Washington - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Friday endorsed President George W Bush's 700-billion-dollar plan designed to rescue the US financial sector and stave off further turmoil in global markets.

"Britain supports the financial plan. And whatever the details of it, it's the right thing to do to take us through these difficult circumstances," Brown said at a hastily scheduled meeting with Bush at the White House.

Washington - US stocks were mixed Friday as investors awaited congressional approval of a 700-billion-dollar financial rescue plan.

The Standard & Poor's 500 broad-based index rose 4.09 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 1,213.27. The blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 121.07, or 1.1 per cent, to 1,1143.13. The high tech Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 3.23, or 0.2 per cent, to 2,183.34.

The S&P 500 was down 3.3 per cent on the week and the Dow slipped 2.2 per cent.

Washington - Congress wrestled Friday across party lines over a deeply unpopular financial industry rescue plan as majority Democrats insisted that Republicans get on board before holding a vote.

The White House pulled out all the stops, sending top officials to Capitol Hill, where negotiations continued over the controversial, 700-billion-dollar life raft for Wall Street.

Talks looked likely to continue over the weekend, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.

"We'll be in as long as it takes, and we hope it doesn't take long, because the markets need a message from us," she told reporters Friday following another round of meetings on the bailout.

Washington - Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain began their first presidential debate Friday night in a discussion that was largely expected to focus on foreign policy.

But the two candidates are expected to also hear questions about the financial crisis in the United States and President George W Bush's 700-billion-dollar rescue plan.

Moderator Jim Lehrer, a long-time news anchor for the Public Broadcasting System, said that the topic of foreign policy "by definition includes the global financial crisis."

Washington - The US House of Representatives held off Friday from voting on a White House plan that would allow the United States to sell nuclear material and civilian nuclear technology to India.

The House debated the measure Friday evening but deciding to delay a vote on the agreement until at least Saturday. The measure must also pass the US Senate, which has not scheduled a vote but is expected to convene over the weekend.

San Francisco - Whatever feelings you might expect to follow the worst bank failure in US history - trepidation, panic, anxiety, fear - there was barely a hint of concern among customers and staff Friday at a suburban California branch of Washington Mutual.

Sure, there were the usual lines of customers grinding their teeth in frustration as they waited for an available cashier at a WaMu branch in San Jose, California. But there was hardly any serious discussion among customers about the implications of the bank's failure, and certainly no apparent run on the bank.