BBC news 2008-09-15 加文本

Urgent talks are continuing in the United States to try to find a buyer for the investment bank Lehman Brothers, the fourth largest in the country and the latest victim of the American credit crisis. Andrew Walker reports.

The two strongest potential buyers of Lehman, namely Bank of America and Barclays Bank of Britain now appeared to have dropped out. There were other possible bidders reported to be in negotiations called by the United States Treasury, but the chances of Lehman going into bankruptcy have increased sharply. It’s likely that the stumbling block was the fact that the Treasury was unwilling to give guarantees to cover losses that a bidder might sustain on some of Lehman’s financial assets. If there is no rescue, confidence in financial markets could well be hit, but it is possible that the firm could be unwound without severe disruption to the financial system.

Last-ditch talks have been taking place in Rome on a rescue package for the Italian airliner Alitalia, which is operating under a bankruptcy commissioner. The business consortium is interested in buying the profitable parts of Alitalia, but the airline workers are resisting the several thousand job losses and salary cuts that could be required. Francis Kennedy reports from Rome. 

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has staked his reputation on saving the national airline, and his government is desperate to restart the stalled talks. There have been noisy impromptu protests at Rome’s main airport, though Alitalia flights have been running pretty much as usual. Workers also shouted insults at Alitalia’s bankruptcy administrator, who yesterday warned that they might have to ground  planes next week because they lacked funds to pay for fuel.

The Bolivian military says it’s taken full control of the region of Pando where at least 30 people have died in clashes over the past week between supporters and opponents of President Evo Morales, the Defense Minister said relative calm had been restored to the area following the declaration of a state of emergency there two days ago. His comments came ahead of a meeting between Mr. Morales and one of the leaders of the opposition aimed at easing the tension. The opposition wants Mr. Morales to postpone an upcoming referendum on his proposed new constitution for the country which is at the heart of the latest protests.

The authorities in the city of Houston in the American state of Texas have ordered a week-long night-time curfew to prevent looting in the wake of Hurricane Ike. Officials say the curfew is needed because of downed power lines which have cut electricity to millions. Hurricane Ike has left a scene of devastation across Texas. The County Judge Ed Emmett called on residents to avoid traveling.

Transportation arteries are still very very dangerous. Power is out, there’s[are] no street lights, there’s still limbs down, there’s still standing water, please don’t venture out unless you absolutely have to. 

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A Turkish ferry carrying more than 150 people has sunk off the northeastern port of Bandirma, at least one person is believed to have drowned when the vessel went down in the city of Marmara, shortly after it set sail for Turkey’s biggest city Istanbul. Another ten people are reported to have been taken to hospital. Reports said the ferry was carrying about 70 trucks. 

The Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is visiting Georgia’s breakaway regions as part of a move by Moscow to further strengthen diplomatic ties. Mr. Lavrov is in Abkhazia where he’s expected to begin the process of setting up a Russian embassy, he’s due to travel to South Ossetia on Monday on a similar mission. Our correspondent Gabriel Gatehouse reports.

Russia has wasted little time in underlying its recognition of Abkhazian independence with this high-level visit. In the capital Sukhumi, Sergey Lavrov said that Russia’s actions were the only way to ensure Abkhazia’s security, as well as that of South Ossetia. And he threw down a challenge to the international community by saying that discussions on security in the Caucasus were impossible without the two breakaway regions.  (Www.hXen.com)

Staying with Russia, and officials there investigating the crash of a passenger jet on an internal flight on Saturday have concluded that the likely cause was a technical failure in one of the engines. They ruled out any link to a terrorist attack. The Aeroflot plane, a Boeing 737 crashed as it was coming in to land at the city of Perm near the Ural Mountains. All 88 people aboard were killed.

The governor of China’s northern province of Shanxi has resigned over a mudslide, that’s now known to have killed more than 250 people. The Governor Meng Xuenong had already faced political infamy in his career. He was sacked as mayor of Beijing for trying to conceal the extent of the SARS epidemic several years ago. The incident in Shanxi involved the collapse of a refuse dump at an illegal iron mine. The waste flooded a whole village and also a crowded market. 

BBC News.