Portal:Current events/2008 September 18

September 18, 2008 (Thursday)

2008 South Ossetia war:
- US President George W. Bush will urge Russia to honor its commitment to fully withdraw troops from Georgia during his speech at the United Nations General Assembly next week, a top White House official said Friday. (AFP via Google News)
- Russia says EU observers and extra Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) monitors should monitor situation on the border land of Georgia and South Ossetia and Abkhazia. On September 1 Tbilisi has withdrew from Dagomys peace agreement, which was providing legal basis for OSCE monitors in the two states. (EurAsia)
Rozi Khan, the Governor of the Chora District in Afghanistan, is killed in a firefight involving Australian Army soldiers. (ABC News Australia)
Sri Lankan Civil War: The Sri Lanka Navy sinks 10 Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) boats and kills 25 LTTE rebels in heavy fighting off the port of Nachikkudah in Sri Lanka, according to the navy. (Reuters via The International Herald Tribune)
2008 Russian financial crisis:
- Trading is suspended for the third day in succession on Russia's two main stock exchanges, the MICEX and the dollar-denominated RTS, amidst fear of financial collapse. News agencies are quoting Russia's Finance Minister, Alexei Kudrin, as saying trading on Russian exchanges won't resume until September 19. (MarketWatch)
- Officials at MICEX stock exchange describe conditions in the Russian markets as "extraordinary". (The Times)
- Russia is facing its worst stock market decline in a decade mainly because of a confidence crisis rather than liquidity problems, Deputy Finance Minister Pyotr Kazakevich says. (Hurriyet)
- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev orders ministers to inject another 500 billion rubles (£10.8 billion, US$20 billion) of funds from the state budget into the markets and pledges in remarks broadcast on national television that the financial system would receive "all necessary support". (The Times)
Subprime mortgage crisis:
- British bank Lloyds TSB completes a £12.2bn takeover of rival HBOS, the UK's largest mortgage lender. The Competition Commission has allowed the deal as it has government backing, despite the fact that it will leave Lloyd's HBOS in control of a third of the UK mortgage market. (BBC News)
- The Swedish National Debt Office announces it is putting a temporary hold on its market commitment in treasury bills due to the spike in demand for treasury bonds, which are seen as a safe investment during rocky periods in the financial markets. (Riksgäldskontoret)
- Following the recent rapid fall of the share value of HBOS, The Financial Services Authority restricts short selling in an attempt to bring about market stability in the United Kingdom. This action follows a similar move by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States on Wednesday. (BBC News)
- Republican presidential candidate John McCain calls for Christopher Cox, Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, to be dismissed. (The Wall Street Journal)
- Kraft Foods replaces American International Group in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. (Reuters via Forbes)
- The Securities and Exchange Commission declares an emergency ban on shorting financial-sector stocks. (MSNBC)
A United States Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter crashes in southern Iraq killing seven United States soldiers. (AP via The New York Times)
Pirates hijack a Greek bulk carrier with 25 crew aboard off the coast of Somalia. (AP via Google News)^{[permanent dead link]} (Wikinews)
Bruessel/EU:In European media, journalists report that some US politicians and military personnel supported with financial help the Anti-Europe Movement in Ireland against the Treaty of Lisbon. Ftd:USA sollen EU-Vertrag sabotiert haben