Charity warns on Zimbabwe cholera

The UN has warned the total number of cases could reach 60,000

The international medical charity, Medecins Sans Frontieres, predicts that the cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe will last well into 2009.

Manuel Lopez, the head of MSF in the country, told the BBC the epidemic was still at a critical level and would not subside until the rains end in March.

Even then, he said, the lack of clean drinking water means that cholera will be endemic in Zimbabwe.

The disease has claimed 1,123 lives and infected more than 20,000 people.

Mr Lopez says so many clinics and hospitals have closed that large sections of the population have no access to medical care.

"The ministry of health has declared a national emergency," said Mr Lopez.

"So it is very clear that the situation is very, very critical in terms of health people's access to health care."

Latest UN figures include a new outbreak of hundreds of cases in Chegutu, near the capital Harare, which has been worst hit by the disease.

MSF says that when it arrived in Chegutu 10 days ago, it found the local facilities completely overwhelmed.

Patients were lying on the floor, some next to dead bodies, sanitation services were non-existent, and there was no water and no food to be found.

"The situation was absolute chaos," said Luis Maria Tello, the MSF Emergency Team Medical Coordinator.

"There were no beds and patients everywhere. People were dying of thirst because there was no water."

The disposal of the dead was one of the first priorities set by the emergency team.

"Dead people were lying everywhere," said Mr Tello.

'War words'

The easily preventable disease has spread because of the collapse of health services and water sanitation in Zimbabwe.

The UN World Health Organization has said the total number of cases could reach 60,000 unless the epidemic is stopped.

South Africa's Red Cross is rushing much-needed medicine to Zimbabwe

A week ago Mr Mugabe said the outbreak had been "arrested".

He claimed Western powers wanted to use an epidemic as an excuse to invade Zimbabwe and topple him.

Meanwhile, South African ruling ANC leader Jacob Zuma said in a radio interview there was no reason for sending troops to Zimbabwe.

"Why military intervention when there is no war?" he told South Africa's 702 Talk Radio.

"We should be pressurising them to see the light."

Zimbabwe claimed earlier this week that Botswana, which has joined growing international calls for Mr Mugabe to quit, was hosting military training camps for MDC rebels.

But the current chairperson of the the Southern African Development Community, South African President Kgalema Motlanthe, said on Wednesday: "We never believed that."

$30 million aid for zimbabwe

South Africa said on Sunday it would only hand over $30 million in agricultural aid to Zimbabwe after a unity government is formed, denying a Zimbabwe media report it had reversed a decision to hold back the help.

While South Africa and other southern African countries are helping Zimbabwe deal with a cholera epidemic, the regional power said last month it would only provide farming aid to its neighbour after a coalition government was formed.

The move was seen by many as South Africa's first punitive measure against Zimbabwe, which is battling food shortages, and a sign of frustration at its neighbour’s failure to enforce a stalled power-sharing agreement and stem an economic crisis.

In rare comments about Zimbabwe, Mozambique's president added pressure on the parties to form a unity government, according to a Reuters report.

"Under the present conditions of Zimbabwe, there is no ideal alternative to implementing this agreement (and) both sides should set up a power sharing government without further delay," Armando Guebuza said in a speech to diplomats in Maputo.

Some analysts say South Africa and other African nations have been too soft on President Robert Mugabe and want to see more regional pressure on him to break a political impasse.

Zimbabwe's state-owned Sunday Mail newspaper quoted Agriculture Minister Rugare Gumbo as saying farming inputs like staple maize seed, fertiliser and fuel forming part of the 300 million rand South African package had arrived.

"The South African government has sent a consignment of agricultural inputs to Zimbabwe under its 300 million rand farming support facility," the paper said.
But a spokesman for South African President Kgalema Motlanthe said South Africa had not reversed its stance.

"We said we would be able to help with agricultural assistance worth about 300 million rand once a new government has formed, and that has not changed," said Thabo Masebe.

"In parallel, there have been efforts to assist with the humanitarian crisis so that may be what they are referring to."

Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai signed the power-sharing pact on September 15 but the deal has been unravelling over disagreements about the control of ministries.

Meanwhile Zimbabwe has sunk deeper into crisis. Hyper-inflation means prices double every day and a cholera epidemic has killed more than 1,100 people.
South African is leading the regional Southern African Development Community (SADC) in providing urgent humanitarian aid to Zimbabwe.

Western leaders blame Mugabe for the crisis and have called on him to step down. He says economic sanctions are at fault, and has vowed "never to surrender" to what he says are efforts to topple him.

Insurgents attack AU Peacekeepers in Mogadishu

One civilian was killed and five others injured as Islamist insurgents attacked African Union (AU) peacekeepers in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. Eyewitnesses say the insurgents aimed artillery fire at a base occupied by Ugandan AU troops, and the six victims were inadvertently struck by stray gunfire. The clash came only two days after two AU peacekeepers and three Somali civilians were wounded in a roadside bomb explosion targeting a new contingent of AU troops arriving from Burundi. [PE]

EU plans more help for mothers

The European Commission is unveiling plans to extend the minimum maternity leave across Europe from 14 to 18 weeks.

Nancy Godfroid wants more flexible rules to improve work-life balance
The plans are meant to offset falling birthrates across the EU.
For Nancy Godfroid, it would be a dream come true. It's 0730 and Nancy has to take her four-year-old son Anthony to school in a leafy district of Brussels.
She is the sort of woman that an ageing Europe needs, with a full-time job in a bank and another baby due later this month. You could say she has it all - but that's not what she thinks.
"The rules should be more flexible," Nancy Godfroid said, "in terms of the number of weeks you can take before and after birth.
"If I give birth earlier than expected, I lose part of my leave. I'd also like to have more time to breast-feed."
More safeguards
The existing EU law, which dates from 1992, provides for a minimum 14 weeks of maternity leave throughout Europe, including two compulsory weeks before the birth.

Nancy's situation is like that of many mothers across the EU
The new rules say women should be entitled to at least 18 consecutive weeks' maternity leave, six of which should be taken after birth. The rest would be taken before or after labour, as the mother chooses.
Under the proposals, the 27 EU countries would guarantee that women won't be sacked during or immediately after maternity leave. Governments would be free to offer new mothers more time off, but would have to pay them at least as much as sickness leave.
Across Europe, there are wide differences in the amount of leave and pay for mothers-to-be. In Belgium, it is 15 weeks; in France, 16; in Britain it is 26, while in Bulgaria you can take almost a year.
In Germany, which has one of the lowest birthrates in the EU, women are entitled to the minimum 14 weeks, but with full pay.
EU sets example
But Katharina von Schnurbein is lucky. Because she works for the European Commission, she gets 20 weeks on full pay.

