In Thursday's Americas papers

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

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Front page

Biden stresses humble roots; Clinton declares Obama 'ready'
Obama formally won the Democratic nomination, making him the first African-American presidential nominee, as Biden, his running mate, emphasised his working-class roots and foreign policy experience in a bid to draw supporters.

CIA curtails contract with US security firm in Iraq
MVM Inc, one of the biggest security contractors used by US intelligence agencies, has lost the bulk of a Central Intelligence Agency contract in Iraq after failing to provide enough armed guards, according to company emails and contractors familiar with the decision.

Fannie names new officers in shake-up
Fannie Mae shook up its senior management in a move it said was designed to drive the mortgage company's efforts to conserve capital and contain a surge in costs stemming from defaults by homeowners.

Money & Investing

Worker confidence sinks to '01 level
American workers' confidence in the job market is as low as it was during the 2001 recession, according to a new survey.

Durable goods orders climb
Demand for expensive goods rose 1.3% in July, an unexpected gain, thanks to a dollar-fuelled export boom that analysts warn may soon fade as overseas growth slows. A barometer of business-equipment spending climbed by 2.6%.

German data suggest peak for eurozone's inflation
Slowing German inflation this month suggested eurozone inflation likely peaked in July amid falling oil prices, but European Central Bank officials tried to damp market expectations of interest rate cuts by warning inflation is likely to remain well above the bank's comfort level for the foreseeable future.

THE NEW YORK TIMES

Front page

Obama wins nomination; Biden and Bill Clinton rally party
Barack Hussein Obama, a freshman senator who defeated the first family of Democratic Party politics with a call for a fundamentally new course in politics, was nominated by his party on Wednesday to be the 44th president of the United States.

Biden opens new phase with attack on McCain
Senator Joseph R Biden Jr of Delaware accepted the Democratic vice-presidential nomination on Wednesday night with an ode to his middle-class upbringing and a blistering attack on Senator John McCain.

Business Day

US to ease pressure tactic over legal help for employees
The Justice Department will roll back a set of rules that penalised companies if they insisted on paying employees’ legal fees or protecting their confidential communications with corporate lawyers.

Industry rethinks moneymaking software practice
Before they ship PCs to retailers like Best Buy, computer makers get paid hundreds of millions of dollars to load them up with lots of free software. For $30, Best Buy will get rid of it for you.

WASHINGTON POST

Front page

Democrats nominate Obama
Sen Barack Obama of Illinois completed an improbable and historic journey here on Wednesday when he was nominated by acclamation as the Democratic candidate for president, becoming the first African American to lead a major political party into a general-election campaign.

Clinton, thinking about tomorrow
At first, it seemed, it might be all about Bill Clinton and yesteryears. The former president strode onto the stage Wednesday night to his old campaign theme song, "Don't Stop (Thinking About Tomorrow)," and bathed in the glow of a standing ovation that went on so long and loud that he had to finally confess, "I love this."

Business

Fannie Mae shuffles its top leaders
Mortgage giant Fannie Mae shakes up its senior management, announcing the departure of its chief financial officer and two other top executives amid continuing troubles and mounting losses.

A wake-up call on home equity loans
An increase in consumer complaints over the cancellation or reduction of home equity lines of credit has prompted one federal banking regulator to remind financial institutions about the laws governing this type of loan.

GLOBE AND MAIL, Canada

Front page

It's official: dems choose Obama
Former president Bill Clinton, admitting "my candidate didn't win", gave his wholehearted backing to Barack Obama on Wednesday night in a powerful endorsement delivered to the Democrat National Convention.

Contamination's cause may never be found, CEO says
The cause of the deadly listeria contamination at a Toronto meat plant may never be fully pinned down, the head of the food company said on Wednesday as he faced questions about how much of the bacteria was detected at the facility before the outbreak.

Business

Alpha turns up pricing heat on TSX
Alpha Trading Systems plans to undercut the Toronto Stock Exchange's share-trading fees by as much as 55% when the new bank-backed stock market opens for business in a month, putting pressure on the incumbent bourse to slash prices to avoid an exodus of customers.

Maple Leaf plant closed for now
Maple Leaf Foods shuttered its Toronto factory indefinitely on Wednesday as investigators search for the cause of a deadly listeria outbreak that has killed six people.

BUENOS AIRES HERALD

Front page

CFK, Shannon review the region
President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner yesterday met the United States Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs Thomas Shannon after the Council of the Americas was held to discuss economic development and commercial bonds among the continent’s countries.   

Obama nominated by acclamation
To shouts of “yes we can”, Democrats nominated Barack Obama yesterday as their presidential candidate in a historic first for a black, sending him into battle against Republican John McCain.   

US, Russian ships dock at opposing Georgia ports
A US military ship docked at a southern Georgian port yesterday, and Russia sent a missile cruiser and two other ships to another port in a show of force amid an escalating standoff with the West, a day after Moscow recognised two Georgian rebel regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states.

ICIS Copyright © Reed Business Information 2009

Author: Staff Reporter
+44 20 8652 3214

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