Mar
25
China calls for new global currency
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BEIJING – China is calling for a new global currency to replace the dominant dollar, showing a growing assertiveness on revamping the world economy ahead of next week’s London summit on the financial crisis.
The surprise proposal by Beijing’s central bank governor reflects unease about its vast holdings of U.S. government bonds and adds to Chinese pressure to overhaul a global financial system dominated by the dollar and Western governments. Both the United States and the European Union brushed off the idea.
The world economic crisis shows the “inherent vulnerabilities and systemic risks in the existing international monetary system,” Gov. Zhou Xiaochuan said in an essay released Monday by the bank. He recommended creating a currency made up a basket of global currencies and controlled by the International Monetary Fund and said it would help “to achieve the objective of safeguarding global economic and financial stability.”
Zhou did not mention the dollar by name. But in an unusual step, the essay was published in both Chinese and English, making clear it was meant for a foreign audience.
China has long been uneasy about relying on the dollar for the bulk of its trade and to store foreign reserves. Premier Wen Jiabao publicly appealed to Washington this month to avoid any response to the crisis that might weaken the dollar and the value of Beijing’s estimated $1 trillion in Treasuries and other U.S. government debt.
Dec
18
Chrysler, Ford idle factories; GM delays new plant
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DETROIT – Chrysler announced Wednesday it is closing all its North American manufacturing plants for at least a month, the starkest move taken by U.S. automakers as they anxiously await word about government loans.
All three companies have been taking dramatic steps as they struggle to survive the recession and U.S. sales have dipped to their slowest rate in 26 years. Chrysler and General Motors fear they might not have enough money to pay their bills in a matter of weeks.
Attempting to cut costs, GM was halting construction of a plant tied to one of its most important projects, the Volt. Ford also said it will shut down 10 plants for an extra week in January because of sluggish sales.
Chrysler said it would extend the normal two-week holiday shutdown that begins Friday to at least Jan. 19 at all 30 of its factories due to slumping sales.
The news was another blow to the company’s employees already nervous about their future in the industry.
“I haven’t even bought any Christmas presents yet because I don’t know what’s going to happen next,” said Jerry Fogarty, a 48-year-old married father of three who lives in the Detroit suburb of Wyandotte. He has worked at the Chrysler Trenton engine plant for nearly 16 years.
Fogarty said even though state unemployment and supplemental unemployment benefits will maintain much of his weekly income during the shutdown, it’s little consolation if the company that once gave employees profit sharing checks soon goes out of business.
“I don’t want to be laid off,” Fogarty said. “I want to go to work tomorrow. … We all want to work. That’s all we want to do. It’s scary, man. It’s really scary.”
The lack of consumer credit is hampering sales and forcing the production cuts, Chrysler LLC said in a statement. Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge dealers say they have willing buyers for vehicles, but they can’t close the deals, Chrysler said.
“The dealers have stated that they have lost an estimated 20 to 25 percent of their volume because of this credit situation,” the statement said.
The Bush administration is mulling ways to help the automakers after Congress failed to reach a deal on $14 billion in loans for GM and Chrysler. Ford has applied for a $9 billion line of credit but says it has enough cash to make it through 2009.
Funding for the loans is expected to come from the $700 billion Wall Street rescue fund, but many Republicans have objected.
“It’s clear that the automakers are in a very fragile financial condition and they’re taking steps to deal with it,” White house press secretary Dana Perino said in a statement. “We’re aware of their financial situation and are considering possible policy options to provide assistance in an appropriate way.”
House Democrats have encouraged Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to adopt accountability provisions included in a House-passed auto bailout bill – the product of a deal with the White House – as a condition to get the loans.
The measure would have given a Bush-appointed “car czar” oversight over any major business decisions by the automakers.
The Bush administration has signaled that concessions would likely be required of stakeholders in the deal – auto companies, the United Auto Workers union, bondholders and others.
Chrysler spokesman Dave Elshoff said four plants will be temporarily closed beyond Jan. 19: two plants in Toledo, Ohio, and one each in Ontario and Detroit.
