Bear Stearns sale loses $140bn
The troubled investment bank Bear Stearns was sold yesterday to rival institution JP Morgan for just $2 a share - a discount of 94 per cent on its value last week. The writedown, which saw Stearns
valued at $236m, means investors have lost almost $140bn on the capitalisation of the... [continued]
From Bear to worse: the outlook is gloomy 
Why gold bugs have got the jitters
Blair offered to meet IRA
Tony Blair offered to meet members of the IRA's general council during a crisis in the Northern Ireland peace talks, his former chief of staff Jonathan Powell has revealed in his book on the peace process. The offer came at the urging of former US president Bill Clinton shortly after... [continued]
Dalai Lama condemns China
The Dalai Lama has condemned Chinese 'cultural genocide' after troops in Tibet were reported to have killed up to 80 Tibetans during three days of unrest in the occupied territory. "Whether
intentionally or unintentionally, some kind of cultural genocide is taking place," the Buddhist spiritual leader said. Chinese authorities in... [continued]
Tibetans' Olympian struggle
Eyewitness: violence erupts in Tibet
French give Sarko thumbs down
French voters expressed their dissatisfaction with the government of Nicolas Sarkozy yesterday in a series of local elections, handing many cities over to the Socialist opposition. The UMP party of Sarkozy, who has been in power for less than a year, lost cities such as Toulouse and Strasbourg, but managed... [continued]
No Tory tax cuts for years
Tory tax plans appeared to be in crisis yesterday after the shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Philip Hammond, announced that there would be no scope for tax cuts until the second term of a putative Conservative government. The remarks, which could mean no major cuts for at least seven... [continued]
Democrats fear further in-fighting
Senior Democrats are worried that the increasingly acrimonious fight for the party's nomination between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama is damaging the chances of either candidate against the
Republicans. With John McCain already confirmed as their candidate, the GOP is being able to unite around their man and focus their... [continued]
US Election 2008 latest
Four die in NYC crane crash
Four people died in New York over the weekend after a 19-storey crane crashed into an apartment block in midtown Manhattan. The crane, which was attached to a half-built 44-storey block, broke away from its moorings on Saturday afternoon and fell onto a townhouse, crushing it and the bar underneath.... [continued]
Bear Stearns: markets tumble
Share prices across the world fell sharply on opening this morning as the money markets digested the news of the weekend takeover of Bear Stearns bank. The FTSE 100 dropped more than 100 points
within minutes of opening, while earlier the Tokyo Nikkei 225 ended the day down by 454... [continued]
From Bear to worse: the outlook is gloomy
HSBC chief warns of Asian turmoil
The chief of the HSBC bank has warned that the continuing US slump will also affect Asia, the largest theatre of operations for his bank. Sandy Flockhart told the Times that Asian economies, despite
being 'decoupled' from America through local economic differences such as personal debt levels and property price... [continued]
From Bear to worse: the outlook is gloomy
