US President George W Bush and Federal Reserve head Ben Bernanke have each unveiled plans to ease economic problems caused by the housing slump. President Bush announced a package of measures to help homeowners struggling to pay their mortgages amid the current sub-prime loan crisis. for more click here
US President George W Bush is expected to set out plans to help millions of homeowners with sub-prime mortgages avoid defaulting. Sub-prime mortgages are higher risk loans offered to people with poor credit ratings or on low incomes. for more click here
The US subprime mortgage collapse has already claimed plenty of scalps in America, with scores of mortgage lenders shedding thousands of jobs as the industry implodes.And now the redundancies are starting to hit the City too - and while the numbers are few, the profile is much higher.
This week Royal Bank of Scotland shed a quarter of the more than 20 staff on its collateralised debt obligations (CDO) team. Deutsche Bank has shut down part of its credit trading department, losing up to seven staff in the process.But probably the most high profile exit has been from Barclays. And that‘s not the only trouble the bank‘s been having recently…
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As British forces withdraw from Basra, many of the challenges facing Iraq’s southern region and the exiting troops mirror those that frustrated Britain when it controlled the nation as a colonial holding following World War I. Some historians speculate that Iraq’s sectarian issues may have even been created during British colonial rule. As Britain ends its second Iraq endeavor, observers wonder if history has once again repeated itself. for more click here
On Aug. 27, 2005, as a powerful hurricane named Katrina surged through the Gulf of Mexico and took aim at New Orleans, most Americans still had confidence in their government’s ability to respond to crises and natural disasters with efficiency and speed. for more click here
I thought it would be useful to organise an informal discussion to bring those organisations supporting the Leith Museum Campaign up-to-date with progress to date, and possible next steps. I’m meeting with the Director of the National Museum of Scotland at the end of August and I’ve therefore arranged a meeting for Monday 3rd September, at 7.30pm in South Leith Parish Church Halls (not in the Church itself), 6 Henderson Street (courtesy of Ian Gilmour!)
This is planned as a meeting for supporting organisations. I will be suggesting we organise a public meeting later in September to keep informed the 3000+ people who’ve now signed the petition.
Many thanks, Mark Lazarowicz MP
SCOTLAND’S out-of-hours health service is facing a staff crisis, as hundreds of GPs abandon evening and weekend working, a report has warned.
Audit Scotland, the public-spending watchdog, said the service was at “significant risk” of being unsustainable, particularly in rural areas, and advised health boards to come up with new ways to ensure the service could be maintained. for more click here
The death penalty system in California is so backed up that the state would have to execute five prisoners a month for the next 10 years just to clear the prisoners already on death row. for more click here
Human rights group the World Organization for Human Rights USA has filed a lawsuit in the US against Yahoo for allegedly playing a part in the conviction and imprisonment of Chinese ‘cyber-dissidents’. for more click here
One of Australian hedge fund Basis Capital’s investment vehicles, Basis Yield Alpha Fund (Master), has been placed into liquidation and a liquidator has moved to freeze its assets in the United States and Britain.
The directors of the master fund applied to the Cayman Court to appoint a provisional liquidator, Grant Thornton, with three joint liquidators appointed in the Cayman Islands, Britain and Australia. for more click here