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German solar energy company SolarWorld unveiled on Wednesday a surprise billion-euro (1.26-billion-dollar) takeover bid for Opel, a unit of US General Motors, which would create the “first green European car company.”

A SolarWorld statement said the company would offer 250 million euros in cash and 750 million euros in bank credits for Opel’s four auto plants and a research centre in Ruesselsheim, near Frankfurt in western Germany.

Opel It attached several conditions to the deal however, including a complete split of Opel from GM, which is threatened with bankruptcy, and compensation payments of 40,000 euros per Opel worker, which would total roughly one billion euros, the statement added.

SolarWorld, which also sought a liquidity guarantee for Opel from the German government, did not say who it expected to pay the compensation.

Opel was not in a position to immediately give a reaction, a spokeswoman told AFP.

A stock trader told Dow Jones Newswires that “at first I checked to see if today is April 1,” or April Fool’s Day, after SolarWorld shares plunged by 14.90 percent to 13.7 euros in midday trading on Frankfurt’s TecDax index of high-technology issues.

The index had fallen by 1.86 percent overall.

But a stock dealer also said the bid was not totally out of the question, “because Opel merely needs a white knight in order to get rid of the Americans.”

A so-called white knight is an investor that arrives to save a company from dire financial straits or a hostile takeover.

It was not clear how SolarWorld intended to finance its bid for Opel however, and an analyst said he did not know who could pay the compensation in question because “General Motors certainly can’t.”

SolarWorld said it would continue to produce OPEL cars in the plants, and would develop “a new generation of low-emission and energy-saving automobiles.”

SolarWorld employs 2,000 workers, while Opel’s German staff numbers about 26,000.

The German automaker has been hit by slumping sales and financial problems at its parent company, and has asked the German government for loan guarantees in the event it can no longer obtain financing from GM.

In Washington, GM chairman and chief executive officer Rick Wagoner joined executives from Ford, Chrysler and the United Auto Workers Union to plead for 25 billion dollars in US government-backed loans, warning that the economy will face a “catastrophic collapse” if officials do not bail out the auto industry.

In Strasbourg, eastern France, EU Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen said Wednesday that the exceptional circumstances in which Opel finds itself justify “exceptional measures,” though he was likely referring to the company’s request for state loan guarantees rather than the SolarWorld bombshell.

With Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama taking a comfortable ten point-lead over his Republican rival John McCain as per the latest poll, he is all but set to ride the wave to the White House, as historically this kind of a lead in October has proven to be unbeatable in the past.

While there are few signs of progress for McCain in the poll, “recent history suggests that mid-October leads are vulnerable, although turning around a late double-digit deficit would be unprecedented in the modern era,” says a report in the Washington Post.

The paper said: “At this stage in 1992, Bill Clinton held a 14-point advantage over incumbent George H.W. Bush in Post-ABC polling, and it was as high as 19 points before the election, which he won by six points. In mid-October 1976, Jimmy Carter had leads as big as 13 points in Gallup polling; Carter defeated incumbent Gerald Ford by two points.”

According to it, with just over three weeks to go for the November 4, Obama appears to be gaining momentum and McCain stalled or losing ground on a range of issues and personal traits.

The poll figures suggest that Obama is leading 53 percent to 43 percent among likely voters, and for the first time in the general-election campaign, voters gave the Democrat a clear edge on tax policy and providing strong leadership.

Obama is winning “economy voters” by 62 percent to 33 percent, nearly a 2-to-1 ratio. He also continues to stay above the 50 percent mark on the key question of his experience: 54 percent in the new poll said he has enough experience to serve effectively as president, putting him about even with where Bill Clinton was on this question in early October 1992.

The poll was conducted after Tuesday night’s debate, which most voters said did not sway their opinions much. Still, voters’ impressions of Obama are up, and views of McCain have slipped.

Nearly two-thirds of voters, 64 percent, now view Obama favorably, up six percentage points from early September. About a third of voters have a better opinion of the senator from Illinois because of his debate performances, while 8 percent have a lower opinion of him.

By contrast, more than a quarter said they think worse of McCain as a result of the debates, more than double the proportion saying their opinion had improved. McCain’s overall rating has also dipped seven points, to 52 percent, over the past month.

