http://www.citytools.net Your news, your way. Stories on CityTools where either written by members or are existing stories shared by members. In the case of shared stories, all rights reside with the original creator. en 2008-10-07T21:23:38 2008-10-07T21:23:38 httpd:/www.citytools.net/essentials/rss_docs.html http://www.citytools.net/images/rss_logo.jpg http://www.citytools.net 182 35 citytools image http://www.citytools.net/showstory/1EEE2F0E-947E-11DD-8240-F3337A10A9B7/ The Federal Reserve said today it is establishing a special fund to lend money directly to businesses so they have adequate cash to operate, a major move by the central bank to ensure that &quot;main street&quot; companies are not crippled by the financial crisis gripping Wall Street and other money centers around the world. Under the new program the Fed will buy up commercial paper, the short term debt that large companies around the country use to fund their day-to-day operations. That puts the Fed in the unprecedented position of, in effect, funding individual ...<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/07/AR2008100700851.html"> (more) </a><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/07/AR2008100700851.html">[original story]</a> http://www.citytools.net/showstory/A3B13D88-948F-11DD-B7D8-C7443B6935D1/ The International Monetary Fund today added its weight to the growing calls for a comprehensive and coordinated international response to the global financial crisis, which it says has become disorderly and more damaging than it previously thought. In its latest twice-yearly Global Financial Stability Review, the Washington-based institution dramatically raised its estimate of losses to the US banking system to around $1.4 trillion (£800bn), 45% up from the $945bn it estimated in April and reaffirmed just two months ago. It also estimated that the major global banks need to raise some $675bn in new capital in the next few years. <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/oct/07/imf.creditcrunch">[original story]</a> http://www.citytools.net/showstory/EBDC1916-948F-11DD-B7D8-C7443B6935D1/ Britain must abandon using almost all fossil fuels to produce power in 20 years&#39; time, the government&#39;s climate change watchdog will warn today. The independent Climate Change Committee will publish its advice to the government that the UK should set a 2050 target of cutting all greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% - including the emissions from aviation and transport, which were previously excluded. Because it is unlikely that emissions from aviation and shipping will be cut so dramatically, other sectors, particularly power generation, would have to reduce emissions by much more, with big increases in energy efficiency, wind and tide power, and probably new nuclear generators, Lord Turner of Ecchinswell, the committee chairman, told the Guardian. <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/oct/07/carbon.emissions.targets">[original story]</a> http://www.citytools.net/showstory/0AFD3FEA-948C-11DD-8240-F3337A10A9B7/ (Palin&#39;s terrorist accusation)... is an incendiary charge to make seven years after real terrorists killed thousands of Americans, one that risks encouraging extremists to consider Obama fair game—and his assassination as a victory in the war on terror.<a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2008-10-07/has-sarah-palin-put-a-target-on-obama/">[original story]</a> http://www.citytools.net/showstory/9550811C-948B-11DD-B7D8-C7443B6935D1/ In an open letter to John McCain, an Iraq vet questions the Senator’s military record—and says he failed the country on torture.<a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2008-10-07/why-my-former-hero-shouldnrsquot-be-president/">[original story]</a> http://www.citytools.net/showstory/20148E96-947E-11DD-8240-F3337A10A9B7/ BERLIN (AP) -- State-owned savings banks in Germany are reporting a flood of new deposits as people look for security amid the global economic crisis....<a href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/G/GERMANY_MELTDOWN_SAVINGS_BANKS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT">[original story]</a> http://www.citytools.net/showstory/B2C55BE0-9432-11DD-8240-F3337A10A9B7/ After steep price increases that sparked concerns about inflation earlier this year, many prices have fallen lately. Oil and other commodity prices are down sharply since midsummer. Housing prices have continued their long slide. Meanwhile, consumer spending has slowed and the economy is shedding jobs at an increasing rate. Credit markets are frozen. The confluence of trends has some economists worried that the country could be headed for a debilitating cycle of deflation: a period in which weak consumer demand, falling prices and tight credit ignite a downward spiral ...<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/06/AR2008100602961.html"> (more) </a><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/06/AR2008100602961.html">[original story]</a> http://www.citytools.net/showstory/96D68D9C-9486-11DD-8240-F3337A10A9B7/ A Kenyan airport official says the American author of a book attacking Barack Obama is being deported.<a href="http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/nationworld/world/~3/413823343/la-fg-kenyaobama8-2008oct08,0,2960832.story">[original story]</a> http://www.citytools.net/showstory/B12A5EB6-9432-11DD-8240-F3337A10A9B7/ Up to now, it&#39;s been a financial crisis. This is a meltdown -- an uncontrolled and largely uncontrollable financial chain reaction that threatens serious harm to the broader economy. The immediate problem is that the institutions that have most of the world&#39;s free cash -- banks, money-market funds, hedge funds, pension funds and major corporations -- are hoarding it and won&#39;t do the normal thing of lending to one another. One reason is that many have taken on too much debt, lost too much money and are under pressure to use any spare cash to pay down debt ...<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/06/AR2008100603184.html"> (more) </a><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/06/AR2008100603184.html">[original story]</a> http://www.citytools.net/showstory/C04BEB08-9432-11DD-8240-F3337A10A9B7/ Britain is already in a recession, which is worsening and requires urgent action, a survey of business leaders warns.<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/2/hi/business/7656090.stm">[original story]</a> http://www.citytools.net/showstory/22C71398-947E-11DD-8240-F3337A10A9B7/ ONE FIFTH AVENUE By Candace Bushnell Voice. 