Katharina enjoys generous terms as an EU employee
"I think we set a good example," said Ms Von Schnurbein, who is the social affairs spokeswoman for the European Commission.
She is also the highly pregnant poster-girl for the new directive on maternity leave. Just hours before she starts hers, she argues that giving women across Europe more support would make more of them choose to have babies and go back to work.
"It makes sense to see this not only as spending," Ms Von Schnurbein said, "but also as an investment in the future, to see how we can enable women to have a career, to have children and have the number of children they want."
The European Commission may want a better balance between work and family life, but that costs money.
Countries like Germany and Belgium would have to give women longer maternity leave, Britain and Bulgaria would have to pay them more while they stay at home looking after their babies - at least as much as normal sickness pay.
Liliane Volozinskis, from the European Union of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, which represents 12 million companies, says the price would be high for business and women themselves.
"It could create reluctance from small employers to hire women," she said, "because particularly in difficult economic situations you need to have people coming as soon as possible on the labour market."
Some, like the Czech Republic, also object to what they say is European Commission interference in their social welfare systems.
But if a majority of EU governments and the European Parliament agree, the new rules for maternity leave could be in place by 2011. That may encourage others to follow Nancy's and Katharina's example.

Budget fears dominate EU summit

Anxiety about national budgets dominated an EU summit where the rescue and supervision of banks vied with climate change as the most pressing issue.
The severity of the financial crisis has had an impact on the EU's ambitious plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions, which look likely to be watered down under pressure from a new "eastern bloc", along with Italy.
The billions of euros required to adapt large enterprises to the emissions targets threaten to put further strain on budgets already groaning under the weight of bank bail-outs and rising unemployment.
Poland, heavily reliant on coal-fired power stations, teamed up with seven other former communist countries to demand a reassessment of the burden imposed by the targets.
Then Italy's Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, struck a protectionist note, saying Italian firms were "in no state to take on costs like those we thought about last year".
Fiercely debated
The European Commission will now look at the specific problems that some countries face in meeting the targets. But it is determined - along with the French EU presidency - to clinch a deal on the targets before next year.
The proposed changes to the EU's pioneering Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) will be fiercely debated in the European Parliament and by ministers, who are supposed to hammer out a deal strong enough to inspire the rest of the world. The EU is gearing up for major international talks next year on climate change.

For those who want the European Union to walk with power and purpose on the world stage this summit is both triumph and tragedy
BBC's Mark Mardell in his blog
Mardell's Europe
One of the parliament's chief negotiators on the climate package, Green MEP Satu Hassi, urged EU leaders to "keep firm with the commitments already given".
"The financial crisis does not blow away climate change," she said, adding that the crisis "teaches us that early action is always wiser than emergency action".
Yet in the absence of a clear roadmap on the climate package, EU leaders were keen to show a united response to the banking crisis.
The turmoil in Wall Street, with the freezing of inter-bank lending, triggered emergency bank bail-outs by individual European governments before the 15 eurozone countries announced a joint multi-billion-euro plan to recapitalise banks and guarantee loans.
UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown basked in his fellow Europeans' praise for showing the way, with his rescue plan for British banks, estimated to be worth £500bn (641bn euros).
But, in contrast with his famously low-key appearances at EU summits, he joined the chorus of calls for more co-ordinated EU action.
'Crisis cell'
The EU plans to set up a "financial crisis cell" - a rapid response team tasked with co-ordinating EU action in any future financial crises. Any member state in trouble will be able to trigger the new alert system. The idea is to prevent any country's state intervention harming the interests of another EU member.
But France's President Nicolas Sarkozy also stressed the need for global solutions, to refashion the world's financial system and make it "fit for the 21st century".
He and commission president Jose Manuel Barroso will meet US President George W Bush on Saturday to prepare for a global crisis summit - a "G8 plus", including emerging powers like China and India.

President Sarkozy wants a tighter rein on the financial sector
Mr Sarkozy's priority is tighter financial supervision, with action on hedge funds, tax havens, executive pay and ratings agencies.
Maintaining the international competitiveness of European industry is looming as the next big challenge, once some stability returns to the banking system.
Mr Sarkozy says he wants to see the same joint EU effort applied to that problem as to the banking crisis.
Energy security is highlighted as another EU priority in the summit conclusions - though it was overshadowed by the urgent economic and climate agenda.
The fuel protests across Europe earlier this year - triggered by surging oil prices - and worries about the reliability of Russian gas supplies made energy security a pressing issue.
The EU wants to diversify its sources of supply, make the energy market more transparent and improve the Baltic region's pipeline network.
As for the Lisbon Treaty, which dominated the last EU summit in Brussels, the Irish government has pledged to come up with a plan by December. But the bank crisis has forced the EU's controversial institutional reforms onto the back-burner.

Mandela's jail overrun by rabbits

South Africa's Robben Island is to be closed for two weeks while authorities cull rabbits that have overrun the site where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned.
The rabbits are so numerous that they threaten the island's vegetation and historic buildings, an official said.
Mr Mandela, who became South Africa's president after the end of apartheid, was held on Robben Island for 18 years.
The UN World Heritage site has become one of the country's most famous tourist attractions.
"The current population is so large that it threatens to permanently damage the island's sensitive vegetation, and poses a serious threat to other fauna species," said Seelan Naidoo, an official at the Robben Island museum.
A "humane" cull would be carried out in co-ordination with animal rights groups, he said.
This will be followed by a sterilisation programme aimed at allowing a small and manageable population of rabbits.
The Robben Island museum, located off the coast of Cape Town, is to be closed from 1-16 November.

Mandela's jail overrun by rabbits

South Africa's Robben Island is to be closed for two weeks while authorities cull rabbits that have overrun the site where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned.
The rabbits are so numerous that they threaten the island's vegetation and historic buildings, an official said.
Mr Mandela, who became South Africa's president after the end of apartheid, was held on Robben Island for 18 years.
The UN World Heritage site has become one of the country's most famous tourist attractions.
"The current population is so large that it threatens to permanently damage the island's sensitive vegetation, and poses a serious threat to other fauna species," said Seelan Naidoo, an official at the Robben Island museum.
A "humane" cull would be carried out in co-ordination with animal rights groups, he said.
This will be followed by a sterilisation programme aimed at allowing a small and manageable population of rabbits.
The Robben Island museum, located off the coast of Cape Town, is to be closed from 1-16 November.

Somali Islamists threaten Kenya

Somali Islamists say they will attack Kenya if it goes ahead with plans to train 10,000 government troops.
"We will order all our holy warriors to start the jihadi war inside Kenya," said spokesman Sheikh Muktar Robow.
Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetangula has been quoted recently offering the training to beleaguered government forces.
The warning comes as insurgents have again battled government troops and peacekeepers in the capital, Mogadishu.
At least five people have been killed, residents and doctors say.
A witness told the BBC there were clashes near an African Union peacekeeping base at the strategic K-4 junction and that mortars were used.
The Islamists have increasingly targeted the AU peacekeeping force in recent months, as well as the government and their Ethiopian allies.
The K-4 junction is strategically placed in the south of the city linking the airport and the presidential palace, and some AU peacekeepers are based there.
The witness said he could see houses on fire, and heavy gunfire could be heard in the background.