Toledo North, which makes the Dodge Nitro and Jeep Liberty, and Toledo Supplier Park, which makes the Jeep Wrangler, will be closed until Jan. 26. The Windsor, Ontario, plant, which makes minivans, and Detroit’s Conner Avenue plant, which makes the Dodge Viper roadster, will be closed until Feb. 2, Elshoff said.
Chrysler sales were off 47 percent last month and are down 28 percent through the first 11 months of the year.
At Ford, a company spokeswoman said Wednesday it will shut down 10 of its North American assembly plants for an extra week in January, also due to lower U.S. sales.
Spokeswoman Angie Kozleski says the normal two-week holiday shutdown will be extended to Jan. 12 at all operating assembly plants except those in Claycomo, Mo., near Kansas City, and the Dearborn, Mich., truck plant.
Ford will also extend the shutdown at some engine, transmission and parts stamping plants, or temporarily shut portions of them to match cuts at the assembly plants, she said.
The extra week of down time has been planned for several months as part of the company’s first-quarter production schedule, Kozleski said.
Ford Motor Co.’s U.S. sales were down 31 percent in November and are off 20 percent through the first 11 months of the year.
Laid-off workers at Ford and Chrysler get vacation pay for the normal holiday shutdown, then will receive unemployment benefits and supplemental pay from the company that total about 85 percent of their normal pay.
General Motors Corp. said last week it will temporarily close 20 factories across North America and make sweeping cuts to its vehicle production. Many of those plants will be shut down for the entire month of January.
GM said Wednesday it was delaying construction of a new engine factory in Flint, Mich., in an effort to conserve cash. The plant is to make 1.4-liter engines for the Chevrolet Cruze and the Chevy Volt plug-in electric car, two key products in the century-old automaker’s plan to turn itself around after relying on highly profitable truck and SUV sales.
The plant’s engines will extend the range of the rechargeable Volt, GM’s high-profile next-generation vehicle that will be able to travel 40 miles on electricity alone. They will also power the Cruze, GM’s new small car that is supposed to get around 40 miles per gallon.
GM announced plans in September for the new engine plant, but the company is delaying the purchase of big-ticket items needed to build the factory, such as structural steel, GM spokeswoman Sharon Basel said.
Basel said Volt and Cruze development will continue as scheduled and the company still plans to bring them to showrooms in 2010.
Also Wednesday, Chrysler Financial, the company’s dealer and consumer finance arm, warned dealers that it may temporarily stop financing vehicle inventories if dealers keep pulling large amounts of their money out of an account that helps fund those loans.
Chrysler Financial said in a letter to dealers dated Dec. 12 that recent withdrawals from the company’s cash management account have been “unusual and unprecedented.”
Amber Gowen, a spokeswoman for Chrysler Financial, said the company continues to provide financing for 75 percent of all Chrysler LLC vehicles shipped to U.S. dealers.
Sluggish auto sales worldwide are taking a toll on foreign automakers as well. Honda Motor Corp. said Wednesday that it would halt expansion in Japan, Turkey and India and cut 450 temporary workers in Japan through February.
Nissan Motor Co. said it would reduce Japanese production by 78,000 vehicles and also cut 500 temporary workers there.
Oct
29
Financial crisis heralds era of “new seriousness”
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LONDON (Reuters) – Power tools roar as an army of workmen rushes to ensure Europe’s largest city-center shopping mall opens on time, but marketing executives say the crisis in global financial markets has accelerated a trend among consumers to reject conspicuous consumption.
The $3 billion Westfield center in West London will have a strong focus on luxury when it opens on Thursday. Promotional material cites Louis Vuitton, Prada, Tiffany and Gucci among its stores but Managing Director Michael Gutman downplays these.
“We have a mass-market offer here, even though a couple of the precincts have attracted particular attention,” he told Reuters by telephone.
Executives say other retailers are quietly dropping the term “luxury” from their marketing material in favor of phrases depicting shopping as relaxation and time shared with family and friends.
With credit harder to obtain, mortgage costs rising and unemployment growing in the United States, Europe and Japan, clever advertising may not be enough to persuade those who can still afford it to part with their money.
