BERLIN - GERMANY appears to be close to the bottom of its economic downturn but it can't expect an instant recovery, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday.
WASHINGTON - PRESIDENT Barack Obama is warning critics of his vast financial overhaul plan that he has no patience for debate from hard-line defenders of a system that has exploited bewildered consumers.
Pushing for a law this year, Mr Obama said: 'While I'm not spoiling for a fight, I'm ready for one.' Mr Obama used his weekly radio and Internet address on Saturday to defend a proposal, unveiled last week, that would impose and enforce new rules for the nation's embattled financial system.
BEIJING - CHINA'S Commerce Ministry has submitted a proposal to the state council pleading for top authorities to take measures to stop foreign investment from sliding further, local media reported on Saturday.
NEW YORK - A JUDGE should sentence Bernard Madoff in ten days even though investigators have yet to determine how much money investors lost in the disgraced financier's multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme, prosecutors said in court papers released on Friday.
