Westpac won`t guarantee rate cuts

Westpac won`t guarantee rate cuts	8.08.2008
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08/08/2008		European exchanges close mixed
EUROPEAN stock exchanges closed mixed today, with the London FTSE 100 index shedding 0.16 per cent to close at 5477.50

08/08/2008		US stocks nosedive on higher oil
US stocks ended a two-day rally with a nosedive today as higher oil prices and an unexpected rise in jobless claims coupled with fresh financial trouble at Citigroup

08/07/2008		Tunnel operator downgraded
SYDNEY`S debt-laden Lane Cove tunnel owner and operator, Connector Motorways Pty Ltd, has received an underlying credit rating downgrade to B from Standard & Poor`s (S&P)

08/07/2008		Analysts downgrade News Corp`s guidance
A MORE challenging outlook than expected for News Corporporation has forced analysts to downgrade their 2009 fiscal guidance for the media giant

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To NETCRUSHER of brisbane, can you explain the "election fraud" "in detail", to educate the viewers out there.I await your reply...
Posted by: Lenny of Brisbane 7:48pm today

Tim of Brisbane - perhaps before you start on about how 'dumb the yanks are', you should learn to spell correctly?
Posted by: Georgina of Melbourne 4:16pm today

Mark and Jim comments 96,99; Who defines what is fair? Secondly why do you want the gov to run your lives? You want socialism. Thirdly, rights and values are different. In the US we the constitution and a Bill of Rights that apply to all citizens. The goverment you propose takes more than it gives. Free speech is gone (villification laws). The right to bear arms gone. Name a value you believe in.
Posted by: Steve of Perth 4:13pm today

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Week in review

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Sarah Palin confirms daughter, 17, is pregnant
Barack Obama denies leaking rumours to web
Sarah Palin pictures: A gun-toting beauty queen VP?

JOHN McCain`s vice-presidential pick Sarah Palin has revealed that her 17-year-old unmarried daughter is pregnant, confirming some of the rumours that had been sweeping across the web.

The surprise choice of Ms Palin as Senator McCain`s running mate last week electrified the Republican Party`s social conservative base, in particular evangelical Christians who had been reluctant to back him.

Today, Ms Palin, a 44-year-old mother of five and an outspoken opponent of abortion, shook up the US presidential election campaign again by revealing that her teenage daughter was pregnant and planning to marry the baby`s father.

"Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned,`` she said.

"We`re proud of Bristol`s decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents. Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realise very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family."

The McCain campaign said the revelation was an attempt to hit back at unsourced rumours swirling around liberal blogs that Ms Palin`s daughter was the mother of the Alaska governor`s fifth child, Trig. (See discussions of those rumours on The Daily Kos, The Huffington Post and Politico.)

An unnamed McCain campaign aide has been quoted as condemning the blogs for repeating the rumours and said some postings contained Democratic candidate Barack Obama`s name.

Senator Obama quickly returned fire. "I am offended by that statement, there is no evidence at all that any of this involved us," he said. "We don`t go after people`s families."

Ms Palin asked for the media to respect her daughter`s privacy. Senator Obama, whose mother was 18 when she gave birth to him, urged reporters and bloggers to "back off".

Ask Bossy: `My 15-year-old daughter is having sex`

McCain knew

A McCain campaign official said on condition of anonymity that the Arizona senator knew about the condition of Ms Palin`s daughter, who is reportedly five months into the pregnancy, when he asked her to be his vice-presidential nominee last week.

Ms Palin, the governor of Alaska, was at the Republican national convention in St Paul but had no public engagements scheduled. The convention`s schedule has been thrown into doubt by Hurricane Gustav`s battering of New Orleans.

Senator McCain earlier flew into Philadelphia, as he monitored the fallout from Gustav, which was hammering the Louisiana coast and prompted the Republicans to severely curtail the convention`s opening day.

Convention delegates meanwhile were preparing to meet, overshadowed by Gustav and ominous memories of Hurricane Katrina, the botched handling of which three years ago hammered the Republican brand.

US President George W. Bush had been due to make a speech today, but it has been cancelled so that he can deal with the Gustav emergency. But given Mr Bush`s personal handling of Katrina saw his approval rating plummet, his appearance could have done more harm than good to Senator McCain anyway.

The convention will be confined to a two-hour session today focused on the legal procedures needed to nominate presidential and vice-presidential candidates. With most political rhetoric barred, First Lady Laura Bush will unveil video appearances from several of the governors in Gulf coast states, after the convention opens.

Senator McCain`s wife Cindy will then ask delegates for help and donations for the relief efforts once the storm has passed.

The McCain campaign has downplayed suggestions Senator McCain could deliver his acceptance speech on Friday (Australian time) by satellite from the disaster zone, saying there were no such plans at this point.

- AFP, Reuters

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