3xwy Blog

AP – Turkey says it and the International Monetary Fund have mutually agreed to call off talks for a loan.

PR Newswire – WASHINGTON, March 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz delivered the keynote address yesterday at the inauguration of the annual session of the Majlis Al-Shura (Consultative Council). His speech addressed a variety of issues, including employment, education, counterterrorism, women’s rights, economic policies, oil prices, the Arab-Israeli conflict and humanitarian aid. The audience included members of the Saudi royal family, foreign diplomats, ministers and senior government officials.

AP – A key lawmaker says he is working with banks, regulators and the Obama administration on ways to boost the government’s struggling foreclosure prevention effort.

The move came minutes after the House Foreign Affairs Committee approved a resolution declaring the killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I “genocide.” Turkey, a NATO ally, had warned that the resolution’s approval could jeopardize U.S.-Turkish cooperation and set back talks aimed at opening the Turkey-Armenia border.

AP – Greece has announced a new euro4.8 billion (US$6.5 billion) austerity package to deal with the financial crisis. Here is a summary of some of the key measures:

Reuters – Toyota Motor Corp President Akio Toyoda sought to ease quality concerns during a low-key visit to China on Monday, fresh from a grueling hearing in the U.S. Congress over his company’s biggest safety crisis.

Reuters – Two key Republicans are urging the House of Representatives to speed up a public hearing to investigate the administration’s bailout of home funding giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The United States and Canada will face a rematch in the men’s hockey competition in Vancouver on Sunday.

Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in Asia. But it hasn’t always been that way, and the Mekong River has been key to its periods of prosperity. Recovering from 20th century atrocities, the country now faces a new danger: Development is putting the river and its fish at risk.

Russians are obsessed with ice hockey, and hockey events have gotten underway at the Vancouver Winter Olympics. In the Soviet days, hockey was much more than just a game. International encounters took on great diplomatic significance, and the Soviet Union won seven of the nine gold medals from 1956 to 1988.