The government is recognised by the international community but correspondents say it only controls a few patches of the country.
Somalia has been without a functioning government since President Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted in 1991.
Ethiopian troops helped the government push Islamist forces from control of central and southern Somalia in late 2006, triggering an insurgency.
The US supports Ethiopia's intervention in Somalia and accuses the Islamists of links to al-Qaeda.
The US says they are sheltering al-Qaeda operatives who attacked Israeli targets in Kenya in 2002.
'Threat'
On Thursday, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said Ethiopia would review its position in the coming months, but would stay longer if Somali politicians showed "readiness for peace".
Even if Ethiopian troops left, he said, they could still return if the powerful Islamist militia al-Shabab threatened to take power.

Civilians have fled the fighting in Mogadishu in huge numbers
"Whenever there's a threat posed, we will come back to break their backs," he said.
"Any government is preferable to the Shabab. It's in the interest of Ethiopia and the Somali people to prevent them from coming to power."
More than three million people - almost half of Somalia's population - need food aid, according to the UN.
Aid agencies recently estimated that 1.1 million people had been uprooted from Mogadishu over the last nine months.
Last weekend, Burundi deployed more than 800 peacekeepers to Somalia, boosting the strength of the AU force to just over 3,000.
But the mission, which is made up of troops from Uganda and Burundi, remains well below the force of 8,000 that the AU originally said it would send.
Mr Meles said Ethiopian troops would remain in Somalia "at least until the African peace force is fully deployed."

Iran and Iraq in war missing deal

Iran and Iraq have signed an agreement to search for missing persons from the bitter eight-year war they fought in the 1980s, the Red Cross says.
It said both countries had agreed to share information and would hand over any remains that were found.
It is not known how many people are missing, but some estimates put the figure in hundreds of thousands.
Delegates from Iraq and Iran signed the document at the Red Cross headquarters in Geneva, the aid agency said.
It was the first time the two neighbours signed a direct agreement to work together on the issue, having dealt separately with the Red Cross until now.
The agreement represents "an important step toward easing the heavy burden of thousands of bereaved Iraqi and Iranian families," said a spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) .
Around a million people were killed in the 1980-1988 war, with thousands of prisoners captured on both sides.
Iran's official reports suggest at least 8,000 Iranians are unaccounted for. Iraq's Ministry of Human Rights says the Iraqi figure ranges from 375,000 to one million.
In total, the ICRC says it has helped repatriate some 97,000 prisoners of war (POWs) since the end of the war.
Twenty years after the end of the war, families on both sides continue to search for records of their loved ones in hospitals, morgues and police stations.

US rivals back on campaign trail

The US presidential rivals are heading back to the campaign trail after a heated final televised debate.
John McCain turned in an aggressive performance but opinion polls on the event suggested he had failed to land a telling blow on Barack Obama.
Analysts say the Republican Mr McCain will now spend some time focusing on shoring up stronghold states.
Frontrunner Mr Obama advised against complacency, recalling his surprise defeat in the New Hampshire primary.
On Thursday night the two candidates will again share a stage - giving speeches at a traditional political dinner in Manhattan in honour of former New York Governor Al Smith.
Advertising plans
Mr Obama will now be targeting states he previously considered to be Republican territory, commentators say.
He is heading out to visit Virginia and Missouri in the next few days.
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McCain and Obama on taxes, tax-cuts and Joe the plumber
Sources in the Democratic campaign say he will advertise in West Virginia, which George W Bush won four years ago and which Mr Obama lost to Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in the primary.
The sources say the campaign may also fund attempts to win over states such as Kentucky, North Dakota and Georgia.
Mr McCain will visit the swing state of Pennsylvania but sources say he will also have to go to more favourable Republican territories such as Virginia, Colorado and Florida.
The Republican National Committee (RNC) has said it will halt advertising in Maine and Wisconsin. The move suggests strategists are doubtful about their candidate's chances there, analysts say.
The McCain campaign will continue to run its own ads in the states. Mr McCain was in Wisconsin last week, and running mate Sarah Palin is expected to visit Maine on Thursday.
'I'm not Bush'
On Thursday morning, Mr Obama said there were now 19 days to go but that would be a beginning not an end, as the amount of work for the next president would be "extraordinary".
He warned against complacency, referring to his defeat by Mrs Clinton in the New Hampshire primary.
"I've been in these positions before where we were favoured and the press starts getting carried away, and we end up getting spanked," Mr Obama said.
Again, McCain seems harsher, but is this not what debating is all about?
BBC North America editor Justin Webb
Read Justin's thoughts in full
Blow by blow: McCain v Obama
Republican challenge on Ohio
In Wednesday's 90-minute TV debate at Hofstra University in Long Island, New York, analysts said Mr McCain had turned in his best performance.
He went on the attack immediately, calling Mr Obama's tax plans class warfare and deriding efforts to link him to President George W Bush.
"Senator Obama, I am not President Bush. If you wanted to run against President Bush, you should have run four years ago," Mr McCain said.
He also referred to Mr Obama's association with Bill Ayers, once a member of a US group that waged a violent campaign against the Vietnam War.
However, Mr Obama appeared unruffled by the attacks, saying Mr McCain had been "a vigorous supporter of President Bush".
He added: "Mr Ayers is not involved in my campaign. He has never been involved in this campaign. And he will not advise me in the White House."
The Illinois senator said that 100% of Mr McCain's political adverts had been negative and that voters were more interested in how the candidates planned to fix the economy.
'Socialist'
Immediate voter polls found Mr Obama came out on top.

Who is 'Joe the plumber'?
A CNN poll of people watching Wednesday's debate said Mr Obama won by 58% to 31%, while a CBS survey found the Democrat the winner by 53% to 22%.
A poll of undecided independent voters by US network Fox also suggested Mr Obama was the victor.
One interested viewer was Joe Wurzelbacher.
He shot to prominence in the campaign when he met Barack Obama and expressed concern about what the senator's tax plans might mean for his plumbing business.
After the debate "Joe the plumber" from Ohio said he was "floored" by the impact he had made.
He refused to say who he would vote for but said Mr Obama had a "very socialist view" of taxes "and that's incredibly wrong".

Ghanaians Express Frustration With Kufuor’s Advisors Over Plane Mishap

Some Ghanaians are reportedly expressing outrage after President John Kufuor's life was put at risk over the weekend when the presidential jet carrying him aborted its trip due to technical malfunctions. They are calling for the resignation of President Kufuor's top advisors for putting his life in danger. They contend that President Kufuor has been not been using the presidential jet, nicknamed the Flying Coffin, due to its unworthiness.

Kufuor was traveling on the presidential jet on a scheduled state visit to Equatorial Guinea to participate in that country's 40^th Independence anniversary with President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. The flight had to be aborted after the pilot cited failure of the pressure system, which made temperature within the cabin began to rise significantly.

From the capital Accra, managing editor Ben Ephson of the independent Daily Dispatch newspaper tells reporter Peter Clottey Ghanaians are upset that President Kufuor's Advisors did not value his life.

