– Arrests made in what could be biggest investment scam in Japanese history (Guardian):
– Report: Air Force units failed 2 more nuke surety inspections (Stars and Stripes)
– Goldman, JPMorgan Won’t Feel Effects of Executive-Salary Caps (Bloomberg):
Feb. 5 (Bloomberg) — Executives at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and hundreds of financial institutions receiving federal aid aren’t likely to be affected by pay restrictions announced yesterday by President Barack Obama.
– Unhappy voters jam Capitol Hill phone lines (CNN):
WASHINGTON (CNN) — The recent debate over the nearly $900 billion economic stimulus plan and revelations of tax problems by three Obama administration appointees have voters angrily jamming phone lines on Capitol Hill to air their frustrations to their elected representatives.
– House speaker Nancy Pelosi predicts job losses for babies (Guardian):
Basically, Pelosi says that if legislators don’t move quickly to pass President Barack Obama’s stimulus package, “500 million Americans lose their jobs”.
– Shoe thrown at Israel’s ambassador in Stockholm (The Local)
– Australia warns of Buy American ‘trade war’ (Financial Times)
– Now Russia gets caught in the credit crunch (Georgiandaily)
– Moscow abandons bail-outs for bank aid (Financial Times)
– German industrial orders fall sharply (Financial Times):
Germany’s economic ministry reported orders fell by 6.9 per cent in December, extending a 5.3 per cent fall in November. It was the fourth consecutive monthly fall and much larger than expected. December’s industrial orders from within the eurozone were tumbled by more than 15 per cent.
– Obama Warns of ‘Catastrophe:’ What Happened to ‘Hope’ and ‘Change?’ (Yahoo Finance):
“A failure to act, and act now [on the bill], will turn crisis into a catastrophe,” Obama said, sounding a lot more like his predecessor than the candidate of hope and change. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss?
– Barack Obama fights to maintain a grip on the US political agenda (Telegraph):
President Barack Obama is seeking to reassert control over the American political agenda after a series of embarrassing setbacks.
– Obama Names 26-Year-Old Director of Faith-Based Office (ABC News):
President Barack Obama has named a 26-year-old Pentecostal minister to head the White House office that coordinates outreach to religious and community organizations.
– State furloughs may further delay unemployment benefits (LA Times)
– TREASURIES-Bonds gain as jobless claims reach 26-year high (Reuters)
– US Treasury to Sell $67 Billion in Long-Term Debt (Bloomberg)
– Bank Of America Hits Multi-Decade Low On Nationalization Fears (CNN Money)
– Bank of America CEO Buys 200000 Shares; Price Slumps (Bloomberg)
– High street shakeup on way as Hamleys and House of Fraser investor collapses (Guardian):
The Icelandic-backed Baugur group, which transformed itself from a family-owned Reykjavik discount store into a major retail group with 3,500 stores and some 50,000 staff, is expected to fall into administration by Friday after the group’s main backer, the nationalised Icelandic bank Landsbanki, pulled the plug on the business tonight.
– Car sales plunge in worst figures since 1974 (Telegraph)
– UK interest rates cut by half a point to 1% (Financial Times):
The U.K. economy will shrink the most since 1946 this year and faster than any other industrialized country, International Monetary Fund forecasts show.
– List of Madoff’s presumed victims runs into the thousands (CNN)
– Hovnanian CEO Gets $979,302 Performance Bonus as Company’s Value Drops 76% (Bloomberg)
– Recession: the road to revolution (Guardian)
– Bank of England Cuts Main Rate a Half Point to 1% (Bloomberg)
– Gordon Brown planning international agreement on tax avoiders (Guardian)
– Mega-earthquake Risk For West Coast, US And Canada? Seismic Slip Linked To Tremor, With Implications For Subduction Zone (Science Daily)
– Worker Anger Sees Brown Facing Winter of Discontent (Bloomberg):
“They’ve sold us down the river,” said Charles Hilton, 61, an electrician from Hull in northern England who was out on strike yesterday with local oil-refinery workers. “We’re going to see civil unrest in this country. It’s already started. It will grow unless things are sorted.”
– Wildcat strikers go back to work after concession from Brown on workers’ rights (Times Online)
– Rising unemployment hits 98 percent of metro areas (AP)
– Volcker Chafes at Obama Panel Delay, Strains With Summers Rise (Bloomberg)
– US troops ordered out of Kyrgyzstan after Russia deal (Telegraph)
– International Criminal Court to consider Gaza investigation (LA Times)
– Vatican orders cleric to recant Holocaust views (Guardian)
– Man pulls out 13 of his own teeth with pliers ‘because he couldn’t find an NHS dentist’ (Daily Mail)
– Detainee ‘just skin and bones’ after six years in custody (Guardian)
– Goose stepping may have encouraged people to follow Nazis (Telegraph)
– This is your pilot slurring: Garbled message from cockpit sparks passenger rebellion (Independent):
The Moscow Times, which had a reporter on board the plane, claimed that an Aeroflot representative boarded the aircraft and told the passengers it wasn’t a big deal if the pilot was drunk.
– Antibiotics blamed for child deafness (Independent)