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Tuesday, November 25, 2008 - 3

NEWS BRIEFS
WASHINGTON
Bush: Citigroup
deal necessary
President Bush argued yesterday
that the government's dramatic
rescue of Citigroup was necessary
to "safeguard the financial system"
and help the economy recover, and
he said there could be more such
moves if other institutions need
help.
Bush said he approved the
action, recommended by Treasury
Secretary Henry Paulson, while
flying back to Washington on Sun-
day evening from meetings in Peru
with Pacific Rim leaders. He spoke
withPresident-elect Barack Obama
yesterday morning about the move,
part of what he has promised will
be "close cooperation" between
his administration and the Obama
camp until the transfer of power
on Jan.20.
Referring to the Citigroup res-
cue, Bush said: "We have made
these kind of decisions in the past.
We made one last night. And if need
be we will make these kind of deci-
sions to safeguard our financial
system in the future."
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.
Astronauts finish
work on Endeavour
Astronauts successfully carried
out one last spacewalk Monday,
finishing an unprecedented clean
and lube job that they began a week
ago at the international space sta-
tion.
Spacewalker Stephen Bowen
wrapped up work on a jammed so-
lar-wing rotary joint as his partner,
Shane Kimbrough, squirted some
extra grease as a precaution on an-
other joint that is working fine.
When the repairs to the
gummed-up joint were deemed
complete, Mission Control radioed
up its applause.
"Finally," Bowen exclaimed.
"Thanks for your work," replied
Mission Control, erupting in laugh-
ter.
Just before Monday's spacewalk
began, NASA added a 16th day to
space shuttle Endeavour's mission.
Managerswanted to give the astro-
nauts more time to fix a machine
that's supposed to turn urine into
drinking water; additional repairs
were performed Monday for the
fifth day in a row.
DETROIT
GM ends nine-year
endorsement deal
with Tiger Woods
General Motors is bailing out on
Tiger Woods.
Woods, a global icon in sports
with his 14 major championships,
has been carrying the Buick logo on
his golf bag for the last nine years
and still had one year left on his
contract.
But General Motors Corp. was
looking to cut costs and hoard cash
while trying to survive the worst
sales downturn in a quarter-centu-
ry. And it said yesterday the world's

No. 1 golfer wanted more time for
himself, especially with a second
child on the way.
"Timing is everything," said
Larry Peck, golf marketing man-
ager for Buick. "We've had such a
great partnership with Tiger. It's
hard for us to walk away from that.
But this frees up time for him. And
it sure frees up a lot of money for
us."
The endorsement deal, believed
to be worth atleast $7million ayear,
was to expire at the end of 2009.
Woods has endorsed GM prod-
ucts around the world and mainly
has been seen in Buick commercials
as the company tried to give the
nameplate a more youthful image.
WILMINGTON, Del.
Longtime Biden
aide picked to fill
his Senate seat
Edward "Ted" Kaufman, a for-
mer aide to Sen. Joe Biden, was
named yesterday by Delaware Gov.
Ruth Ann Minner to fill the Senate
seat Biden is leaving for the vice
presidency.
Kaufman is president of a polit-
ical and management consulting
firm based in Wilmington.
Speculation on Biden's successor
had centered in recent weeks on his
son, Attorney General Beau Biden.
Last week, however, the younger
Biden announced thathe planned to
fulfill his National Guard duties and
wouldn't accept an appointment to
his father's U.S. Senate seat.
- Compiled from
Daily wire reports

Obama urges quick
economic stimulus

In Tibet, Chinese
police deter unrest

Tax relief package
could reach over
$700 billion
CHICAGO (AP) - With the
economy in crisis, President-elect
Barack Obama urged the new
Congress to pass a quick economic
stimulus bill, pledged help for the
troubled auto industry and blessed
the Bush administration's bailout
of the financial industry.
Even so, he conceded, "The
economy is likely to get worse
before it gets better," a downbeat
forecast, delivered 57 days before
he takes the oath of office and as
Americans headed into the year-
end holiday season.
Barring swift action, "most
experts now believe that we could
lose millions of jobs next year," he
said, urgingthe newly elected Con-
gress to act quickly on his plans
after opening its session on Jan. 6.
At a news conference, Obama
was critical of the Big Three auto-
makers, saying he was surprised
they did not have a better-thought-
out plan for their future before
asking Congress to approve $25
billion in emergency loans.
He said once he sees a plan, he
expects "we're going to be able to
shape a rescue."
Obama declined to say how
large a stimulus package he wants
from Congress. Democratic law-
makers speculated over the week-
end that the price tag could reach
$700 billion over two years as the
nation struggles to emerge from a
recession compounded by a credit
crunch. "It's going to be costly,"
the president-elect said.
The stock market had been
climbing before Obama spoke but
then slipped during his news con-
ference, reducing its gain from
300 points to 200. It rose higher
again later. Analysts said investors
were looking for more specifics of
an economic stimulus plan, and
also wanted Obama to state that
he would set aside a plan to raise
taxes on the richest Americans.
Obama made his comments as