"Actually what happened is that the pilot said there was a reduction in pressure so the internal pressure system was not working. So the plane started getting hot. So 20 minutes after the flight, he (President Kufuor) had to return to Accra," Ephson noted.

He said Ghanaians are expressing outrage after the president's aborted attempt to fly in the "Flying Coffin" presidential jet.

"If you remember, this plane in the 1990s it was nicknamed the flying coffin because ex-President Jerry Rawlings had used it and he has had a few close shaves with life and death. So the ex-president had to buy a new presidential jet. Now, when President Kufuor was in opposition before winning the 2000 election, he had criticized the way and manner the new plane was bought. So I believe that arising from that previous criticism, when he (President Kufuor) came to power he refused to use that plane and in the end, he exchanged that plane for some helicopters and jet fighters for the Ghana Air force," he said.

Ephson said although the president would be going out of office this year, he controversially put forward a plan, which would acquire two new presidential jets.

"Incidentally, within the last three or four months, he (President Kufuor) has put together a package and he is buying two presidential jets totaling $110 million dollars, and which would be delivered in mid 2009. That is for whoever becomes the next president to use," Ephson pointed out.

He said President Kufuor's plan to purchase two new presidential planes did not go down well with some Ghanaians who he said are still opposed to it.

"The decision to buy those two planes came under a lot of criticism, and some of the arguments used by the ruling NPP (New Patriotic Party) was that President Rawlings also bought one. And I believe this is what quite irritated a lot of floating voters because their argument is that well, for the floating voters, President Rawlings because he had a majority in parliament in 2000, bought a presidential jet, and you (President Kufuor) to use. You are buying it for others to use. This is what has irritated some of the floating voters. So, clearly there was criticism that well, whether we like it or not, money has been spent that was the people's money and not that of the former president. He (Ex-President Rawlings) used state funds to buy the presidential jet, so yes, you may have criticized it, but yes you have to use it," he said.

Ephson said Ghanaians are expressing their frustration over the plane's close call in flight.

"I think that people have been a bit angry. Angry in the sense that the presidents put himself at that risk because, take it or leave it, he is our number one citizen. And that if decided not to use the plane, people expected that he could have chartered a plane or had a plane sent for him, or gone by a commercial flight because that plane was not named the flying coffin for nothing. It had put the former president's life at risk. So people were wondering, yes he may had flown a few times, but you know the president's health is always paramount in any given country, and people thought that he was taking an unnecessary risk," Ephson noted.

Insurgents Attack African Union Troops in Mogadishu

Islamist rebels have attacked African Union peacekeepers for a second straight day in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, wounding at least one soldier.

An AU spokesman says the soldier was hurt Monday when a roadside bomb exploded near an AU vehicle.

On Sunday, another roadside bomb wounded two newly arrived AU peacekeepers from Burundi.

Approximately two-thousand troops from Burundi and Uganda make up the AU peacekeeping mission, known as AMISOM. The force has been guarding key sites in Mogadishu as Somalia's Ethiopian-backed government fights the Islamist insurgency.

The insurgency began in early 2007, soon after Ethiopian forces helped the government oust an Islamist movement from power in Mogadishu and other Somali cities.

Banks Warn On Mobile Money Transfers

The banking fraternity is crying foul over what it described as unfair and increasing competition from money transfer operators.

The industry says the operators are enjoying privileges similar to those extended to deposit taking institutions despite not being covered by the same regulatory regime.

"Currently, there is no legal framework within which these entities provide their services despite behaving like current account institutions," says John Wanyela, executive director of the Kenya Bankers Association. "If these operators want to join the financial sector, they have to be properly licensed."

The bankers are calling on the government to subject the services to prudential regulations "for robust and secure movement of funds across the economy."

Under the proposed guideline, the services will have to be supervised by a specialised financial regulatory authority that will oversee their financial soundness and stability.

Currently, the two leading mobile phone service providers -- Zain and Safaricom -- are offering money-transfer services in the country under Sokotele and M-Pesa brands respectively.

Like other deposit takers, the bankers association wants the mobile cash transfer operators restricted on how much deposits they can take.

To avert undue competition with the banking fraternity, Mr Wanyela says, M-Pesa and Sokotele services have to meet the capitalisation requirement as stipulated in the Banking Act.

According to the Act, a deposit taking institution should maintain a minimum capitalisation of Ksh250 million ($3.5 million).

This is however expected to double come December next year before hitting Ksh1 billion ($14.2 million) by 2010 after capitalisation requirements were amended in this financial year's budget.

The bankers also say the "digital money" has implications for the conduct of monetary policy by the Central Bank of Kenya.

To control inflation levels in the country, CBK continuously monitors the amount of money in circulation, mainly in the hands of people and commercial banks.

With the monies in circulation, CBK is in a position to maintain a reserve money target and, therefore, intervene to control inflation.

Observers say it is this huge amount of money circulating electronically that has defeated CBK in the fight against inflation.

Mr Wanyela says it is time the government stepped in to ensure M-Pesa and Sokotele services are regulated before "something goes wrong."

Debate has been rife on who should regulate the mobile phone money transfer operators, with some arguing that the CBK should be party to the issuance of guidelines as "part of M-Pesa and Sokotele services fall under the national payments system."

Fundamentally, the two mobile operations are guided by the Communications Commission of Kenya.

Early last month, CBK said it had no intention of bringing the mobile cash transfer services under the Banking Act.

It claimed that treating the money transfer services under the Act may impede competition in sector that is still at its infancy in a country whose majority population has limited access to financial services.

In July last year, mobile phone giant Vodafone said a regulatory framework to govern financial transactions by mobile phones was urgently needed to "provide financial security to millions of people without access to banking services."

According to Vodafone, "Know your customer and anti-money laundering rules need to be adapted to conditions in developing markets where formal documentation and access to photocopiers is limited.

"The customer data held by mobile operators could, with appropriate safeguards, offer an alternative to existing forms of regulation," says the firm.

Kenya's Safaricom, in which Vodafone has a 40 per cent share, was the first mobile service provider in the world to introduce money transfer services under the M-Pesa brand.

Safaricom statistics show that as at the end of the first quarter of this year, more than Ksh3.1 billion ($44.2 million) had been transferred.

Palin mimic gets US public's vote

At a campaign rally in Florida, Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin shouts out to the crowd: "I love her, she's a hoot and she's so talented."

She is referring to Tina Fey, who, along with the Alaskan governor, has become one of the most talked about women in this election campaign.

Tina Fey's impersonations of Mrs Palin have generated millions of viewers, website clicks and water cooler conversations.

It is on the hit US comedy show Saturday Night Live that Fey parodies Governor Palin.

The resemblance is uncanny, as are the mannerisms and the accent.

Most of the sketches are direct spoofs of Mrs Palin's television appearances.

In one, Fey sends up the governor's interview with American newsreader Katie Couric in which she was quizzed about foreign policy.

