unemployment in the United States remained steady at a rate of 6.1 per cent in September, unchanged from the month before, with some 9.5 million people out of work, the US Labor Department reported Friday.
- In a surprise development, Wells Fargo bank and the fourth-largest US bank Wachovia Corp. announced Friday that Wells Fargo had entered the bidding with an offer for a complete merger with Wachovia.
