In Monday's Americas papers

25 August 2008 12:00  [Source: ICIS news]

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Front Page

Biden camp pressed hard for a slot on the ticket
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama's selection of Sen. Joe Biden to be his running mate reached a pivotal point in a secret meeting on the night of Aug. 6. Sen. Biden was whisked into a Minneapolis hotel room through a back entrance before Sen. Obama left for his Hawaii vacation. They talked one-on-one for 90 minutes. "It was spirited and pragmatic," says one adviser who was briefed.

High costs dig into mine profits
Weaker commodity prices and higher costs are starting to take a toll on the global mining industry as the billions of dollars being spent on new projects could take years to recoup.

China's economic gains give way to hazy future
China has just hosted the most lavish Olympic Games ever by a developing nation, the capstone to an extraordinary run of achievements.

Money & Investing

Freddie, Fannie ills leave experts at loss
The US Treasury will likely be forced to inject funds into Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, some top economists think, but they're not sure whether it will be enough to bolster the sagging economy.

Euro-Zone factory orders fall
Euro-zone factory orders fell in June at the fastest rate since December 2001 as steep drops in demand for textiles and transportation equipment pushed the bloc closer to stagnation.

Home-price watchers hope drop slows
This week's housing-market data won't erase the souring situation surrounding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but there still might be a way to make lemonade.

THE NEW YORK TIMES

Front Page

In nuclear net’s undoing, a web of shadowy deals
A C.I.A. deal with a family of Swiss engineers helped end Libya’s bomb programme, reveal Iran’s atomic labours and undo Abdul Qadeer Khan’s nuclear black market, officials said.

Anxious party hopes to show strong Obama
Democrats gathering here for their nominating convention are significantly more nervous about Senator Barack Obama’s prospects this fall than they were a month ago, and are urging him to use the next four days to address weaknesses in his candidacy and lingering party divisions from the primary fight.

Business Day

Drilling boom revives hopes for natural gas
New technology is pushing down prices and reversing conventional wisdom that US fields were in decline.

On TV, timing is everything at the Olympics
Getting US stars like Michael Phelps to perform live in prime time was just one of the moves that set up the spectacular success NBC achieved in the Beijing Games.

WASHINGTON POST

Front Page

Party unity tops agenda for democrats
Sen. Barack Obama launched a four-day tour of battleground states Sunday to coincide with Monday's opening of the Democratic convention and its ambitious agenda of selling Obama to a national audience, presenting a forceful case against Republican rival John McCain and unifying a party still recovering from a bruising primary.

Experience is double-edged sword for the ticket
A week after a young state senator named Barack Obama stood in Chicago's Daley Plaza and denounced the move toward a "dumb war," Joseph R. Biden Jr. took to the well of the US. Senate to make a much more nuanced argument, both for a resolution that he knew could lead to the invasion of Iraq and for a diplomatic effort that he hoped would avert it.

Business

The man behind the man and his family
A personal chief of staff was once the province of a rarefied few with names such as Rockefeller and Kennedy, but with the increase in wealth over past decade, they have become essential to the newly rich.

Sharing broadcast spectrum white space
Shared Spectrum's technology, and that of other companies, finds unused spectrum over the airwaves in what the industry calls white spaces and assigns it to other purposes, such as Internet service.

GLOBE AND MAIL, Canada

Front Page

It's time for Obama to dig in and deliver
Thousands upon thousands of the Democratic faithful and media hangers-on have flooded into Denver, a city whose downtown is now defined by traffic barriers, helicopters hovering, army trucks rumbling and men - almost all men - in every kind of uniform whose sole function is to tell you: "You can't go there."

Extent of health crisis won't be known for weeks, minister says
The full extent of a nationwide health crisis linked to tainted deli meats will not be known for weeks, the federal health minister advised Sunday, as the number of confirmed cases and deaths continues to rise and Maple Leaf Foods, the company at the centre of the outbreak, extended its product recall.

Business

Central bank faulted for low pay, irrelevant studies
The Bank of Canada's economic research is seriously hampered by underpaid researchers who are stifled by micromanagement and a penchant for examining irrelevant issues, an external review says.

Maple Leaf recalls 220 products
The tainted deli-meat crisis at Maple Leaf Foods will cost the company at least $20-million, it said Sunday, 10 times more than originally expected as it pulls more than 220 products off shelves across the country.

BUENOS AIRES HERALD

Front Page

Aerolíneas ‘a done deal’
Pro-government Senator José Pampuro yesterday said he is certain “we are going to approve the renationalization of Aerolíneas Argentinas” and added that the liabilities of the airline, thought to amount to almost 900 million dollars, would “probably not be taken over by the State.” 

Buzzi not running
Farmers’ leader Eduardo Buzzi (photo) yesterday requested that the government meet farmers to resolve the agriculture sector’s issues and said that he was not going to run for legislator with former president Eduardo Duhalde. Buzzi also denied that the farm leaders were “the opposition,” dismissing statements by Agriculture Secretary Carlos Cheppi, who said that the members of the farm associations’ liaison committee were acting “as if they were the opposition instead of farmers’ representatives .

Olympics end  Argentines add a bronze
The Olympics came to a close with a dazzling show here yesterday. Hours earlier, the Argentine basketball team added a bronze medal to its cache in these games, defeating Lithuania.

By: Staff Reporter
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