Economy

US could get clean energy upgrade by early summer

US could get clean energy upgrade by early summer Washington - Renewable energy in the United States could get a significant cash boost by early summer after President Barack Obama signed a massive
787-billion-dollar economic stimulus package this week, the administration said Thursday.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu said his department was doing its best to speed up the evaluation of new projects and expected about 70 per cent of the total energy funds to be used by the end of 2010.

Octuplets' family facing US eviction

Octuplets' family facing US evictionLos Angeles  - The family of the woman who gave birth to octuplets may soon find itself on the street after failing to pay the mortgage on its home for almost a year, according to a default notice filed with local authorities.

The Los Angeles Times reported Thursday that Angela Suleman, the grandmother of Nadya Suleman's 14 young children, was 23,324 dollars in arrears on the Los Angeles area home that the family lives in.

The default notice was filed on February 9. Suleman bought the house in March 2006 for 605,000 dollars with a loan of 453,750 dollars.

US economic indicator rises for second month

US economic indicator rises for second monthWashington  - A key gauge of US economic performance rose higher than expected in January despite the country's ongoing recession, according to a private research group Thursday.

The New York-based Conference Board's index of leading economic indicators was up 0.4 per cent, after climbing a revised 0.2 per cent in December of last year.

The index, which is designed to measure the economy's performance over the coming three to six months, has fallen 1.9 per cent since July.

US Fed sees strong economic recovery in 2010, 2011

US Fed sees strong economic recovery in 2010, 2011 Washington - The US Federal Reserve on Wednesday forecast strong growth for the US economy in 2010 and 2011, and central bank head Ben Bernanke said the country's recovery from a deep recession could begin this year with the right combination of government policies.

Fed members dramatically lowered their growth forecasts from October, which came at the early stages of a massive financial crisis that has derailed the world's largest economy. But the figures were nonetheless relatively positive about the prospects in coming years.

Poland in talks on entering first stage of euro, party head says

Poland in talks on entering first stage of euro, party head says Warsaw  - Poland has begun talks with the European Central Bank (ECB) on entering the first stage of adopting the euro currency, the head of the ruling Civic Platform party said on Wednesday.

"Official talks with the ECB on entering ERM-2 (Exchange Rate Mechanism) have been ongoing since several days ago," Zbigniew Chlebowski told the Polish Press Agency PAP.

The ECB and Poland's Ministry of Finance did not comment.

VW bank unit cleared for German banking guarantees

VW bank unit cleared for German banking guarantees Frankfurt  - Volkswagen's banking unit said it was cleared Wednesday to receive 2 billion euros (2.6 billion dollars) in guarantees from Germany's bank bailout fund, Soffin.

The finance unit, which lends to people who buy Volkswagen Group cars, but also operates as an online bank, is the first car company bank to receive backing from the fund. No immediate comment could be obtained from Soffin in Frankfurt.

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