With the final debate set for Wednesday at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., McCain faces a narrowing window in which to reverse course.

Lawmakers geared up to vote on Monday on creating a $700 billion government fund to buy bad debt and alleviate the financial crisis while European authorities raced to the rescue of three troubled banks.

With global markets hanging on every twist and turn in Washington, the European banking sector felt the fallout as Belgian-Dutch group Fortis and British mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley faced nationalization.

The rescues came after a weekend of high drama in the first major bank crisis to hit the euro zone in 13 months of global financial turmoil that began in the United States.

House Republicans, balking at such a vast outlay of public money and facing re-election in November, are seen as the main sticking point to passage of the bailout bill.

But senior Republican Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire threw his weight behind the deal, saying he expected the House to vote on the bill on Monday.

President George W. Bush said in a statement the plan being finalized by Congress provides the tools and funding to protect the U.S. economy from a “system-wide breakdown,” and expressed confidence it would be passed quickly.

The dollar edged up against the euro and yen on Sunday while U.S. stock futures held steady. Analysts predicted a Monday relief rally, but warned it might not last.

“The bailout is just a band-aid over a very large problem,” said Kathy Lien, director of currency research at GFT Forex in New York. “It will help Wall Street in the very short term, but it won’t help Main Street — the U.S. economy will remain challenged in many fronts.”

House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, said the plan was not a “bailout of Wall Street,” but a way to protect taxpayers and turn around the economy. She stressed it now needed bipartisan support. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the Senate could take up the bill by Wednesday.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said he was confident the program will be enough to free up jammed financial markets and keep credit flowing.

Congressional leaders from both parties said they had a tentative agreement on Sunday, but questions abound as to whether the U.S. financial rescue plan, which would use taxpayer funds to buy up toxic mortgage debt, would restore confidence to shaky markets and head off a deeper downturn.

“We will be given nitroglycerin to prevent a heart attack and get some color back in our face,” said Sung Won Sohn, professor of economics at California State University.

EUROPEAN BANK RESCUES

In a sign of the spreading financial crisis, Belgian-Dutch financial group Fortis faced a shotgun nationalization after European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet held emergency talks with Dutch and Belgian officials to rescue one of Europe’s top 20 banks.

The Belgian, Dutch and Luxembourg governments agreed to inject 11.2 billion euros ($16.4 billion) into the banking and insurance company, which will sell the parts of Dutch bank ABN AMRO that it bought last year, precipitating its troubles.

In London, regulators were also preparing to nationalize troubled mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley and were discussing a sale of its savings deposits and branches, people familiar with the matter said.

In Germany, Hypo Real Estate was in urgent talks with banking regulator Bafin and the finance ministry about solving a refinancing squeeze at the bank, sources with knowledge of the matter said on Sunday.

“Up to now, the typical global investor saw most of the stress here in the United States,” said David Dietze, chief investment strategist at Point View Financial Services in New Jersey, describing the Fortis news as “a whopper.”

“Now investors may say ‘Gee, even though a bill may get passed in the U.S. … can the Europeans move as quickly? Do they understand the problem?’” he said.

The U.S. banking system also faced more turmoil. Wachovia Corp is in talks with rivals to be taken over, sources familiar with the situation said on Sunday, after the U.S. bank’s shares fell 27 percent on Friday due to ongoing concerns about its portfolio of illiquid mortgage assets.

Citigroup Inc is among the parties in talks with Wachovia, the two sources said, and one source said Wells Fargo & Co was also in discussions.

QUALIFIED BIPARTISAN SUPPORT

U.S. congressional leaders from both parties emerged early on Sunday with a tentative agreement that altered key parts of a Wall Street bailout program initially proposed by the Bush administration.

Both U.S. presidential candidates offered qualified support for the bailout proposal, an issue that threatens to overshadow their campaigns with less than six weeks until the election.

“This is something that all of us will swallow hard and go forward with,” Republican John McCain said in an interview with ABC television. “The option of doing nothing is simply not an acceptable option.”

Democrat Barack Obama said he was likely to back the package. “My inclination is to support it,” he told CBS television’s “Face the Nation.”