C HA R LES D H A RAPAK/A P
President-elect Barack Obama stands with Treasury Secretary-designate Timothy
Geithner during a news conference in ChicagS, Monday, Nov. 24, 2008.

he unveiled the top members of his
economic team, beginning with
New York Federal Reserve Presi-
dent Timothy Geithner to be his
treasury secretary. Geithner, 47,
is a veteran of financial crises at
home and overseas and has worked
closely with the Bush administra-
tion in recent months.
Obama chose Lawrence Sum-
mers as director of his National
Economic Council. Summers was
treasury secretary under former
President Bill Clinton.
Obama said his newly minted
economic team offered "sound
judgment and fresh thinking" at a
time of economic peril.
He expressed confidence the
nation would weather the crisis
"because we've done it before."
Obamaalsoannouncedtwoother

members of his economic team in
the making. He named Christina
Romer as chair of his Council of
Economic Advisers, and Melody
Barnes as director of his White
House Domestic Policy Council.
Obama's principal theme was
urgency.
"We do not have a minute to
waste," he said, citing the turmoil
in the financial markets as well as
the deterioration of the broader
economy.
He also said he would "honor
the commitments made by the cur-
rent administration" to deal with
the problems, signaling approval
of the Bush administration's latest
effort to rescue Citigroup as well
as the broader $700 billion bailout
designed to shore up the financial
markets.

Anti-government
protests grow louder
after trial verdict
XIAHE, China (AP) - Chi-
nese paramilitary police with riot
shields and batons abruptly took
up posts yesterday on the main
street of this Tibetan town, dis-
rupting the bustle of Buddhist
pilgrims in a reminder of China's
determined control of the region.
With some Tibetans pushing
harder against Chinese rule, the
communist government is deter-
mined to pacify the area.
The show offorce yesterday was
meant to deter unrest while a local
court sentenced a group of Tibet-
ans for taking part in large anti-
government protests in March
in Xiahe, a small town abutting
a sprawling complex of golden-
roofed temples.
Though the verdicts were not
publicly announced, the trial also
seemed timed to answer the com-
plaints of the Dalai Lama and other
exiled leaders meeting in India
over the weekend that Tibetans'
patience with China's domination
was thinning.
Seven months after Tibetans
across western China exploded
in the largest uprising against
Chinese rule in nearly 50 years,
the authoritarian government is
adjusting tactics. Police check-
points and guard posts in place for
months are suddenly dismantled,
only to reappear without warning
days later.
"We are in the grip of the Com-
munist Party. Tibet is occupied.
The Dalai Lama has fled to India.
My heart is sad," said a monk who
has studied at Xiahe's Labrang
monastery for 15 years and
declined to give his name for fear
of government reprisals.
On a spare altar in his small
room was a framed portrait of the
Dalai Lama.
Yesterday's police action in
Xiahe dame after several weeks in
which riot squads had rarely been
seen on the streets, residents said.
Helmeted -police with trun-
cheons and six-foot-long poles
stood outside the courthouse and
government buildings. At a check-
point with sandbags chest high
on a bridge, uniformed officers
studied identification papers and
stopped all but a few dozen vehi-
cles from entering the one-street
town.
On high-altitude grasslands 90
miles to the south, the 200-year-
old Xicang monastery, site of a vio-
lent demonstration in March, was
open again for visitors, but tense.
Senior clerics finished leading
Sunday midday teachings in the
main hall and immediately shuf-
fled to another meeting - a roll-
out of a new government-ordered
study session.
About 90 monks sat on the cold
stone courtyard. In front of them
hung a red banner with white
Tibetan and Chinese writing:
"Work Meeting for the, Second
Phase of Xicang Monastery's Rule
of Law Propaganda Education
Campaign."

