PARIS, France - February 19, 2009 - Violent demonstrations against high prices and low wages on the French Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe left one man dead on Tuesday night.

WASHINGTON - February 19, 2009 - The Federal Reserve now expects gross domestic product (GDP) to contract by as much as 1.3 percent this year, compared with its October estimate of a 0.2 percent contraction. It came as White House economic adviser Larry Summers warned that it will be the worst U.S. recession since the Great Depression.

NEW YORK - February 19, 2009 - The number of laid-off workers receiving unwmployment benefits has jumped to an all-time high near 5 million while new jobless claims remain well above 600,000. Both figures were worse than expected and new projections from the Federal Reserve show unemployment rising for the rest of this year.

WASHINGTON - February 19, 2009 - The federal government yesterday doubled its commitment to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, promising to reimburse the companies for up to 400 billion dollars in losses on their investments in mortgage loans.

By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard

LONDON, England - February 17, 2009 - Currencies have crumbled across Eastern Europe on mounting fears of a debt crisis as foreign creditors withdraw from the region.

TOPEKA, Kansas - February 17, 2009 - Income tax refunds and state employee paychecks could be late after Republican leaders and the Democratic governor clashed Monday over how to solve a cash-flow problem.

Tim Geithner must nationalize some of America's biggest banks and take the total toll of the U.S. bail-out to around $2 trillion, according to one of the world's most prominent economists.

WASHINGTON - February 16, 2009 - Nouriel Roubini - the man feted with having foreseen the financial crisis before almost any of his peers - has warned that the U.S. Treasury Secretary must go significantly further than his detail-light bail-out plan delivered last week, and argues that the illegitimate Obama regime should move swiftly to take public ownership of those major U.S. banks that are failing.