In Thursday's Americas papers

31 July 2008 12:00  [Source: ICIS news]

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Front Page

IMG scores a sports deal with China
IMG Worldwide, the sports-marketing powerhouse, has struck an exclusive 20-year deal with China's national TV broadcaster that gives the US company the right to develop and market new sports events in one of the world's fastest-growing markets for televised sports.

Broker goes missing as securities charges near
Federal prosecutors suspect that a Wall Street broker who is the target of a criminal investigation into sales of mortgage-related securities has left the US and could have fled to his native Bulgaria, according to people familiar with the case.

Democratic ally mobilises in housing crunch
The housing bill signed Wednesday by President George W Bush will provide a stream of billions of dollars for distressed homeowners and communities and the nonprofit groups that serve them.

Money & Investing

Pax funds strayed from its mission
Pax World Management, one of the best-known "socially responsible" investment firms, settled Securities and Exchange Commission charges that it violated its own rules against purchasing shares in companies involved in such businesses as defence, alcohol, tobacco and gambling.

Corporate veterans anchor activist-hedge-fund slates
Market dislocations have created opportunities for hedge funds looking to profit by influencing company management. Often, though, such activists are criticized for knowing little about how companies run.

NAB names new CEO amid mortgage-related losses
Less than a week after stunning the market with losses related to the faltering US home mortgage market, National Australia Bank said Thursday Cameron Clyne will succeed John Stewart as its chief executive early next year.

THE NEW YORK TIMES

Front Page

McCain tries to define Obama as out of touch
After spending much of the summer searching for an effective line of attack against Senator Barack Obama, Senator John McCain is beginning a newly aggressive campaign to define Mr Obama as arrogant, out of touch and unprepared for the presidency.

Olmert to quit after elections in September
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, embroiled in a high-profile corruption investigation, announced on Wednesday that he would resign after his party chose a new leader in September elections.

Business Day

A hidden toll on employment: cut to part time
The number of Americans who have seen their full-time jobs chopped to part time because of weak business has swelled to more than 3.7m - the largest figure since the government began tracking such data more than half a century ago.

Amgen told to reword drug label
The Food and Drug Administration has ordered Amgen to change the labels for its flagship anemia drugs in a way that could further restrict their use in treating patients with cancer.

WASHINGTON POST

Front Page

Gates sees terrorism remaining enemy No 1
Defence Secretary Robert M Gates says that even winning the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan will not end the "Long War" against violent extremism and that the fight against al-Qaeda and other terrorists should be the nation's top military priority over coming decades, according to a new National Defense Strategy he approved last month.

Bush orders revamping of intelligence gathering
President Bush ordered a major restructuring of the nation's intelligence-gathering community yesterday, approving new guidelines aimed at bolstering the authority of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) as the leader of the nation's 16 spy agencies.

Business

In Prince William, a spike in home sales
Home sales in Prince William County have surged in recent months, a dramatic turn that suggests prices have dropped low enough to lure buyers to the Washington area's most devastated housing market.

Potentially disruptive lender rule is delayed
The board that sets accounting rules for US corporations yesterday postponed by a year a plan that could require banks and other financial services companies to raise mountains of new capital to protect themselves against financial exposures not currently reflected on their balance sheets.

GLOBE AND MAIL, Canada

Front Page

Harper goads Dion to make good on threat to force election
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has again dared the Liberals to force a general election, using a highly partisan speech Wednesday night in the heartland of francophone Quebec to push for votes.

BC faces Olympian hurdle as rock slide cuts off vital corridor
It almost cost Vancouver the 2010 Olympic Games five years ago. Now, the narrow and precarious cliff-side Sea to Sky Highway is coming back to haunt the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee a year and a half before the big event.

Business

CRTC pushes for power to levy fines
In the aftermath of a botched 911 call involved in the death of a baby in Calgary, Canada's telecom regulator has acknowledged it is virtually powerless to deal with companies it believes are not following the rules--and will now push Ottawa for the power to fine them.

Tories looking for ways to cut gas price
The Conservative Party will look over the next two days for ways to bring down the price of gas even though there is no room for major tax cuts, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said.

BUENOS AIRES HERALD

Front Page

Trade talks go phht in Geneva
Marathon talks on a new wave of trade liberalization collapsed yesterday after nine days of intense but ultimately fruitless negotiations. The failure came after the US, China and India couldn’t compromise over measure to protect farmers in poor countries. 

SRA: We’re not going alone
Leaders of an epic farm rebellion over export duties yesterday warned that what they described as government efforts to drive a wedge among them are doomed to fail. 

Qaeda bomb maker meets his doom
An al-Qaeda chemical and biological weapons expert named Abu Khabab al-Masri - regarded as one of al-Qaeda’s top bomb makers - was killed in a suspected US missile strike, Pakistani intelligence officials said a day after the attack.

By: Staff Reporter
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