“In grim times it becomes distasteful or simply unfashionable to spend money on bling or what you might call conspicuous consumption,” said Rory Sutherland, vice-chairman at advertising agency Ogilvy.
“There will be a trend toward Swedish, Lutheran-style minimalism,” Sutherland predicted, referring to the modest, even austere, lifestyles favored by Lutherans and Swedes by reputation.
Bentley-driving broker Scott David said people in the City of London financial district who could still afford it were hesitating before spending conspicuously.
“You wouldn’t turn up to meeting in a brand-new Porsche. It would be seen as bad taste,” he said. “You don’t want to be seen to be rubbing people’s faces in it.”
LUXURY GOODS SLUMP
After years of strong growth, luxury goods sales are expected to fall globally by 1 percent in the fourth quarter, and may drop by up to 7 percent next year, according to a study by consulting firm Bain and Co. released this month.
U.S. sales of Porsche cars fell by 58 percent in September compared with September 2007, while overall car sales declined by 22 percent, according to figures from Autodata.
Andy Lear, head of planning at the London office of French advertising agency Publicis said the repercussions of the financial crisis — front-page news worldwide for weeks — were simply accelerating a trend that already existed.
“People had already been looking for something more meaningful than just chasing cash and buying things that look flashy,” he said.
Certainly, some in the financial services industry who had previously enjoyed a luxury lifestyle say they are starting to question the relentless pursuit of material gain.
Investment banker Patrick, who did not want his surname to be used, said his working patterns had changed in recent months.
“I’m going home earlier and going to work later. I took my son to school last week before coming into work — something I never did before,” he said, adding that some colleagues were doing the same.
It was partly because the tough financial climate meant his employer would not be able to pay large bonuses this year, Patrick said, but it was also because the “buzz” had gone out of working long hours.
“The tone has changed … I’ve got different priorities now.”
Patrick is looking at ways to “give something back” to society, and is planning to work with a charity that offers debt counseling to the poor.
Oct
20
US diplomat visits Pakistan amid new violence
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KHAR, Pakistan – A top U.S. diplomat met with Pakistan’s prime minister Monday as Pakistani security forces used artillery and fighter jets to kill seven suspected insurgents in the northwest tribal region, officials said.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher’s visit comes amid strains between the two nations over suspected American missile strikes on militant targets in Pakistani territory. Television footage showed him meeting with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in Islamabad. He also was expected to hold talks with President Asif Ali Zardari.
Pakistan has carried out its own offensives against insurgents in the northwest, which borders Afghanistan. Overnight, three suspected militants were killed by artillery fire in Bajur, a tribal region where the military has been battling insurgents since early August, government official Jamil Khan said.
Four more suspected insurgents were killed in airstrikes Monday morning, Khan said.
The military said nearly a month ago that it had killed more than 1,000 suspected militants in Bajur, but has not announced a new death toll since then. Officials also have not estimated civilian deaths, though Bajur residents have reported that many have been killed.
In the northwest’s Swat Valley, the army media center raised the death toll from clashes the previous day to 25 suspected militants. The bombs hit an ammunition dump in the Barthana area, causing extensive damage.
The army center said it had no reports on civilian casualties there. But Anwer Ali, a Barthana resident, told The Associated Press in a phone interview the bombing by fighter jets had hit a house, killing a woman and two of her children.
Oct
6
MIAMI - On a muggy afternoon, more than 3,000 immigrants, most of them Hispanic, wave flags, cheer and weep as they swear to protect and defend the United States of America as its newest citizens.
Moments later, dozens of volunteers from the Democratic and Republican parties swoop down on the new citizens as they file out of their citizenship ceremony in a Miami auditorium, competing to sign them up to vote. It’s a scene that is being played out nationwide.
Supporters of Barack Obama and John McCain are fighting for every voter this campaign, and naturalized citizens of Hispanic descent are a growing target. In 2004, there were 4 million foreign-born Hispanics citizens of voting age. Today, that number is more than 5 million, according to an analysis of U.S. Census data by the nonprofit Pew Hispanic Center.