PUBLIC ANGER SIMMERS

With many Americans are struggling to save their homes from foreclosure, lawmakers were bracing for a grassroots backlash against a bailout for Wall Street banks, which many blame for creating the overheated housing market and bad loan crisis.

In the final hours of talks, Democrats and Republicans rushed to add safeguards for taxpayers and provisions that would allow the government to recover funds if housing prices recover and its holdings of bad debt gain value.

House Republican leaders were spending more than two hours behind closed doors answering members questions about details of the legislation but there were few signs the bill was endangered.

“They are much happier now” than last week when anger boiled over with the Treasury’s initial proposal, said Rep. James Walsh of New York about his Republican colleagues.

Rep. Marsha Blackburn, a Republican from Tennessee, said she was leaning against the measure, but added “probably it’s going to pass.”

The proposed legislation would disburse the $700 billion in stages. The first $250 billion would be issued when the legislation is enacted, while another $100 billion could be spent if the president decided it was needed. The remaining $350 billion would be subject to congressional review.

Institutions selling assets under the plan would issue stock warrants to the government, a step intended to give taxpayers a chance to profit if markets recover.

The plan also would let the government buy troubled assets from pension plans, local governments and small banks.

In response to a clamor for limits on executive pay, no executives at participating firms could get multimillion-dollar severance packages — known as golden parachutes.

An oversight board of top officials, including the Federal Reserve chairman, would supervise the program, while its management also would be under close scrutiny by Congress’ investigative arm and an independent inspector general.

The government could also use its power as the owner of mortgages and mortgage-backed securities to help more struggling homeowners modify the terms of their home loans.

“Passage of the plan is just step one. Step two is execution and there remains considerable uncertainty about how assets will be purchased,” said Michael Pond, Treasury strategist with Barclays Capital in New York.

“We expect some of the recent flight to liquidity in Treasuries to be unwound as a bill gets passed, but volatility will likely remain until there are clear signs this will actually work,” he said.

The kidnappers of 11 European tourists and eight Egyptians snatched during a desert safari in Egypt and taken to Sudan were moved to neighboring Libya Thursday, a Sudanese official said.

The tourists and the Egyptians were snatched Friday in a remote corner of southwestern Egypt. They are five Germans, five Italians and one Romanian. The Egyptians are drivers, guides and the owner of the tour company that organized the trip.

The kidnappers are demanding a ransom, reportedly of up to $15 million, and Germany has been negotiating with them, but there has been no word on the progress of these contacts.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Ali Youssef told The Associated Press that the group was now some 10 miles inside Libyan territory. Speaking by telephone from the Sudanese capital Khartoum, Ali said he did not know why the kidnappers, who are suspected to be desert tribesmen, decided to move their captives to Libya.

Initial negotiations were conducted during twice daily phone calls between the tour company’s owner and his German wife, who lives in Egypt, according to an Egyptian security official speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss details of the talks.

The Egyptian security official said Wednesday that German authorities had now established direct contact with the kidnappers. The contacts were also reported by the Sudan Media Center, a news agency close to the Khartoum government.

Neither gave details on how the communications were taking place.

President Bush is considering whether to address Americans directly about the financial crisis, and his spokesperson says the nation risks “calamity” without bold action to address the problem.

White House press secretary Dana Perino told reporters Wednesday the president was weighing whether, as well as when and where, he might deliver a speech to share his thoughts about the market meltdown. Perino said the nation “could be facing financial calamity” without what she called bold and decisive action.

She said the president has been trying to answer the many questions and concerns Americans have, and that it was possible a formal address was a way to continue to do that. Perino spoke as Bush flew back to Washington from New York Wednesday.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush is considering whether to address Americans directly about the financial crisis, and his spokesperson says the nation risks “calamity” without bold action to address the problem.

White House press secretary Dana Perino told reporters Wednesday the president was weighing whether, as well as when and where, he might deliver a speech to share his thoughts about the market meltdown. Perino said the nation “could be facing financial calamity” without what she called bold and decisive action.

She said the president has been trying to answer the many questions and concerns Americans have, and that it was possible a formal address was a way to continue to do that. Perino spoke as Bush flew back to Washington from New York Wednesday.