Such mandatory campaigns -
which stress that religion must
never veer into political action -
have been used repeatedly to keep
the clergy in line.
Beijing maintains the Dalai
Lama is promoting secession, not
reconciliation, and that the gov-
ernment is bringing economic
development to an impoverished
area, while preserving Tibet's cul-
ture and religion.
But the communist leadership's
heavy hand over Tibet and disre-
gard for the Dalai Lama is adding
to the gloom of Tibetans in China
and in exile.
Though they number only 5 mil-
lion, Tibetans are spread across a
quarter of China and remain loyal
to the Dalai Lama, a popular inter-
national figure who gives their
cause a global impact.
After the weeklong meeting
called to discuss a so-far failed
policy of rapprochement with
China after 50 years in exile, the
Dalai Lama and other exiled lead-
ers said they would maintain their
push for genuine autonomy with
China.
But the Dalai Lama struck a
pessimistic note, calling the next
20 years a period of "great danger"
for Tibet - a seeming reference
to Tibetans' ability to persevere
and, at 73, his ability to live on and
remain a rallying point.
"Tibet's traditions and cul-
ture are weakening rapidly. Can
the exiles survive for another 20
years if their policies fail and if the
Chinese government continues to
resist a compromise?" asked Wang
Lixiong, a Chinese writer and con-
vert to Tibetan Buddhism who
lives in Beijing. .
"The current Chinese govern-
ment is not going to solve the Tibet
problem. Under one-party rule,
power is crucial, and they are the
power-holders."
Theregionaround Xiahe - pro-
nounced SHAH-HUH - stands as
a gateway between the more fer-
tile plains where Han Chinese and
Hui Chinese Muslims farm, and
the mountains and upland pla-
teaus that are home to Tibetans.
Off and on for centuries it strad-
dled a fuzzy line of control.
In the days since the Dalai
Lama called the extraordinary
meeting on Tibet's future, Beijing
has gone out of its way to display
its commanding position in the
tug-of-war. A senior Chinese offi-
cial rejected a proposal this month
to incorporate Xiahe and other
Tibetan lands in one autonomous
Tibet region governed by Lhasa
but still part of China.
As the talks in India went on,
China started a series of trials
of Tibetans who took part in the
March rebellion. In Luqu, a town
of 7,000 where monks fromXicang
tossed stones at local government
offices, the court sentenced four
people last week, a court officer
said, refusing to disclose the ver-
dicts.
The police action in Xiahe qui-
eted the town as cars were cleared
from the streets and people hur-
ried past armed guards. Residents
said they did not know what was
happening.

Stocks soar for 2nd day
after Citigroup bailout

NEW YORK (AP) - The gov-
ernment's latest bailout of a big
financial company - this time,
Citigroup Inc. - sent Wall Street
soaring yesterday for the second
straight session as investors bet
that the worst of the financial
industry's problems might finally
be over. The Dow Jones industri-
als soared nearly 400 points, while
all the major indexes jumped more
than 4.5 percent.
The surge gave the market its
first two-day advance since the
end of October and the Dow its
biggest two-day percentage gain
since October 1987, the month
of the Black Monday crash. The
Dow's 891-point rise over the two
sessions also wiped out the 872-
point plunge it suffered over the
course of Wednesday and Thurs-
day, when investors were anguish-
ing over the fate of Citigroup and
financial companies in general,
and over the future of the nation's
automakers.
Although investors sensed late
last week that a rescue of Citi-
group was forthcoming, investors
nonetheless were heartened, even
emboldened, by the U.S. govern-
ment's decision late Sunday to
invest $20 billion in Citigroup-and
guarantee $306 billion in risky
assets.
Wall Street's enthusiasm
grew not only because the bail-
out answered questions about
Citigroup but also because many
observers saw the move as offer-
ing as a model for how the govern-
ment might carry out other bank
stabilizations.
"This could be the template
for saving the banks," said Scott
Bleier, founder of market advisory
service CreateCapital.com.
"The government has taken
a new quill out, they've gone to
where they didn't go before in
terms of trying to secure the sys-
tem," Bleier said. "Some of that
vulnerability seems to be gone
now."
Still, the market remains wary,
especially with the economy in a
serious downturn. The Dow was
up more than 500 points in the
last hour before giving up some
of its gains - many investors
wanted to take some money off

M.SPENCERGREEN/AP
Traders Timothy Curley, left, and Mark Mondi signal in the S&P 500 pit at the CME
Group on Monday, Nov. 24, 2008, in Chicago.

the table before the next bit of bad
news arrives. And the market has
frequently done sharp reversals
since the start of the credit crisis
15 months ago; its moves over the
past four sessions are proof of how
fractious trading has become.
The efforts from the Trea-
sury Department, the Federal
Reserve and the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corp. to help stabilize
Citigroup are only the latest this
year to support a banking system
troubled by bad debt and flagging
confidence. Besides implementing
its $700 billion bailout plan for the
overall financial industry, the gov-
ernment has bailed out insurance
giant American International
Group Inc. and taken over lenders
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
"You're definitely seeing relief,"
said Anthony Conroy, managing
director and head trader for BNY
ConvergEx Group. "More than
anything, the Fed repaired some
of the psychological damage that
was being done to the sector. I
think the Fed is poised to do what-
ever they possibly can to help the

financials get through the current
turmoil."
"Not all banks are unhealthy,
so knowing that the Fed is there is
enough," Conroy said.
The Dow rose 396.97, or 4.93
percent, to 8,443.39. It last put
together a two-day advance on
Oct. 30-31, along with the rest of
the market.
Broader stock indicators also
jumped. The Standard & Poor's
500 index advanced 51.78, or 6.47
percent, to 851.81, and the Nasdaq
composite index rose 87.67, or 6.33
percent, to 1,472.02.
The Russell 2000 index of
smaller companies rose 30.25, or
7.44 percent, to 436.79.
Over the course of Friday and
Monday, the Dow rose 11.8 per-
cent, while the broader S&P 500
index jumped 13.2 percent. The
Nasdaq rose 11.9 percent. Paper
gains in U.S. stocks over the
two sessions came to $1.2 tril-
lion, according to the Dow Jones
Wilshire 5000 Composite Index,
which reflects nearly all stocks
traded in America.

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