These new voters are especially important in swing states like Florida and New Mexico, said Jeffrey Passel, the center’s senior demographer.
“In places where the election is very close, they make all the difference in the world,” Passel said.
Voter registration data, polls and Associated Press interviews with new citizens in a half-dozen key states suggest Obama has the most to gain by reaching out to these new citizens.
Cuban-born Victor Castillo, 27, who took the citizenship oath along with his mother at the recent Miami ceremony, fought past a frenzy of party volunteers to register to vote with nonpartisan county poll workers, but said he was leaning toward Obama.
“Who’s more willing to work with the middle class, not just the upper class? I believe Obama will be better for that,” Castillo said, adding that he disliked McCain’s negative campaigning. “He’s trying to bring Obama down. Why don’t you do something yourself, show your ability?”
Obama campaign spokesman Federico de Jesus said the Democratic presidential candidate is devoting more money to bilingual advertising than any previous campaign, and spending roughly $20 million on Hispanic outreach, including voter registration efforts.
“In the states where the difference is 1 or 2 percentage points, the ground operation is going to make the difference,” he said.
Ana Navarro, McCain’s adviser on Hispanic affairs, said Republicans aren’t investing the same amount of money as Democrats on registering new citizens. She also allows that the party lost support among new Hispanic citizens because of some Republican lawmakers’ remarks during the recent congressional debate over proposed immigration reforms.
But the McCain campaign is using Spanish-language ads to convince Hispanics that he was on their side of that fight and that he has had a lifelong interest in Latin America, Navarro said.
“On the other side, you’ve got a man who’s never so much as set foot in Tijuana,” she said.
Overall, the Hispanic vote seems to be coalescing behind the Democrats.
Hispanic registered voters supported Obama over McCain by a 66 percent to 23 percent margin in a nationwide survey conducted by the Pew center in June and July. The survey found that Latino voters have moved sharply into the Democratic camp in the past two years, reversing gains made by the GOP earlier in the decade.
In Florida, a state known for its conservative Cuban-American Republicans, this year marked the first time that more Hispanics are registered as Democrats than Republicans. At least part of that comes from new citizens. Still, recent polls show McCain ahead among Florida Hispanics overall, making support from new Hispanic citizens in the Sunshine State all the more crucial for Obama.
After the Miami citizenship ceremony, Panama native Graciela Hidalgo stood with her 11 year-old son Jesse waiting to sign up with the Democrats. Hildalgo, 46, has lived in the United States nearly half her life but waited to become a citizen, first because she had arrived illegally and later because she was too busy working and raising her son.
She said she was most worried about the economy, the Iraq war and, to a lesser extent, immigration.
“I would have liked Hillary,” Hidalgo said wistfully of Hillary Rodham Clinton, “but McCain for me is not an option. He’s all war, war, and the Republicans haven’t done much.”
Those new Florida citizens interviewed who did support McCain tended to be older and to come from communist Cuba or socialist-leaning Nicaragua and Venezuela, where their experiences made them more sympathetic to the Republican candidate, a former Vietnam prisoner of war.
Jose Delgado, 74, a retired construction worker, arrived in the United States in 1986 from Camaguey, Cuba, after years of struggling under the government there.
“McCain will be stronger on communism and in foreign affairs in general,” Delgado said. “I’m not in agreement with many of Bush’s policies, but (McCain) will bring change.”
Strong sentiment for Obama emerged in interviews with new Latino citizens in other swing states with sizable Hispanic populations, although many also expressed admiration for McCain.
In Denver, Guatemalan native Eddie Samaoya, 73, who works as a press operator, says he and his six sons – all citizens_ often chat about politics.
He believes both candidates could do a good job, but two issues are key: “McCain is capable, but Obama has a longer life ahead of him. And he can end the war,” Samaoya said.
Mayra Crum, who came to the United States from Baja California, Mexico, registered as a Republican minutes after becoming a citizen at a Las Vegas ceremony and will vote for McCain. She thinks he can get the country out of Iraq and do more to help the “terrible” economy.