This metropolis on the Gulf coast will be the venue of the first ever global conference on pearls.The Dubai Pearl Exchange, a subsidiary of the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), has announced that it would host the first ever World Pearl Forum here Feb 17-19 next year, with the objective of bringing together the global pearl sector, and addressing ways to grow the worldwide market for pearl jewellery, according to a DMCC statement.

The event is being sponsored by Dubai World, the global investment company of the Dubai government, and is part of DMCC’s continuing effort to revitalise the global pearl trade, and build on Dubai’s historic status as the pearl centre of the Gulf. DMCC is an arm of Dubai World.

‘There is currently an unprecedented opportunity for Dubai to take a leadership role in shaping the global pearl sector, while at the same time underscoring Dubai’s heritage as the traditional pearl capital of the world,’ Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, chairman of Dubai World, said in the statement.

‘Globally, pearls have witnessed a recent resurgence and Dubai needs to leverage this development to drive international interest in pearl trading,’ he added.

Over 200 leading pearl specialists from across the world will participate in the forum. These will include pearl producers, national pearl bodies, certification specialists and jewellery trade experts.

According to the DMCC statement, pearls presently comprise around two percent of the global jewellery trade, but studies show that the pearl trade has significant growth potential if all players collaborate to promote consumer awareness for the gem.

DMCC chairman Ahmed Bin Sulayem said the objective of the forum was to create a long-term platform for international debate on how to further develop the pearl sector globally.

‘Through the forum, the Dubai Pearl Exchange plans to unite the industry by highlighting areas of opportunity as well as identifying integrated programmes that will involve all stakeholders of the global pearl trade,’ he said.

The inaugural forum will address several fundamental issues, including the critical need for greater consumer understanding about the value of pearls, and ways in which the industry must unite to drive consumer demand.

Pearl producers and government pearling bodies are also expected to present case studies on their growth and strategies to increase pearl sales.

Among speakers who have confirmed their participation at the forum are of Australian pearling firm Paspaley’s executive chairman Nicholas Paspaley, Robert Wan Tahiti’s chairman Robert Wan, president of Japan’s Mikimoto & Co. Noriyuki Morita, managing director of Iridesse - a part of the Tiffany group - Robert Cepek, and the Gemological Association of Great Britain’s chief executive Jack Ogden.

Pearling is a key feature of the UAE’s traditional culture and the DMCC has started a major initiative to revive the industry.

Last year, it announced the launch of Pearls of Dubai, an integrated pearl centre that would include a pearl farm and a retail destination.

A Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman says Georgian forces have shot down a Russian drone near the breakaway province of South Ossetia.

Shota Utiashvili says the pilotless aicraft was shot down by Georgian police officers Monday near the village of Tsiteliubani near South Ossetia.

He said Tuesday the fragments of the plane would be shown to the media.

Russia’s Defence Ministry refused to comment on Utiasvhili’s statement.

The Georgian claim underlines tensions which remain high in Georgia after last month’s war.

It follows Sunday’s shooting in western Georgia near the breakaway province of Abkhazia where a Georgia police officer was killed and three others were wounded when Abkhazian fighters fired on a Georgian police checkpoint.

Indonesia, the worst-hit country by the deadly bird flu disease, on Tuesday reported another death, taking the toll to 112, the Health Ministry said.

According to the ministry, the 38-year-old cargo truck driver from Tangerang in Banten Province, near Jakarta, developed bird flu symptoms of fever, coughing and respiratory problems on July 4 but was not hospitalised until four days later. He died July 10.

The ministry said chickens and ducks around the man’s house are being tested.

Health Minister Siti Fadillah Supari has said the number of bird flu cases surfacing in Indonesia is on the decline, according to the Indo Pos newspaper, based in the East Java provincial capital of Surabaya.

“The number of bird flu cases tends to decrease because the patients infected by the virus have received appropriate and quick medical treatment,” she was quoted as saying Monday.

Avian influenza has infected at least 385 people in 15 countries since its reemergence in December 2003, with at least 243 of them having died, according to the World Health Organisation figures released in mid-June.

Indonesia leads the table with 110 deaths, not including the last two cases announced on August 3 and Tuesday, followed by Vietnam with 52 deaths, Egypt with 22 and China with 20.

The other affected countries are Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Djibouti, Iraq, Laos, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan, Thailand and Turkey.