Sarah Palin's supporters say she likes Tina Fey's mimicry

Tina Fey as Mrs Palin: "Every morning, when Alaskans wake up, one of the first things they do, is look outside to see if there are any Russians hanging around.

"And if there are, you gotta go up to them and ask: 'What are you doing here?' And if they can't give you a good reason, it's our responsibility to say, you know, 'Shoo! Get back over there!'"

The fake interview has received rave reviews, but in the real one, Sarah Palin was criticised by many, even from within her own party, for her performance.

Later she admitted she had been "less than successful", but joked there was a reason.

"In response to critics after that interview what I should have told them is, I was trying to keep Tina Fey in business… just giving her more information… job security for SNL (Saturday Night Live) characters."

Guest star

The spoof Sarah Palin has certainly done wonders for the show.

Ratings for Saturday Night Live have gone up, averaging 8.3 million viewers, and the sketches are drawing as many as 9.3 million hits online.

In fact, Mrs Palin herself has said she would like to guest star.

"It would be fun to meet her, imitate her and keep on giving her new material," she said.

That may even become a reality.

There has been talk that the pair could appear on the show together before November's election.

Lorne Michaels, executive producer of Saturday Night Live, has not ruled it out.

Tina Fey has enjoyed great success in acting and writing

He said that the McCain campaign called after the first sketch to say they enjoyed Tina Fey's take on their candidate.

Tina Fey is a huge star in her own right.

An Emmy award winning comedy actor and writer, she is best known in America for her appearances on the hit comedy 30 Rock as well as Saturday Night Live.

She bears a striking resemblance to Mrs Palin, and it seems that the mimicry is mutual.

Kristan Cole, who has known the Alaskan governor for 38 years, said Sarah Palin had in fact dressed up as Tina Fey a few years ago for Halloween.

She said the reaction back in Mrs Palin's home town of Wasilla to the sketches had been positive.

"Anybody I talk to thinks they're funny, nobody is upset by them," she added.

She also said that Sarah Palin wasn't worried about being sent up and had told her that she thought Tina Fey had her mannerisms dead on.

Credibility 'damaged'

"As someone who is very close to her, I don't like unfair criticism of her but the SNL sketch is not in that category whatsoever.

"This thing is just funny… I think everyone expects SNL to poke some fun. I don't think anyone foresees it as negative."

However, others disagree saying the sketches have damaged Mrs Palin's credibility.

In some sketches Fey get laughs just by directly repeating the governors own words.

Palin has been lampoonable because of those terrible disastrous interviews Professor Larry Sabato

Some commentators go as far as to dub the "Tina Fey Factor" one of the biggest challenges the Republican Vice-Presidential candidate faces.

A study from the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion concluded that Sarah Palin's favourability rating dropped after people watched the Saturday Night Live sketches.

It asked 314 Democrats, Republicans and independents how they viewed her before and after the sketches.

All groups said they saw her in a worse light.

But that sample is small, and political analyst Professor Larry Sabato does not believe Tina Fey has hurt Mrs Palin's image, but that the candidate herself has.

"Palin has been lampoonable because of those terrible disastrous interviews.

"She opened herself up to this. It's reinforced the damage that Palin herself did."

Internet copycats

Mr Sabato strongly rejects suggestions that the sketches will have an impact on the election itself.

"It's interesting, it's fun, but it has nothing to do with how people are voting," he said.

One thing the Fey impressions have done, is prompt a whole host of copycats on the internet.

A search on YouTube brings up a whole host of impersonators - a singing Sarah Palin, a gangsta rapping governor and even a man in drag attempting a spoof.

Sara Benincasa, a liberal comedian from New York, stars as Sarah Palin in a video blog, which she started in September.

"Her life is filled with drama and we are satirising that drama," she said.

"She has a pregnant teenage daughter and five kids. She's really into promoting herself as a hockey mom and a conservative Christian.

"We thought all of those things were ripe for lampooning."

Benincasa explained why she felt Sarah Palin was such a popular subject of parody.

"This person was trying to promote herself as an average gal while running for one of the highest offices of the land. The job of a court jester is to make fun of the king."

McCain in 'hatred' war of words

Republican presidential candidate John McCain has become embroiled in a war of words with racial undertones after clashing with a civil rights icon.

John Lewis accused Mr McCain's campaign of "sowing hatred" against opponent Barack Obama and said he was reminded of 1960s segregationist George Wallace.

Mr McCain, who recently said Mr Lewis was one of his most admired Americans, called the reference "beyond the pale".

Mr McCain has also tried to cool his supporters' resentment of Mr Obama.

In Minnesota on Friday, Mr McCain defended Mr Obama after some at the town hall meeting labelled him a "terrorist", "an Arab", a "traitor" and a candidate who inspired fear.

The Republican's campaign has also suffered from a legislative probe in Alaska that found his vice-presidential running mate and state governor, Sarah Palin, had abused her power.

With just over three weeks to go to the election, she has again denied any wrongdoing in the affair.

Rally boos

Democratic Congressman Lewis is considered one of the key figures of the civil rights movement.

He said: "Senator McCain and Governor Palin are playing with fire, and if they are not careful, that fire will consume us all."

My statement was a reminder to all Americans that toxic language can lead to destructive behaviour John Lewis Economy may deflect Palin probe

Mr Lewis said the "sowing of seeds of hatred and division" reminded him of Alabama Governor Wallace's rhetoric in 1963 that was blamed for a church bomb attack that killed four young girls.

Mr McCain reacted angrily, calling the reference "shocking and beyond the pale".

"I am saddened that John Lewis, a man I've always admired, would make such a brazen and baseless attack on my character," he said.

Mr Lewis later said his reference was not a direct one, but was simply pointing out that "toxic language can lead to destructive behaviour".

He also welcomed Mr McCain's attempts to cool angry supporters at Republican rallies.

At the Minnesota meeting, Mr McCain said Mr Obama was a decent family man and voters should not be afraid of him, but drew boos for defending him.

The Obama campaign quickly said it did not believe Mr McCain's campaign was in any way comparable to Wallace.

Abortion attack

The McCain campaign has targeted Mr Obama over his alleged links to 1960s militant William Ayers.

Mrs Palin said Mr Obama was "palling around with terrorists".

On Saturday, Mrs Palin defended herself against the findings of the Alaskan investigation.

It found she had abused her power by allowing her husband to put pressure on officials to sack her former brother-in-law, a state trooper who was in a bitter custody battle with her sister.

Asked by a journalist in Pennsylvania if the accusations were correct, she said: "No, and if you read the report you will see that there was nothing unlawful or unethical about it."

The report said Mrs Palin failed to act to stop her husband contacting the officials in the case known as Troopergate.

Mrs Palin on Saturday stepped up her attacks on Mr Obama, calling him a pro-abortion radical.

"He hopes you won't notice how radical, absolutely radical, his ideas on this and his record is until it's too late," she said.