“He (McCain) has plenty of experience. You know, I love when he speaks – he makes you feel confident, like you’re going to put your country in good hands,” said Crum, 46, who teaches citizenship courses.
Even swing states with small Hispanic populations, like Virginia, could feel the effect of new Latino voters. Hispanics make up only about 3 percent of Virginia voters, but in 2006, Democrat Jim Webb won his U.S. Senate seat by a margin of only about 10,000 votes.
Salvadoran native Arturo Munoz, 64, of Fairfax, Va., began educating other Hispanic immigrants about the issues after his hours were cut at an aircraft maintenance company in March. Munoz, who supports Obama, became a citizen in August after living seven years in the United States.
“We can make the difference in these elections,” said Munoz, through a translator. “If more Hispanics vote, the future president will have to address topics important to them.”
Sep
26
The friends of Pakistan conference is being held in New York today.
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The conference is hoped to make pledges of billions of dollars from g-8 and other countries to support Pakistan in the economic field. President Asif Ali Zardari will address the conference and is likely to ask the United States, UK, Saudi Arabia and other important world economies for pledging fiscal space by extending 3 billion to 5 billion dollars aid. Source
Sep
22
New Test Shows If You Are a Shopaholic
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A new shopaholic test could tell if you should you leave your credit card at home when heading out to the mall.
The test makes it clear that there’s shopping and then there’s over-the-top purchasing that can wreak havoc on a person’s life. People who become preoccupied with buying stuff and repeatedly spend money on items, regardless of need, are commonly referred to as shopaholics. Scientists call it compulsive buying.
The new test was administered along with a survey that revealed that nearly 9 percent of a sample of 550 university staff members, mostly women, would be considered compulsive buyers. Past studies had put the incidence of compulsive buying somewhere between 2 percent and 8 percent 15 years ago, and more recently, at nearly 6 percent, the researchers say. Other research has found men are just as addicted to shopping as women.
The new test includes six statements, for which individuals answer on a 7-point scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree:
My closet has unopened shopping bags in it.
Others might consider me a “shopaholic.”
Much of my life centers around buying things.
I buy things I don’t need.
I buy things I did not plan to buy.
I consider myself an impulse purchaser.
Respondents who score 25 or higher would be considered compulsive buyers.
“We are living in a consumption-oriented society and have been spending ourselves into serious difficulty,” researcher Kent Monroe, a marketing professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, told LiveScience. “Compulsive buying is an addiction that can be harmful to the individual, families, relationships. It is not just something that only afflicts low-income people.”
Wondering where your score lies? “An individual could respond to the six items to check whether they may have these tendencies,” Monroe said. “However, as with any attempt at self-diagnosing, it should be carefully done and honestly responded to.”
Monroe and his colleagues found that compulsive buying was linked to materialism, reduced self-esteem, depression, anxiety and stress. Compulsive shoppers had positive feelings associated with buying, and they also tended to hide purchases, return items, have more family arguments about purchases and have more maxed-out credit cards.
Previous scales for identifying problem buyers are lacking because they depend in large part on the consequences of shopping, such as financial difficulties and family strain over money matters, the researchers note. But for compulsive shoppers with higher incomes, money matters could be non-existent.
A dwindling bank account is just one of the upshots of shopping ’til you drop. Others include family conflicts, stress, depression and loss of self-esteem.
The shopaholic test is just part of the answer.
“There needs to be more research not only identifying people who have a tendency to buy compulsively, but also on developing education and self-help programs for people who are buying things they do not need or use,” Monroe said. “It can lead to a waste of resources and to deterioration in families and relationships.”
The research is detailed in the December issue of the Journal of Consumer Research. Financial support for the research was provided by the J. M. Jones endowment fund at the University of Illinois.
Source
Sep
18
Stocks fall amid new rescue moves
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The Bank of Japan has injected another 1.5 trillion yen ($14.4bn) into money markets, as Asian shares continued the global trend downwards.
Tokyo’s Nikkei average dropped 3.2% and South Korea’s main stock index fell 3% in early trading on Thursday.