TIME IS short, and the US administration, business and Indian-American activists are all set to push Congress for approval of the civil nuclear deal with India. With the Nuclear Suppliers Group giving its members a go-ahead for resumption of nuclear cooperation with India, the 123 agreement will now go to the US Congress, which reconvenes on Monday.

The deal enjoys broad support, but there is a problem: the session ends on September 26, whereas rules require 30 days for consideration of the measure. “We understand that the time is very short,” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters in Algiers on Saturday.

But “I have already talked before this NSG (meeting), several weeks before, to relevant committee chairs about trying to get it done, and I will have those conversations again, most likely on Monday or Tuesday.” President George W. Bush sees the agreement as part of his legacy.

“We are ready,” said Swadesh Chatterjee, chairman of the US-India Friendship Council, formed to get the deal ratified. The group plans to meet a large number of Congressional leaders.

“We will ask for a waiver of the 30-day rule,” Chatterjee told the Hindustan Times on Sunday. “Otherwise US companies will be handicapped.

India can go ahead with deals with Russia and France.” But Howard L. Berman, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told The New York Times on Saturday that he would not consider any expedited timetable until the Bush administration provides him with more information about the negotiations in Vienna.

Republican presidential nominee John McCain, however, said on Saturday that Congressional leaders should act expeditiously to pass the agreement. Democratic nominee Barack Obama has also said he supports the agreement.

The top UN aid official John Holmes on Monday called for greater international efforts to help millions of Ethiopians suffering from a severe drought.

Some eight million people need urgent food relief and another 4.6 million need emergency assistance, accoring to the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

“The response has been good in some ways, but we have a long way to go,” said Holmes on his way to a southern Ethiopian region devastated by the drought.

The lack of rain in the main February to April wet season has left at least 75,000 Ethiopian children under age five at risk from malnutrition, OCHA said.

“In terms of the urgency of the food crisis, the risk of children dying of severe malnutrition is the most urgent,” Holmes said as he started a three-day visit.

The United Nations appealed in June for 325.2 million dollars mainly for drought victims . Only 52 percent of the appeal has been met.

Holmes visited the Southern Nationalities and People’s Region in the south and will on Tuesday tour the Somali region in the southeast.

In Arba Minch, some 500 kilometres (300 miles) south of the capital, the aid chief visited farmers, a feeding centre and food distribution centre.

Stunted and withered maize farms flanked the dusty road to Sorobo village — whose residents have dependend on relief aid for the past three decades — and where Holmes met local farmers.

“I have lost three previous harvests and hoped that this one would produce yield, but it hasn’t. I’m now waiting for emergency support to feed my family,” said 38-year-old farmer Kuse Gelebo as he slashed down withered maize stalks.

Holmes said relief operations were underway, “but we need to make sure it reaches averyone.”

“We need to make sure that it (food shortages) doesn’t degenerate into a famine that we’ve seen before,” he told reporters at a local school.

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) representative in the impoverished African country said the effects of the failed rains and rampant food inflation may drag on.

“The previous rains failed badly. It is very clear that many people in Ethiopia will continue to face problems in terms of food security,” the official, Bjorn Ljungqvist, told AFP.

The southern region of Oromiya has also been badly hit, 6,700 children were diagnosed as suffering from severe malnutrition in early August.

Ethiopia suffered severe floods last year which destroyed most of the food crop. This year the drought has worsened the situation and food prices have soared 330 percent.

Unlike Sorobo, late rains in August have returned some greenery in Boricha, another town in southern Ethiopia, but the green maize fields belie the suffering of 200,000 residents eking out a living on dwindling reserves.

“It is very confusing. It is very green but you have people dying,” said Gemma Difilippo, a nurse at a local clinic run by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF - Doctors With Borders).

Tens of thousands of Boricha residents queue regularly for relief food at distribution sites. Of the 45,000 locals in need of food, only 38,000 are receiving help due to low government supplies, according to aid groups.

Soaring commodity prices have worsened the crisis.

In May, the World Food Programme said the price of staples such as maize and sorghum had increased by 83 and 89 percent respectively in less than a year, while wheat increased by 54 percent between September 2007 and February 2008.

In recent years, Ethiopia has suffered alternate flood and drought disasters that has affected millions of people.