BBC News I'm Michael Poles.
President Bush has held further talks with Congressional leaders to tackle America's growing financial crisis. During the discussions both sides agreed they need to quickly approve a 150-billion-dollar rescue package to help stimulate the ailing economy. The meeting came just hours after the United States central bank, the Federal Reserve, announced its biggest interest rate cut in 23 years to 3.5%. Mr. Bush was optimistic.
"I believe we can find common ground and get something done, that's big enough and effective enough so that an economy that is inherently strong gets a boost to make sure that this uncertainty doesn't translate into, you know more economic woes for our workers and small business people."
An American citizen convicted in the US of terrorism charges, Jose Padilla, has been sentenced to seventeen years in prison. He was found guilty last August of conspiring to murder and kidnap. From Washington, John Donaldson.
Jose Padilla, an American citizen, has been regarded as a key test case for the Bush administration in its war on terror. The 37-year-old Muslim convert was originally arrested in 2002 and held in a military jail for three and a half years for plotting to detonate a dirty bomb within the United States. The administration eventually dropped those charges but Padilla was then transferred to the civilian justice system and charged along with two other men with conspiring to carry out attacks in countries including Afghanistan, Chechnya and Bosnia as a part of an al-Qaeda cell."
Foreign ministers of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany have agreed a new draft resolution to impose further sanction on Iran over its disputed nuclear program. Despite strong resistance from Russia and China, diplomats at the Berlin meeting said the draft introduces tough measures against Tehran and extends the economic sanctions that are already in place. German Foreign Minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, urged Iran to comply with demand of UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, to stop enriching uranium.
"Iran agreed to work together with the IAEA to clear up unanswered questions from the past. And we expect this to happen over the coming days and weeks. Only then will it be possible to regain the trust which has been lost over the last few years."
The wealthy Gulf Arab states of the Asian countries that supply much of their workforce have struck a deal aimed at preventing the exploitation of migrant laborers. Millions of people from India, Pakistan, the Philippines and elsewhere work in the Gulf, but many are paid low wages and endure poor conditions. The agreement reached in Abu Dhabi laid out plans to protect their rights better and improve their welfare. But a BBC correspondent in the Gulf says the declaration provides no detail as to how the measures will be implemented and no timescale has been set.
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The former United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan, has warned that it would be a disaster if Kenya lost its place as a haven of stability in the East Africa. Speaking shortly after he arrived in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, to mediate in the crisis following last month's presidential election, Mr. Annan said he would insist on a solution for the sake of Kenya and its people. He said he expected to speak to both the President of Kenya Mwai Kibaki and the opposition leader Raila Odinga.
Police in New York say the Australian actor, Heath Ledger, has been found dead in his apartment in Manhattan. From New York, Mathew Price reports.
"Heath Ledger was one of the rising stars of Hollywood, a man who even at his young age, 28, was gaining prominence in acting's hall of fame. The police say Heath Ledger was found at his apartment in a trendy area of New York by his housekeeper. A spokesperson has confirmed that he was found lying on the floor with pills around him. The exact cause of death is still being investigated but suicide has not been ruled out. Mr. Ledger's top staring role was in the Oscar-nominated film, Brokeback Mountain, it was that film which propelled him to worldwide attention."
A report on the future of Canadian troops in Afghanistan has recommended that they should remain there indefinitely as long as other NATO countries give additional support. An independent panel headed by a former liberal cabinet minister says that if the support is not forthcoming, Canada should pull out when its mandate ends in February next year.
President Bush has restated his personal opposition to abortion on the 35th anniversary of its legalization in the United States. Mr. Bush made his comments when he hosted about 200 anti-abortion demonstrators who were among thousands who attended the annual march for life rally in Washington. They want to overturn the Supreme Court ruling in the Roe vs. Wade case, which legalized abortion in the United States in 1973. About 1.2 million abortions are conducted in the United States each year.
BBC News.