WASHINGTON, Oct 13, 2008 (AFP) - US President George W. Bush and his Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson were Tuesday to unveil details of a comprehensive financial rescue package that includes investing hundreds of billions of government dollars into several troubled banks.

Huge rescue plans drawn up by eurozone governments for banks do not
mean officials have 'carte blanche' to loosen public purse strings, the
European Central Bank's chief economist said Tuesday.

SYDNEY, Oct 14, 2008 (AFP) - Australia's government on Tuesday unveiled a 10.4 billion dollar (7.25 billion US) package to counter a slowdown caused by the global financial crisis, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said.

Governments around the globe launched a multi-pronged attack on the
finance crisis, as President George W. Bush and Treasury Secretary
Henry Paulson prepared Tuesday to unveil the next step in the US
response.

HONG KONG, Oct 14, 2008 (AFP) - Hong Kong's financial secretary John Tsang said Tuesday that all bank deposits in the territory would be fully guaranteed until 2010, following turmoil in the international banking system.

'(We will) use the exchange fund to guarantee the repayment of all customer deposits held in authorised institutions in Hong Kong,' Tsang told reporters.

LONDON, Oct 14, 2008 (AFP) - Decisive action by European governments to shore up the banking system appears to be working, British newspapers said Tuesday -- although they warned there were still tough times ahead.

FRANKFURT, Oct 14, 2008 (AFP) - Central banks have regularly pumped cash into money markets since the financial crisis deteriorated in mid September, raising the question of what terms like 'liquidity' and 'refinancing' mean.

The explanation begins at an imaginary ABC bank where Mr. Smith has gotten a credit of 20,000 euros (27,000 dollars) to buy a car.

HONG KONG, Oct 14, 2008 (AFP) - Hong Kong will set up a new system for local banks to access capital, the city's financial secretary John Tsang said Tuesday, following international moves to boost confidence in the sector.

NEW YORK, Oct 13, 2008 (AFP) - First banks collapsed, then global economic stability -- could the United States' superpower status be the next, biggest victim of the financial crisis?

DUBLIN, Oct 14, 2008 (AFP) - Thousands of new homes shot up in the town of Tallaght during Ireland's boom, but now prices are being slashed and properties lie empty as the market hits the rocks in the current world economic storm.