McCain in 'hatred' war of words

Republican presidential candidate John McCain has become embroiled in a war of words with racial undertones after clashing with a civil rights icon.

John Lewis accused Mr McCain's campaign of "sowing hatred" against opponent Barack Obama and said he was reminded of 1960s segregationist George Wallace.

Mr McCain, who recently said Mr Lewis was one of his most admired Americans, called the reference "beyond the pale".

Mr McCain has also tried to cool his supporters' resentment of Mr Obama.

In Minnesota on Friday, Mr McCain defended Mr Obama after some at the town hall meeting labelled him a "terrorist", "an Arab", a "traitor" and a candidate who inspired fear.

The Republican's campaign has also suffered from a legislative probe in Alaska that found his vice-presidential running mate and state governor, Sarah Palin, had abused her power.

With just over three weeks to go to the election, she has again denied any wrongdoing in the affair.

Rally boos

Democratic Congressman Lewis is considered one of the key figures of the civil rights movement.

He said: "Senator McCain and Governor Palin are playing with fire, and if they are not careful, that fire will consume us all."

My statement was a reminder to all Americans that toxic language can lead to destructive behaviour John Lewis Economy may deflect Palin probe

Mr Lewis said the "sowing of seeds of hatred and division" reminded him of Alabama Governor Wallace's rhetoric in 1963 that was blamed for a church bomb attack that killed four young girls.

Mr McCain reacted angrily, calling the reference "shocking and beyond the pale".

"I am saddened that John Lewis, a man I've always admired, would make such a brazen and baseless attack on my character," he said.

Mr Lewis later said his reference was not a direct one, but was simply pointing out that "toxic language can lead to destructive behaviour".

He also welcomed Mr McCain's attempts to cool angry supporters at Republican rallies.

At the Minnesota meeting, Mr McCain said Mr Obama was a decent family man and voters should not be afraid of him, but drew boos for defending him.

The Obama campaign quickly said it did not believe Mr McCain's campaign was in any way comparable to Wallace.

Abortion attack

The McCain campaign has targeted Mr Obama over his alleged links to 1960s militant William Ayers.

Mrs Palin said Mr Obama was "palling around with terrorists".

On Saturday, Mrs Palin defended herself against the findings of the Alaskan investigation.

It found she had abused her power by allowing her husband to put pressure on officials to sack her former brother-in-law, a state trooper who was in a bitter custody battle with her sister.

Asked by a journalist in Pennsylvania if the accusations were correct, she said: "No, and if you read the report you will see that there was nothing unlawful or unethical about it."

The report said Mrs Palin failed to act to stop her husband contacting the officials in the case known as Troopergate.

Mrs Palin on Saturday stepped up her attacks on Mr Obama, calling him a pro-abortion radical.

"He hopes you won't notice how radical, absolutely radical, his ideas on this and his record is until it's too late," she said.

Battle for the Heart of America

The considerable interest in the US presidential election around the world may partly reflect just its entertainment value.

But it is also true that however much of its "single superpower" status America has lost since the early 1990s (and this even before the current financial crisis that serves in part to confirm this), the outcomes of such elections have major global implications.

Indeed, some (such as Emmanuel Todd, in After the Empire: The Breakdown of the American Order) have argued that it is the very decline of the US' economic might, in large part a result of its energy dependence, rampant consumerism and the resultant burgeoning indebtedness, financed primarily by foreigners, that promotes ultimately futile military adventurism, designed more to show fire-power "hardware" than to rationally address threats to the US national security.

But whatever one's view of the evolving US position in the world, the importance of its national leadership to people outside its own borders is obvious, and has been, at least since World War II.

And with one of the two major candidates in this year's election having Kenyan roots, the heightened interest here and indeed in much of the rest of the world, even outside Africa, is to be expected.

Over such roots, however, it is misleading to describe Barack Obama as an African-American, as his wife Michelle for example, should be.

More accurate, perhaps would be "American-African", at least in terms of his origin, since being a "point 5" (in local parlance), he is at least genetically much more of a "mixture" than are African-Americans, as the term is generally used.

Yet especially given the fact that his father featured so briefly/distantly in his actual upbringing, he may be viewed, especially by many African-Americans, with some disdain as far more "white" than a 50-50 mixture.

In this sense, too, it is suggested that while certainly being the first major presidential candidate of colour, his rather unique mixed identity actually constitutes much less of a barrier to high office than to those in his wife's racial category, which is a sad commentary on American race relations, even after all the recent progress.

But the unusual, if not rather unique, aspects of this election go beyond Obama's DNA.

For each of the candidates are outsiders in a number of other ways.

Having yet to complete his first term in the US Senate and having had no previous executive experience, besides having been trounced in an earlier election for one of Illinois' seats in the House of Representatives by over 30 per cent while serving in the Senate of that state, one wonders just how Obama was able to even get close to capturing the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.

As The Economist noted recently, Obama "has the thinnest resume of any (presidential) nominee in living memory."

The same bewilderment may be applied to John McCain's success in getting himself onto the Republican ticket.

After all, here is a long-serving senator who some years ago considered becoming a Democrat, an option that seems less bizarre when one examines the ranking he earned a few years ago from the conservative National Journal.

Among some 50 Republican senators, he ranked 46th in terms of backing his own party's position on legislative initiatives. Such a ranking fits in with his "maverick" reputation generally.

For example, when Bob Dole was running for president in 1988, his campaign staff is said to have suffered near-nervous break-downs whenever McCain accompanied him as he could make statements to the Press that were completely at odds with the Dole/Republican party policy.

Said one aide: "We didn't even want him on the airplane with Dole..."

Within Republican circles, McCain claims that his voting record proves he was a "foot solider in the (President Ronald) Reagan revolution."

But when asked if McCain "could be trusted as a conservative", fellow Republican, Utah Senator Robert Bennett, coyly replied: "I'm going to dodge that question."

Clintons rally behind Obama

Bill and Hillary Clinton have made their first joint campaign stop in support of Democrat Barack Obama's bid for the US presidency.

The appearance of the former first couple in Scranton, Pennsylvania, is seen as an attempt to boost Mr Obama's vote in the US blue-collar heartland.

Mr Obama's Republican opponent, John McCain, will try to revive flagging poll ratings in a key state, Virginia.

He has signalled a change in tactics after some harsh attacks on Mr Obama.

Even in Virginia Beach, there are concerns about Senator McCain's campaign - the state's Republican leadership is worried that he's not getting his message across Matthew Price: Campaign Trail

But he nevertheless said he would "whip" Mr Obama's "you know what" in the final TV debate between the two candidates, to be held on Wednesday.

Both presidential candidates are preparing to unveil major new plans to deal with the current financial crisis and the flagging US economy.

Aides to Mr McCain say the Republican will unveil a new economic strategy expected to include tax cuts.

Mr Obama is scheduled to give a "major policy address" in the swing state of Ohio, his campaign said, to outline an "economic rescue plan for the middle class".

