Washington  - President Barack Obama met with dozens of the country's mayors at the White House Friday, promising close cooperation but urging them to spend government funds wisely in order to halt the country's economic slide.

US cities and states have faced huge budget shortfalls in the country's year-long recession, forcing many to contemplate cutbacks in services just as demand for government benefits is rising.

Baghdad  - Mostafa Hussein, a young man from Baghdad, once dreamed of joining Iraq's security forces to help end the fighting that has torn his country apart in recent years.

And so Hussein joined the Sunni tribal police as a first step. He tried not to let the death threats he received as a result bother him. Undeterred, he applied for a job with the Iraqi police.

When the police turned him down, Hussein did not give up. He tried bribing his way into a job, also without success. All the government jobs, he said, are reserved for friends and relatives of government officials.

Tallinn  - The Estonian government survived a no confidence vote on Friday, which it had tied to plans for scathing budget cuts in a high-stakes bid to deal with the country's troubled economy.

The coalition government of Andrus Ansip won the vote in the national parliament, or Riigikogu, by 61 votes to 35.

It had tied the no confidence vote to plan for a special budget aimed at saving around 8 billion kroons (690 million dollars) from public finances.

Mexico City - Mexico's central bank cut the leading interest rate by 25 basic points Friday to leave it at 7.5 per cent.

This was the second interest rate cut in Mexico in little over a month.

The Bank of Mexico said the global financial crisis continued to get tougher, and said that, although inflation has shown a downward trend since January, "the strong financial turbulence that was observed recently represents a risk."

Washington  - US President Barack Obama met with dozens of the country's mayors at the White House Friday, promising closer cooperation but urging local authorities to spend a massive government stimulus package wisely.

US cities and states have faced massive budget shortfalls in the year-long recession, forcing many to contemplate cutbacks in services just as demand for government benefits is rising.

According to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. the slump in the economy will drive new home construction to a nine-year low in 2009. This prediction comes in stark contrast to what the Crown Corporation was saying in November.

In defense, Bill Clark, senior economist with CMHC, said that it was not possible last quarter to predict the economic decline we are now witnessing its impact on the economy.

Three months back CMHC conjectured that there would be 177,975 new homes built this year. On Thursday the figure was attuned to 160,250 a_" a level not seen since