Analysts say brokers are not convinced by US efforts to stabilise markets with the $85bn bailout of insurers AIG.
US stocks plunged more than 4% to a three-year low on Wednesday, while European markets also ended down.
How big are these companies?
The Japanese central bank’s injection was the third consecutive day it had tried to shore up cash markets since the Nikkei hit a three-year low on Tuesday.
Across Asia, central banks have already pumped $33bn into money markets this week in an attempt to allay investors’ concerns and ensure the supply of funds does not dry up.
The financial markets continue to be hardest hit by the share slide, says the BBC’s Chris Hogg in Tokyo, and it looks like traders are in for a white-knuckle ride over the next few hours.
Traders saw plummeting shares on Wall St on Wednesday
By 0400GMT, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng had dipped below the 17,000 mark – a fall of 5% – Taiwan was down 4.5% and Australia had dropped 3.5%.
Brokers in Japan say the markets are in freefall because investors fear the US government’s efforts to stop the financial system’s turmoil are not working.
Consequently they are searching for safer places to put their money than stocks and shares, our correspondent says.
The flight of investors from shares has taken the price of gold to a 10-year high.
Many Japanese institutions have assets insured by AIG.
And in Singapore, for the second day running, hundreds of AIG policyholders queued up outside its offices trying to surrender or cancel policies they now fear could turn out to be worthless.
Banking chaos
The Federal Reserve’s AIG rescue package followed the collapse earlier this week of 158-year-old US investment bank Lehman Brothers, which sent shockwaves through the world’s financial community and sparked a global share price plummet.
Another investment bank, Merrill Lynch, has since been sold off to Bank of America.
The global financial crisis
In pictures
And there has been feverish speculation about the future of two other leading US banks – Morgan Stanley and Washington Mutual.
The New York Times quoted unnamed sources as saying an auction for Washington Mutual was under way. The Wall Street Journal reported that both banking giant Citigroup and Wells Fargo had expressed an interest in a takeover.
Meanwhile Reuters reported that Morgan Stanley, the second largest bank in the US which on Wednesday saw a quarter of its value wiped off its share price, had held preliminary takeover talks with Wachovia.
None of the companies involved has made any comment on the speculation and no negotiations can be confirmed.
The share-price of Goldman Sachs, the other surviving US investment giant, also fell on Wednesday, by 14%.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission, meanwhile, said hedge funds and large investors would be required to disclose their short-trade positions, Reuters reported.
Rocky road
The White House said the US Treasury was working to see if it could stem other losses, and defended the $85bn (£48bn) emergency loan for AIG.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said the US economy “has the strength to be able to deal with these shocks”. But she added the government was still concerned about the stability of other big financial companies.
Despite the assurance, shares in AIG fell a further 45% to $2.05 on Wednesday.
Analysts say trading in general is likely to remain rocky amid concern that financial instability will continue.
Top UK mortgage lender HBOS had a rollercoaster ride on Wednesday before the news broke that it was to be taken over by Lloyds TSB in a £12bn merger.
In Russia, stock exchange trading was suspended on Wednesday following steep falls in shares.
Sep
3
New Orleans residents to return to no power
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NEW ORLEANS – Enter at your own risk, New Orleans. That was the message from Mayor Ray Nagin, who gave residents the go-ahead to return to the Crescent City on Wednesday night at midnight, but with several warnings – many homes were without electricity or working toilets and a dusk-to-dawn curfew would still be in effect.
“It’s my humble opinion that the city is still in a very, very vulnerable state,” Nagin said Tuesday evening.
Millions fled the Gulf Coast in fear of Hurricane Gustav, and many were ready to get back home after spending several days in hot, overcrowded shelters. But as of late Tuesday, there were still nearly 800,000 homes in Louisiana without power, including about 77,000 in the city of New Orleans. Officials said the main transmission lines into southern Louisiana were crippled and they had no timetable of when much of the power might be restored.
The mayor said he had no choice but to begin allowing residents back because neighboring parishes were reopening Wednesday morning. But they, too, face the dangers of downed power lines and trees.