Election 'too important'

The Clintons joined vice-presidential candidate Joe Biden in his birthplace, the town of Scranton, Pennsylvania, to call on voters to make Mr Obama president.

Bill also seemed keen to answer critics that Hillary was not somehow pulling her weight for Obama Gavin Hewitt: Campaign Trail

This was their first campaign appearance together since Mr Obama narrowly defeated Mrs Clinton in the Democratic primaries earlier this year.

"This election is too important to sit on the sidelines of history," said Mrs Clinton, who defeated Mr Obama in the Pennsylvania primary by 10 percentage points.

"It took a Democratic president to clean up after the last President Bush, it's going to take a Democratic president to clean up after this President Bush," she added.

ELECTION POLLTRACKER See the latest national trends

"Make no mistake about it. We've done it before and we'll do it again. America will once again rise from the ashes of the Bushes."

Bill Clinton asked Hillary's supporters to throw their weight behind Mr Obama.

"You need to remember, if you supported her, why you did it," he said.

"If you ask yourselves who has the best ideas, who's got the best instinct, who's got the best ability to understand these challenges, who's got the best supporting cast, the answer is Barack Obama."

'Beyond the pale'

Meanwhile Mr McCain's team said he would change tack after a series of personal attacks on his opponent, and the candidate himself called for a "respectful" campaign.

Over the weekend, the Republican candidate became embroiled in a war of words with racial undertones after clashing with a civil rights icon.

John McCain has tried to cool supporters' resentment of Mr Obama

John Lewis accused Mr McCain's campaign of "sowing hatred" against his opponent and said he had been reminded of 1960s segregationist George Wallace.

Mr McCain, who recently said Mr Lewis was one of his most admired Americans, called the reference "beyond the pale".

Mr McCain has also tried to cool his supporters' resentment of Mr Obama, for which he won praise from his opponent.

In Minnesota on Friday, Mr McCain defended Mr Obama after some at the town hall meeting labelled him a "terrorist", "an Arab", a "traitor" and a candidate who inspired fear.

Power Sector - AC Asks Yar'Adua to Probe Obasanjo

The Action Congress (AC) has called on President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua to direct the anti-corruption agencies, especially the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to probe the role played by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in the alleged frittering away of $16 billion in the power sector between 1999 and 2007.

The party hinged its call on the report of the Representatives Committee on Power and Steel that probed the expenditure.

The report had indicted the former president among others over the power sector fund.

In a statement issued in Abuja yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the committee, going by its recommendations, was unambiguous in calling for the probe of the former President.

"For the avoidance of doubt, the AC quoted part of the recommendations, as reported by a national daily thus: "In view of the enormity of issues entailed in the findings above, it is recommended that former President Olusegun Obasanjo should be called to account for the recklessness in the power sector during his time. The committee recommends that EFCC and ICPC should investigate him."

AC said a major issue concerning the mishandling of the National Integrated Power Projects (NIPP), as discovered by the committee during its televised public sitting, was the granting of waivers to several contractors to receive huge payments without commensurate work done, all in the name of fast-tracking the projects.

But according to the committee, rather than fast track or facilitate completion of the projects as envisaged, the waiver of due process "became the major plank that facilitated payments to contractors and consultants that have failed to perform, at the expense of the nation and the power industry".

"This is nothing short of economic sabotage, which should attract the urgent attention of the EFCC," the party said, noting that President Yar'Adua had now run out of excuses not to swing into action to probe the former President and all those indicted in the findings.

It said during his tenure, Obasanjo would not have waited for such a preponderance of evidence before unleashing the EFCC against anyone, especially his perceived political enemies.

"Obasanjo made a big deal out of due process and transparency during his stormy tenure. That is good. But as it has now been revealed, he was selective in his application of due process. This is double standard, and he must be made to answer for that.

"After all, this dispensation places so much emphasis on the rule of law, which entails, among others, that no one is above the law, no matter how highly placed. This is another chance for the Yar'Adua administration to walk the talk, as they say," it added.

AC also warned against any attempt by the House to water down the report, saying the whole country is watching how the recommendations of the committee would be handled.

It said all the recommendations, including the purge of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) to enhance its performance, must be implemented to the letter.

The House committee after concluding its public sittings earlier this year, was enmeshed in internal squabble over the writing of the report and a N100 million bribery allegation. The full House then mandated its Committee on Ethics and Privileges to investigate the committee.

. $20 Billion Flees Continent Each Year

A new report says that capital flight from sub Saharan Africa reached an astonishing $607 billion between 1970 and 2004 and that total is continuing to the present day to the tune of between $20 billion and $28 billion a year.

The report published by James Boyce and Léonce Ndikumana of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, estimate that capital flight from 40 sub Saharan African countries from 1970-2004 stood at $607 billion in 2004 (including interest earnings), compared with a total $227 billion external debt owed by those countries in 2004.

In other words, sub-Saharan Africa is a net creditor to the rest of the world in the sense that external assets, as measured by the stock of capital flight, exceed external liabilities, as measured by the stock of external debt.

"The difference is that while the assets are in private hands, the liabilities are the public debts of African governments," the report says.

"The real counterpart of many assets on the balance sheets of creditor banks is private deposits in many of the same banks by individuals belonging to Africa's political and economic elites."

If the figures published are accurate, it would mean that annual capital flight is roughly equivalent to the entire aid flow to the region and that tackling the crisis would in effect double development assistance to Africa.

Another report, "Catching up with corruption" by Raymond Baker, John Christensen and Nicholas Shaxson, mentions some former presidents as among the elites involved.

"Two jurisdictions that happily soaked up the embezzled wealth of such regimes are worth highlighting: Switzerland and the United Kingdom."

The corruption report says that UK and Swiss authorities, particularly those in the City of London, have done little or nothing to assist investigations into capital flight, and in some cases have actively hindered it.

It also notes that Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index "ranks the countries of Africa as the primary locus of corruption but it ignores the global infrastructure of international financial secrecy that has helped bleed trillions of dollars in illicitly generated money not only out of Africa but also out of the Middle East, Latin America and Russia into the financial centres of the richest countries in the world."

But with the financial crisis that is dominating the world headlines, experts are predicting that things must and will change, with increasing powers being given to police to work across borders to track down illegal capital flight.

The World Bank's own Stolen Asset Recovery initiative estimates the cross-border flow of proceeds from criminal activities, corruption and tax evasion at between $1 trillion and $1.6 trillion per year, about half of which comes from developing and transitional economies in Eastern Europe.

The movement of such large amounts of capital is seriously hindering all countries' ability to raise much needed taxation, with the loss to governments across the world estimated at least $250 billion annually.

The corruption report says that the world has been slow to wake up to the problem of corruption in developing countries and that the World Bank and world governments "have yet to accept the full and very inconvenient implications of this shift in thinking.

"The task is not just to recognise the importance of a 'supply side' to corruption, involving bribe-givers as well as bribe-takers; it is also about dramatically expanding our understanding of what the supply side has come to include in a rapidly changing globalised world.

