UNPRECEDENTED: The coordinated move by the Fed, the ECB and the Bank of England helped stock markets across the world rally off lows earlier in the session
Six central banks, including the US Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England, jolted markets yesterday by cutting interest rates together in an attempt to shore up confidence in the world’s crisis-stricken financial system.

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Britain added to the financial chaos engulfing Iceland by declaring yesterday it planned to sue over lost deposits held by thousands of Britons with Icelandic bank accounts.

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By Jimmy Chuang
Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said yesterday his wife had donated US$2 million to a senior Taiwanese independence advocate, who set up “four bank accounts” in the US to facilitate fund transfers to promote diplomatic work, but stopped short of naming the person.

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NO CHANGE: Polling after the debate suggested Republican John McCain will need to perform better if he is to pose a challenge to Democrat Barack Obama
US Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain hammered away at unruffled front-runner, Democratic Senator Barack Obama, in Tuesday’s second presidential debate but failed to land the cutting blow likely to revive his sliding poll numbers.

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By Chen Hsiao-I
The legislature’s Internal Administration Committee yesterday approved a proposal to integrate seven local government elections into one in six years to save costs.

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Two Americans and one Japanese won the Nobel Prize in chemistry yesterday for the discovery and development of a brightly glowing protein first seen in jellyfish, work that has helped scientists study how cancer cells spread.

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