In Tuesday's Americas papers

29 July 2008 11:58  [Source: ICIS news]

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Front Page

Chairman Tchuruk, CEO Russo to step down from Alcatel-Lucent
Alcatel-Lucent Tuesday said the architects of its merger, chief executive Patricia Russo and chairman Serge Tchuruk, will step down after the company reported its sixth consecutive quarterly net loss.

Perle linked to Kurdish oil plan
Influential former Pentagon official Richard Perle has been exploring going into the oil business in Iraq and Kazakhstan, according to people with knowledge of the matter and documents outlining possible deals.

Merrill aims to raise billions more
Merrill Lynch agreed to sell more than $30bn in toxic mortgage-related assets at a steep loss, hoping to purge its balance sheet of problems that continue to plague the giant brokerage firm.

Business

Pricey crude can be trouble for big oil
Big Oil's relationship with high crude prices is more complicated than one might think.

UK weighs tax cuts to aid finance firms
The UK Treasury is considering lifting some taxes on investment funds as it looks to shore up the country's attractiveness to the asset-management industry.

Banks' woes made worse by big bets on banks
It isn't just souring loans that are giving banks fits. A number of small lenders also gambled too heavily on bank stocks.

THE NEW YORK TIMES

Front Page

Report faults aides in hiring at Justice dept
Senior aides to former Attorney General Alberto R Gonzales broke Civil Service laws by using politics to guide their hiring decisions, picking less-qualified applicants for important nonpolitical positions, slowing the hiring process at critical times and damaging the department’s credibility, an internal report concluded on Monday.

Lawyers in rural Japan: low supply, iffy demand
There was no inherent reason that this northern Japanese town, population 19,743, had never had a lawyer until now.

Business

A call for a warning system on artificial joints
Dr Lawrence Dorr, a nationally known orthopedic surgeon in Los Angeles, realised last year that something was very wrong with some of his patients.

Write-down is planned at Merrill
Only 10 days after stunning Wall Street with a huge quarterly loss, Merrill Lynch unexpectedly disclosed another multibillion-dollar write-down on Monday and sought to bolster its finances once again by selling new stock to the public and to an investment company controlled by Singapore.

THE WASHINGTON POST

Front Page

Lawmakers agree to ban toxins in children's items
Congressional negotiators agreed yesterday to a ban on a family of toxins found in children's products, handing a major victory to parents and health experts who have been clamoring for the government to remove harmful chemicals from toys.

Record $482bn '09 deficit forecast
The federal budget deficit will grow to a record $482bn in the fiscal year that begins in October, the White House said yesterday, driven by war costs, tax rebates, and a slowing economy that will leave the next president little room to fulfill costly campaign promises.

Business

Treasury, banks promote 'covered bonds'
The nation's top financial regulators and four of its largest banks announced plans yesterday to expand a method for financing mortgages, called "covered bonds," in an effort to reinvigorate the frozen housing market.

Air travel failings exposed again by weekend storms
The line of thunderstorms stretching from Albany to Washington over the weekend showed once again how broken the nation's air system is, according to travellers and activists.

GLOBE AND MAIL, Canada

Front Page

Oil boom batters Alberta graduation rate
Alberta's hot economy is putting money into people's pockets. But it's also pulling the kids out of school, leaving Alberta with the lowest high-school graduation rate of any province, according to a Statistics Canada report released yesterday.

Missionaries given hero's welcome
The victims of armed intruders in Kenya, missionaries Eloise and John Bergen arrived home in Canada Monday night as heroes.

Business

XM Canada set to go it alone, CEO says
XM Canada may refuse a merger with Sirius Canada and go it alone in the satellite radio business if negotiations with its rival don't go well in the wake of industry consolidation in the United States.

Alcatel-Lucent CEO and chairman to step down
Telecoms gear maker Alcatel-Lucent on Tuesday ditched its chairman and chief executive as it tries to galvanise a still-fragile merger following a series of profit warnings and falling market share.

BUENOS AIRES HERALD

Front Page

Veep seeking to see boss
Horacio “Pechi” Quiroga, a prominent K-Radical and under-secretary for institutional relations at the foreign ministry, yesterday confirmed that vice-president Julio Cobos would this week seek a meeting with President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner at which the future of the Concertation, the alliance between the (Kirchnerite) Victory Front and the K-Radicals, would be discussed.

No putsch underway against Brown
Senior UK government ministers said yesterday there were no plots afoot to oust Gordon Brown as prime minister, with one of his potential successors saying he was not interested in taking over the job.

Lousteau keeps the faith but criticises government

Former economy minister Martín Lousteau spoke to the press about his brief period in office for the first time yesterday and while maintaining his continued faith in President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, made some criticisms of the national government and called for the removal of domestic commerce secretary Guillermo Moreno.

By: Staff Reporter
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