United States

• Thursday, December 25th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Wiesel foundation looses all assets to Madoff's Ponzi fraud

  

  The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity lost more than 15 million US dollars, nearly all of its assets, in the fraud scheme run by Wall Street financer Bernard Madoff, the fund said Wednesday in a short release.

• Tuesday, December 23rd 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Caterpillar slashing white-collar pay and planning job cuts

  Caterpillar Inc, the world's largest maker of heavy construction and mining equipment, said Monday it is cutting white-collar pay by up to 50% and offering buyouts to as many as 25.000 US employees as it looks to cut costs during what it characterized as “uncertain times.”

• Monday, December 22nd 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Leading global warming experts join Obama's cabinet

  

  US President-elect Barack Obama has nominated two leading global warming specialists for key science posts in his administration. Harvard physicist John Holdren will be Mr Obama's scientific adviser while marine biologist Jane Lubchenco will head the US oceanic research body.

• Saturday, December 20th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Big Three rescue loan brings relief but is no handout

  Citing imminent danger to the US economy, President Bush ordered Friday an emergency bailout of the US auto industry Friday, offering 17.4 billion USD in rescue loans and demanding tough concessions from the deeply troubled carmakers and their workers.

• Friday, December 19th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  U.S Defense Sec.Gates orders plan to close Guantanamo

  

  U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is has ordered his staff to prepare a plan for closing the Guantanamo Bay detention center, to be ready for possible implementation soon after President-elect Barack Obama takes office January 20.

• Thursday, December 18th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Hedge fund fraud king with house arrest and electronic tag

  

  Bernard Madoff, the hedge fund boss accused of a 50 billion US dollars fraud, has put up 10 million bail and in effect been placed under house arrest. Mr Madoff turned up at New York's federal court to sign some papers but did not answer reporters' questions.

• Thursday, December 18th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Obama names bio-fuels fervent advocate for Agriculture

  

  US President-elect Barack Obama has announced that Colorado Senator Ken Salazar will serve as Secretary of the Interior in his cabinet. He will be in charge of leasing federal land for energy exploration.

• Thursday, December 18th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Woman to the rescue of “failed” US financial watchdog

  

  Mary Schapiro has been named the next head of the US financial watchdog Securities and Exchange Commission. President-elect Barack Obama officially nominated her as the first permanent chairwoman of the regulator.

• Wednesday, December 17th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Obama named Time's 'Person of the Year' 2008”

  

  U.S. President-elect Barack Obama was named “Person of the Year” by Time magazine, which said he “suspended our politics, shattered decades of conventional wisdom and overcame centuries of the social pecking order.”

• Tuesday, December 16th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  With zero rate, further cuts not an option for the US Fed

  

  The US Federal Reserve has slashed its key interest rate from 1% to a range of between zero and 0.25% as it battles the country's recession. In its statement, the Federal Reserve warned that “the outlook for economic activity has weakened further”.