BBC news 2008-09-17 加文本

BBC News with Victoria Meakin.

Intensive talks are going on in the United States to try to rescue the insurance company AIG, the latest institution under threat from the global financial turmoil. Shares in New York closed up amidst speculation that some progress have been made towards an agreement that the nature of any rescue package remains unclear. Here is our economics correspondent Andrew walker.

 AIG has been described as too big to fail. If it were to go, many say it would be a bigger problem than Lehman Brothers. So negotiations have been taking place at Federal Reserve’s offices in New York. The options appeared to be some sort of private sector rescue with or without contribution from the public finances. The Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson doesn’t want to contribute, something he showed at the weekend when he allowed Lehman’s to sink rather than give the financial guarantees the potential private sector buyers wanted.

Within the past hour, AIG itself said it was continuing its efforts to increase its short term liquidity but that its worldwide operations were not endangered.

Reports say another factor behind the upturn in New York share prices was a degree of optimism that a deal might be done with the British bank, Barclays, to try [to] take over some of the operations of the bankrupt US investment bank, Lehman Brothers. Traders also took some comfort from a statement by the Federal Reserve expressing confidence in the longer term prospects of the economy. Earlier in the day, US shares dipped after interest rates were left unchanged. It was markets abroad that continued to suffer from the uncertainty in America with further sharp falls in Europe and Asia. Trade in Moscow was suspended temporarily after the worst one-day falls in ten years.(Www.hXen.com)

The opposition in Bolivia has pulled out of talks with the government in protest that the arrest of an opposition leader at the center of last week's political unrest. The government accuses the regional Governor Leopoldo Fernandez of orchestrating attacks on pro-government farmers in Pando province and blames him for at least 16 deaths, Daniel Schweimler reports,

The negotiations between the Bolivian government and the opposition centered in the east of the country were always built on very flimsy foundations. The arrest of the governor of the northern region of the Pando, Leopoldo Fernandez ,was the excuse the opposition needed to pull out saying they didn’t like the way he was detained. President Evo Morales  accused Mr Fernandez of hiring Peruvian and Brazilian hit-men to kill pro-government farmers. At least 16 bodies have been found while many people are still missing. The governor who’s been flown to La Paz denies the charges.

The European Commission has called for a continent-wide drive to improve the plight of millions of Roma gypsies who face extreme poverty and discrimination. The head of the commission, Jose Manuel Barroso ,said that most Roma live in conditions which are unacceptable in 21st century Europe.

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In his first interview as prime minister designate of Zimbabwe, Morgan Tsvangirai has told the BBC that he’s working to reassure President Robert Mugabe that he has nothing to fear from the power sharing agreement they signed on Monday.  Mr. Tsvangirai said the government’s first practical step would be to provide people with food and [to] end the climate of fear.

We have to start delivering food, to those that need it. We have to start planning for next year season in order that people can grow their own food. We have to start by giving people the necessary freedoms so that when they are walking around and doing their job, they are not harassed by police. They are not intimidated by them. There’s a pervasive fear in the country. We need to remove that fear.

 Chinese state television says the industrial chemical melamine has now been found in baby milk powder produced by 22 companies nationwide. At least 2 children have died, and more than 1200 have suffered kidney stones and other health problems after consuming contaminated milk products. Speaking at a press conference, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said the authorities were taking the issue very seriously.

The Chinese government attaches great importance to food safety, and has always adopted a highly responsible approach. Relevant departments are conducting safety checks. Furthermore, we are completing food and quality inspections and expect to guarantee food safety.

The Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas have been meeting for talks on the Middle-East peace process. The meeting in Jerusalem comes the day before Mr. Olmert's Kadima Party holds a leadership election to replace him. President Bush has said that he hopes to see a full peace deal reached by the time he himself leaves office in January,

BBC news.