Still, residents who evacuated coastal areas want to return, realizing this was no Katrina, which killed 1,600 people in 2005. Nine deaths have been attributed to Gustav.
Early insurance industry estimates put the expected damage to covered properties at anywhere from $2 billion to $10 billion. That’s high, but well short of Katrina’s $41 billion.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said he won two promises from the federal government that will ease Louisiana’s recovery: the White House approved his “major disaster” declaration request, allowing residents of 34 parishes to receive federal funding for housing and recovery, and a strategic oil reserve will be opened to help reverse a severe shortage of fuel, particularly in south Louisiana.
Initial inspections showed little damage to the Gulf Coast’s extensive oil and gas installations, though resumption of production and refining could still take a few days. Reflecting confidence the industry suffered little damage, oil prices fell $5.75 a barrel.
Some were ready to celebrate, Big Easy style.
In the fishing village of Jean Lafitte, about 25 miles south of New Orleans, the mayor finally relaxed with a seafood boil of shrimp, corn and potatoes after three days of working on a temporary levee of two miles.
“Like the storm, I’m done,” said Mayor Tim Kerner, trying to hold open his heavy, sleep-deprived eyes. “We kept the town dry.”
There was no major partying on New Orleans’ Bourbon Street, though.
Few businesses were open, including grocers or gas stations. But there were signs of recovery. Utility workers, contractors and government employees were allowed to return Tuesday. Banks and other firms were to return Wednesday.
The city expected to begin this weekend bringing back the estimated 18,000 residents who didn’t have the means to evacuate on their own and were sent to shelters in Louisiana and other states on buses, trains or aircraft.
Power outages caused by Gustav forced officials to transport scores of patients from hospitals and other medical facilities for fear they couldn’t survive long without air conditioning.
The state’s secretary of Health and Hospitals, Alan Levine, told The Associated Press these patients were critically ill, and a few were from hospital burn units. As of Tuesday evening, none of the patients had died during the recent evacuation. Officials said early Tuesday evening that about 140 had been transferred, and the number grew during the evening.
Residents were just ready to get back home.
Curtis Helms, 47, left New Orleans on Saturday with only $20 in his pocket and the stripped T-shirt and denim shorts he was wearing. He was still wearing the same clothes Tuesday at a shelter in Alabama and said he only left because Nagin threatened to toss those caught on the street behind bars.
“Right now, I’d rather be home, even with no electricity,” Helms said.
Others questioned the need to evacuate. “Next time, it’s going to be bad because people who evacuated like us aren’t going to evacuate,” Catherine Jones, 53, of Silsbee, Texas, who spent three days on a cot at a church shelter with her disabled son. “They jumped the gun.”
Emergency officials strongly defended the decision to evacuate, saying that with something as unpredictable as a hurricane, it is better to be safe than sorry.
Officials noted that, yes, New Orleans’ levees held, and Gustav struck only a glancing blow. But when trees fell on homes, power lines went down and roads were washed out in parts of south Louisiana, there was no one around to get hurt.
“The reasons you’re not seeing dramatic stories of rescue is because we had a successful evacuation,” Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said. “The only reason we don’t have more tales of people in grave danger is because everyone heeded the instructions to get out of town.”
Source
Aug
30
A senior Iranian military commander has warned that any U.S. or Israeli attack on the Islamic republic would start a new world war.
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Brigadier General Masoud Jazayeri, in a statement carried by the state news agency Irna said it is evident that if such a challenge occurs, the fake and artificial regimes will be eliminated before anything. The United States and its staunch ally Israel, accuse Iran of seeking atomic weapons under the guise of a civilian nuclear programme. Iran has vehemently denied the allegations, insisting its nuclear drive is aimed solely at providing electricity for a growing population when its reserves of fossil fuels run out. The united states has never ruled out military action against Iran over its defiance of international demands for an enrichment freeze, but so far is pursuing the diplomatic route with calls for more sanctions. Another top military commander said Iran was prepared to “take the enemies off-guard” and would unveil more weapons in case of an attack. Source