In Monday's Americas papers

04 August 2008 12:06  [Source: ICIS news]

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Front Page

Companies tap pension plans to fund executive benefits
At a time when scores of companies are freezing pensions for their workers, some are quietly converting their pension plans into resources to finance their executives' retirement benefits and pay.

FBI used DNA to link anthrax to suspect
Deadly spores discovered on an office bookcase at an Army research laboratory have emerged as critical evidence that tied one of the lab's scientists, Bruce Ivins, to the 2001 anthrax attacks.

Grenade attack kills 16 officers in China's restive border region
Attackers drove a dump truck into a squad of policemen and then threw hand grenades in a raid that killed 16 border-patrol police and injured 16 others in a predominantly Muslim part of northwest China Monday, just days ahead of the start of the Beijing Olympics, state media reported.

Money & Investing

Pearls in the consumer-stock rubble
Investors trying to position their portfolios for an eventual rebound in the stock market face a difficult task: The stocks that usually lead a recovery - financials and companies that make or sell goods and services directly to consumers - are the ones with the riskiest outlook.

Unintended consequences
Plenty of hedge funds are convinced that the Securities and Exchange Commission is out to get them by limiting short-selling, or bets that stocks will fall in value.

Florida Bank is closed and others in region are at risk
Federal and state regulators closed First Priority Bank of Bradenton, the eighth US bank to fail this year. The Federal Deposit Insurance said First Priority's insured accounts would be acquired by SunTrust Banks through a purchase and assumption agreement.

THE NEW YORK TIMES

Front Page

Ragtag Taliban show tenacity in Afghanistan
Six years after being driven from power, the Taliban are demonstrating a resilience and a ferocity that are raising alarm here, in Washington and in other NATO capitals, and engendering a fresh round of soul-searching over how a relatively ragtag insurgency has managed to keep the world’s most powerful armies at bay.

Solzhenitsyn, literary giant who defied Soviets, dies at 89
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, whose stubborn, lonely and combative literary struggles gained the force of prophecy as he revealed the heavy afflictions of Soviet Communism in some of the most powerful works of the 20th century, died late on Sunday at the age of 89 in Moscow.

Business Day

Housing lenders fear bigger wave of loan defaults
The first wave of Americans to default on their home mortgages appears to be cresting, but a second, far larger one is quickly building. Homeowners with good credit are falling behind on their payments in growing numbers, even as the problems with mortgages made to people with weak, or subprime, credit are showing their first, tentative signs of leveling off after two years of spiraling defaults.

Media outlets are seeking a campaign bounce of their own
This year’s presidential campaign has drawn more voter interest than any other race in generations. For mainstream news media, however, capitalizing on that interest has been hit or miss, though not for lack of trying.

WASHINGTON POST

Front Page

Obama leads, pessimism reigns among key group
Democratic Senator Barack Obama holds a 2 to 1 edge over Republican Senator John McCain among the nation's low-wage workers, but many are unconvinced that either presidential candidate would be better than the other at fixing the ailing economy or improving the health-care system, according to a new national poll.

Reliably GOP state is up for grabs
This year's Fredericksburg Fair had the usual attractions: Hercula the Giant Horse and Black Jack the Giant Steer, the carnival rides and the four-wheeler races. But added to the mix was something Virginians had not seen for decades - the earnest campaigning of a competitive presidential race.

Business

Beauty and the biz
At Bluemercury's luxurious beauty boutiques, founder and chief executive Marla Malcolm Beck regularly dispenses tips on choosing the right sunscreen and the perfect summer bronzer. But the most valuable advice that she has ever received is a much less glamorous five-letter acronym: DROOM. Or, don't run out of money.

Prescription data used to assess consumers
Health and life insurance companies have access to a powerful new tool for evaluating whether to cover individual consumers: a health "credit report" drawn from databases containing prescription drug records on more than 200 million Americans.

GLOBE AND MAIL, Canada

Front Page

16 Chinese police officers killed
With the Olympics just four days away, China has been hit with a violent attack that killed 16 police officers in its troubled Muslim region of Xinjiang, one of the bloodiest assaults on Chinese authorities in many years.

Ties with China stronger, Emerson says
Foreign Affairs Minister David Emerson says Canada's strained relationship with China is improving, a signal the Harper government is making efforts to change its policy toward the country.

Business

Skilled hand to take reins at the Bay
The new US owner of Hudson's Bay is set to announce Wednesday that Bonnie Brooks, a Canadian with prominent international retail experience, will be the next chief executive of its flagship Bay division as the company moves quickly to build a star leadership team and breathe new life into the tired merchant.

Exxon key to Alaska pipeline
TransCanada has won support from Alaska to build a $26bn natural gas pipeline, but ground won't be broken until Exxon Mobil signs on, says TransCanada chief executive officer Hal Kvisle.

BUENOS AIRES HERALD

Front Page

Time to ‘de-dramatise’ Cobos’ vote
President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner yesterday held the first presidential press conference of the Kirchner era, making a strong defence of her administration and assuring there will be no more changes in her Cabinet, after the resignation of one of her strongest allies, Alberto Fernandez. 

Official opening without government officials
Luciano Miguens, the head of the SRA rural society, used yesterday’s official nauguration of the 122nd farm fair to lambast the government’s agricultural policy in the aftermath of the four-month conflict that pitted farmers against the administration of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, who ordered an official no-show at yesterday’s ceremony. 

South Ossetia evacuates children to Russia
Georgia’s breakaway region of South Ossetia said yesterday it was evacuating children to Russia and accused Georgia of targeting civilians after six people died and 13 were wounded overnight in a shootout with Georgian forces. 

By: Staff Reporter
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