Stock markets around the world
fell on Friday, after US stocks dropped for the
seventh straight day on Thursday, shaking investor confidence far and wide. The US is weighing
two options to boost consumer confidence and stem the bleeding on Wall Street—a plan with help from the UK and a proposed plan to back all US bank deposits—while other countries enacted separate plans, including
Indonesia, which closed its stock market for the third consecutive day.
President Bush
made a statement Friday morning, to reassure the American public that the government has a comprehensive strategy and the tools to solve the crisis. He discussed plans to be enacted by the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve, and the FDIC.
Also:
Earlier this year, Alaska's Department of Natural Resources hired an outside
PR consultant for $31,000 to pitch Gov. Sarah Palin as a crusader against Big Oil, according to
The Washington Post. In other VP news, Palin
wants to make an appearance on
Saturday Night Live, spoofing Tina Fey's American Express commercials.
Sen. Barack Obama's campaign is planning a 30-minute infomercial to run during
prime-time programming - a first in 16 years for presidential canidates, says
The New York Times.
Iceland is on the
brink of bankruptcy, but Prime Minister Geir H. Haarde is optimistic the country will secure a loan from the Russian government.
The former president of Finland, Martti Ahtisaari, is the first Finn to win the
Nobel Peace Prize.