Only after our understanding has caught up with reality will be able to adequately answer a question that has long puzzled economists: Why does so much money flow from poor countries to rich ones, when, for both rational and ethical reasons, it ought to flow the other way?"

Obama outlines economic package

Democratic US presidential candidate Barack Obama has unveiled an "economic rescue plan for the middle class" at a campaign event in Ohio.

Senator Obama outlined a series of measures, including tax credits for job-creating firms and a moratorium on some home foreclosures.

He has a double-digit poll lead over his Republican rival John McCain, a new ABC/Washington Post poll suggests.

Senator McCain dismissed the polls at a rally in the key state of Virginia.

"We're six points down," he told supporters.

"The national media has written us off... But they forgot to let you decide. My friends, we've got them just where we want them."

Mr McCain did not make any new economic proposals in his speech, despite an earlier suggestion from economic adviser Senator Lindsey Graham that the Republican candidate was considering a reduction in capital gains tax.

But McCain aides now say that any such plan would not be unveiled until later this week.

He reiterated previous pledges to "buy up bad mortgages" and to allow retirees and people nearing retirement to "keep their money in their retirement accounts longer".

Thelma Drake has just said, 'Sarah Palin is a breath of fresh air' - the crowd loves it Matthew Price: Campaign Trail

Mr Obama's economic rescue plan consisted of four main proposals.

He said he would suspend home foreclosures by some banks for 90 days and give firms a $3,000 (£1,735) tax credit for every job they create.

He also pledged to let people withdraw up to 15% of their pension plans (or $10,000) without tax penalties and to create a federal fund that would lend to city and state governments.

"It's a plan that begins with one word that's on everyone's mind, and it's spelled J-O-B-S," he told the crowd.

John McCain on his plans to strengthen the US economy

Since the recent economic turmoil began, Mr Obama, 47, has seen his poll ratings surge.

According to the ABC News/Washington Post poll, of those voters who rate the economy as their most important issue, 62% favour Mr Obama, while 33% prefer Mr McCain.

Mr McCain's team has indicated a change of tack after a series of personal attacks on Mr Obama.

You can sense the optimism of the Democrats. Much as they try, they can't disguise it. Gavin Hewitt: Campaign Trail

Among all voters, Mr Obama leads Mr McCain by 53% to 43%.

Over the weekend, the Republican candidate became embroiled in a war of words after clashing with a civil rights icon.

Democratic congressman John Lewis accused Mr McCain's campaign of "sowing hatred" against his opponent and said he had been reminded of 1960s segregationist George Wallace.

Arizona Senator McCain, 72, who recently said Mr Lewis was one of his most admired Americans, called the reference "beyond the pale".

Mr McCain has won praise from Mr Obama for trying to cool ill feeling among his supporters towards the Democrat.

In Minnesota on Friday, Mr McCain defended Mr Obama after some at the town hall meeting labelled him a "terrorist", "an Arab", a "traitor" and a candidate who inspired fear.

US lawmakers publish rescue deal

US politicians have announced a $700bn deal to rescue America's financial system and end the credit crunch.

The move, backed by both Republican and Democratic leaders, allows the Treasury to spend up to $700bn (£380bn) buying bad debts from ailing banks in the US.

President George W Bush urged lawmakers to support the bill, which needs approval by both houses of Congress.

Some Republicans have voiced objections to massive state intervention in the financial sector.

The deal was announced after days of high-level wrangling between Republicans and Democrats in Congress over the content of the bill.

Both parties had vigorous objections to a proposal submitted last week by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson that would have given him sweeping powers over how the money was spent.

Every American has an interest in fixing this crisis - inaction would paralyse the economy Harry Reid Senate majority leader Announcement in quotes Santander to buy parts of B&B Q&A: Bail-out plan

His plan was prompted by a string of failures in large US financial institutions, including the government bail-out of insurance giant AIG.

If approved by the Senate and House, the revised plan will lead to the biggest intervention in the markets since the Great Depression in the 1930s.

Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic Speaker of the House of Representatives, said the agreement was "not a bailout of Wall Street", but designed to ensure pensions, savings and jobs would be safe.

Democratic Senate leader Harry Reid said the deal was a big improvement on the initial proposal.

"They wanted a blank cheque and we couldn't give them one... Now we have to get the votes."

'Necessary tools'

The negotiations had lasted all weekend and were so intense that at one point Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson suffered what was described as a "woozy spell".

READ THE BAIL-OUT BILL Emergency Economic Stabilization Act[189KB] Most computers will open this document automatically, but you may need Adobe Reader Download the reader here

After senior members of Congress announced the agreement, President Bush gave his backing to the draft legislation.

He said the bill would send a strong message that the US was serious about restoring confidence in its financial markets.

"This bill provides the necessary tools and funding to help protect our economy against a system-wide breakdown," he said in a statement.

The US administration had wanted a deal to be announced before markets opened in Asia, but Asian investors appear yet to be convinced about the rescue plan's impact.

By Monday afternoon trading in Japan, Tokyo's main Nikkei 225 index was down 118 points or 0.8% to 11,776.

The fall on Hong Kong's Hang Seng was even more pronounced, down 383 points or 2% to 18,230.

No golden parachutes

The deal addresses several of the key concerns raised by both Democrats and Republicans:

• The government will get the money in tranches - $250bn straight away, and $100bn at the request of the White House; Congress can veto the release of the remaining $350bn
• Banks that accept bail-out money will have to hand over shares in return, which allows tax payers to benefit from the banks' recovery
• Top bankers, meanwhile, will see their pay limited, and "golden parachutes" - huge payments when they leave the firm - will be banned
• The banking industry will have to help finance the bail-out if the money can not be recovered from the struggling banks themselves
• Four agencies will monitor the deal, including an independent Inspector General and a bipartisan oversight board
• Banks will be obliged to join an insurance programme to protect them against the losses of mortgage-backed securities

The bill, called the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, faces its first hurdle later on Monday when the House votes on it, says the BBC's Justin Webb in Washington.

It goes before the Senate later in the week.

The proposed legislation was now "frozen", said Ms Pelosi, which means critics can not strike out individual provisions that they do not like.

However, several key critics of the deal called on their fellow legislators to block it.

Financial woes

The Bush administration submitted its initial proposal after several financial institutions got into trouble - unable to free up the money to keep their daily business going.

The liquidity problems have not been limited to the US.

• In the United States' largest bank failure, Washington Mutual was taken over by regulators and sold on to JPMorgan Chase
• Lehman Brothers collapsed, Merrill Lynch sought refuge in a takeover by Bank of America and Morgan Stanley secured a large capital injection from a Japanese rival
• US insurance giant AIG had to be bailed out by the US government, which in effect took an 80% stake in the firm
• In the UK, meanwhile, mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley is set to be nationalised, with the savings part of the business to be sold to Spanish banking group Santander
• The governments of Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands agreed late on Sunday evening to invest 11.2bn euro in huge financial services group Fortis, in effect nationalising it.