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

Berlin  - European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso on Wednesday spoke of concerns that Europe's markets could face further destabilzation.

He made his comments during a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

"We are worried about a further destabilization of the financial markets and economies," Barroso said. He added that further measures were being considered, such as regulations for hedge funds, investment funds and management compensation packages.

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.

Los 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.

Washington  - 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.