433 pp. $25.95 Rather than structuring her tale around a group of girlfriends as she did in her previous print-to-screen successes, &quot;Sex and the City&quot; and &quot;Lipstick Jungle,&quot; chick-lit matriarch Candace Bushnell focuses in her new novel on a Manhattan landmark: a fabulous, towering, art deco co-op (real) and the intertwining stories of its posh residents (fictional). They range in age from a 13-year-old computer whiz to an 82-year-old gossip columnist. Don&#39;t be fooled by the age spread, though. At its ...<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/06/AR2008100602943.html"> (more) </a><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/06/AR2008100602943.html">[original story]</a> http://www.citytools.net/showstory/85941AFE-9486-11DD-8240-F3337A10A9B7/ PARIS, Oct. 7 -- European finance ministers on Tuesday more than doubled the guarantee on bank deposits to 50,000 Euros ($68,000) to help restore confidence in the continent&#39;s shaken banking system, even as ripples from the ongoing crisis claimed another casualty in Iceland and pummeled banking stocks in London. Meeting in Luxembourg amid calls for a more coordinated response to the crisis, the ministers failed to come to terms on any broader proposals beyond raising the deposit guarantee from the current 20,000 Euros ($27,000). The ministers, representing the 15 ...<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/07/AR2008100700935.html"> (more) </a><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/07/AR2008100700935.html">[original story]</a> http://www.citytools.net/showstory/880CFA08-9486-11DD-8240-F3337A10A9B7/ U.S. stocks rebounded slightly at the opening bell today as the Federal Reserve took a bold new step to stabilize the market. The Dow Jones industrial average gained .5 percent, or 53 points this morning. The technology-heavy Nasdaq and the Standard &amp; Poor&#39;s 500-stock index were flat after nearly 30 minutes of trading. The bounce came as the Federal Reserve announced a new program to buy up commercial paper, the short-term debt that large companies use to fund their day-to-day operations. This means the Fed, in effect, will fund individual companies by buying ...<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/07/AR2008100700934.html"> (more) </a><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/07/AR2008100700934.html">[original story]</a> http://www.citytools.net/showstory/C60546FC-9432-11DD-8240-F3337A10A9B7/ Reuters - Taiwan legislators wearing surgical masks and displaying banners with skull and crossbones took over parliament&#39;s floor on Tuesday after the country&#39;s security chief accused China of starting the global SARS epidemic six years ago as part of a biological warfare campaign.<a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/oddlyenough/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081007/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_taiwan_china_sars">[original story]</a> http://www.citytools.net/showstory/BD185700-9432-11DD-8240-F3337A10A9B7/ The economy and Obama&#39;s spending power force the Republican to concentrate on a few must-win states With just four weeks until the election, John McCain is facing an increasingly steep path to the presidency, as the economic crisis and Barack Obama&#39;s financial edge tilt the political landscape to the Democrat&#39;s advantage.<a href="http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/politics/~3/413421378/la-na-map7-2008oct07,0,4690941.story">[original story]</a> http://www.citytools.net/showstory/2F36B282-947E-11DD-8240-F3337A10A9B7/ Vladimir Putin is out on video as a judo master. Russian state-controlled media already have shown the powerful prime minister at the wheel of massive racing truck, shirtless on a fishing excursion, and tracking a tiger through the Siberian forest - just a few of the he-man presentations designed to boost his public image.<a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/AP/story/716186.html">[original story]</a> http://www.citytools.net/showstory/C5268A16-9432-11DD-8240-F3337A10A9B7/ CHICAGO -- Picture 100,000 wind turbines rising from the Great Lakes off Michigan&#39;s shores, casting spinning shadows on the water and producing electricity for the entire upper Midwest. This surreal image is conjured by a study released last Tuesday by the Michigan State University Land Policy Institute. It analyzed wind potential in the Great Lakes and found that 100,000 turbines off Michigan&#39;s coasts could produce 321,000 megawatts of energy. That scenario, however, is highly unlikely because of the cost and environmental and other considerations. But wind ...<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/06/AR2008100602574.html"> (more) </a><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/06/AR2008100602574.html">[original story]</a> http://www.citytools.net/showstory/942C5392-9486-11DD-8240-F3337A10A9B7/ AP - Thai protesters demanding the government resign set fire to cars and threw bottles and metal barricades at police, who used tear gas to break through their blockade around Parliament Tuesday. At least one person was killed and more 350 people were injured.<a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081007/ap_on_re_as/as_thailand_political_unrest">[original story]</a> http://www.citytools.net/showstory/2C24F270-947E-11DD-8240-F3337A10A9B7/ Rescuers in Kyrgyzstan searched the rubble for signs of life Tuesday after an earthquake flattened a remote mountain village ... <a href="http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/usatoday-NewsTopStories/~3/413843532/2008-10-07-earth-quake_N.htm">[original story]</a> http://www.citytools.net/showstory/5F077DB0-942A-11DD-8240-F3337A10A9B7/ The moment when Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. looked Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic in the eye and called him a &quot;damned war criminal&quot; has become the stuff of campaign legend. The Democratic vice presidential nominee brings up the 1993 confrontation on the campaign trial to whoops of delight from supporters. Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) mentioned it when he announced he had chosen Biden as his running mate. During last week&#39;s debate with his counterpart on the Republican ticket, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Biden twice gave himself credit for shifting U.S. policy on ...<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/06/AR2008100602681.html"> (more) </a><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/06/AR2008100602681.html">[original story]</a>