The Senate has did something that the House of Representatives failed to do; the have passed the $700 billion economic bailout plan, leaving some people to believe that it could pass the House on Friday and end the legislative uncertainty that has rocked the markets into a see of red.

The vote was 74 to 25 in favour of the initiative to buy the troubled securities in an effort to avoid an economic catastrophe that would cause havoc with markets around the world. Out of the 25 who voted against, 15 came from the Republicans; and one Democrat senator didn’t vote.

As well, in a stark contrast to the House rejection of the plan, senators had showed no hesitation in backing a proposal that had seen the public criticising the bill.

As well, the passed bill also included billions in tax cuts and a metal health parity bill that calls on companies to offer health care to cover mental health, as they would do for other medical conditions.

Source: CNET, AP, New York Times

The House of Representatives in the U.S. Congress have rejected a $700 billion rescue package in a stunning defiance of President George W. Bush and Congressional leaders of both Republicans and Democrats, who said the bailout was needed to prevent a financial collapse last seen in the Great Depression.

The vote against the measure was 228 to 205, with 133 Republicans joining the 95 Democrats in oppositions against the bill. It was backed by 140 Democrats and 65 Republicans. One Republican abstain from voting.

Supporters of the bill have vowed to bring the rescue plan back up again as soon as possible, perhaps late Wednesday or Thursday, but no definite plans have been announced.

After the announcement, stock markets plunged as it appears that the measure would be defeated. By late afternoon, the Dow industrials had fallen more than 5 percent, with other indexes plunging further; and oil prices fell on fears on a global recession

Australian stocks, as well, were affected, with the All Ordinaries index was down 248 points to 4,591 and the ASX 200 had lost 243 points. The market lost more than 5 percent in the first half-hour of trade. Tokyo and Seoul’s markets are also down 5 percent.

Immediately after the vote, many House members appeared to be stunned after the rejection. Some Republicans blamed Ms. Nancy Pelosi for a speech before the vote that criticised Bush’s economic policies; while the Democrats blamed the Republicans for not coming up with enough support to pass the bill.

The final version of the plan included a “deal-sealing” plan for eventually recouping losses; if the Treasury program to purchase and resell the troubled mortgage-backed securities it had lost after five years, the President must submit a plan to Congress to recover the losses from the financial industry.

Another section in the final version would also restrict farewells for executives of companies that sell their devalued assets to the Treasury Department.

U.S lawmakers are set to vote on the biggest proposed government intervention in the U.S economy since the Great Depression, after government officials, Treasury chiefs and political leaders have agreed on the details on the US$700 billion rescue package.

However, the new rescue package will include new terms and conditions to protect taxpayers and give them a chance at some potential upside if companies benefited from the plan.

Lawmakers are set to vote on midday in the House of Representatives, with a Senate vote scheduled on Wednesday.

Today Tonight will have a new face next year as host Anna Coren has decided to leave the show and the network, Channel Seven, to become a news anchor and reporter for the U.S. cable news channel CNN. She is due to begin in December.

Following on-going difficulties and problems, including the court case involving Mercedes Corby, she took a screen test in the US last July. Now, we get to see who will replace her, after she replaced Naomi Robson after her credibility was eroded after the Wawa-gate incident in 2006.

Samantha Armytage is rumoured to take over Coren, but after gossip that Seven was seeking Nine’s Karl Stefanovic, there is suggestion that the network could be assessing other hosts for the position. According to the Sunday Telegraph, howver, Armytage is believed to be the frontrunner after signing a two-year contract before her contract expired in three months.

The deal also saw her salary bumped up by 60 percent. Armytage is currently the summer host for TT, the same position as Coren had held before being bumped up to a permanent role.

Google has taken a public stand against a new proposition that would see gay marriages being illegal again, even though the California Supreme Court overturned a recent law a few months a go.

Known as Proposition 8, it sets to amend the California constitution to make marriages of this kind illegal and would amend the constitution to make the state only recognise a marriage between a man and a woman valid in the state.

Co-founder Sergey Brin, who made the announcement in a blog posting on the official Google blog Friday afternoon (US Pacific Time), saying that it is unusual for the company to take a stand on issues affecting outside the tech realm, especially on social issues because of the diversity of the workforce.

However, on the proposition, he wrote that “it is the chilling and discriminatory effect of the proposition on many of our employees” that brought Google to oppose the proposition.

“We should not eliminate anyone’s fundamental rights, whatever their sexuality, to marry the person they love.”

Brin did not mention if Google would do anything to oppose the measure, other than saying that they oppose it. This adds another voice in the opposition against the proposition, joining a long list of backers – though no companies are listed. However, according to CNET News, Levi Strauss & Co and PG&E became co-chairs of the “No On Prop 8 Equality Business Council”, and PG&E donated $250,000 to the campaign.

Gender-based restrictions on defence personnel could now be lifted, as the government is set to review the proposal that would see women fighting in the front-line, joining their male counterparts. Women currently make up 13 percent of the army.

The restrictions has prevented women to occupy direct combat roles like infantry, artillery and combat engineers; but the review is considering replacing the restrictions with one based on physical attributes. The review is being conducted by the Defence Department’s Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DTSO), its scientific arm.

However, it will still see women being rejected – but this is based on merit, not gender; as some women may not possess the physical attributes to meet the demands.

Source: NineMSN/AAP

Could this be the first male (who was not originally a female) to have a male pregnancy. John Grady Pippen, who is 71 years old from Oregon, was told that he was pregnant, after being treated for agonising abdominal pain.

Unfortunately, he isn’t pregnant. It was a typo that caused the computer to spit out the wrong information. However, they did give him some pain pills to help the abdominal pain.

Source: NineMSN

The world’s richest brothers are embroiled in a £1.2 billion battle, against each other, after one of them accused the other of industrial espionage in a The New York Times interview. Anil Ambani, the sixth-richest man, is suing his older brother, Mukesh – who is the fifth-richest, after claiming that Anil ran a spy network to gain information about his rivals.

The brothers’ past have been a turbulent one – especially after their father, the founder of Reliance Industries Dhirubhai Ambani, died in 2002, causing them to split the family business in 2005. They are also said to not be in contact with each other – harsh.

The article from the NYT claims that Reliance used a “network of lobbyists and spies in New Delhi” that collected data about their rivals’ vulnerabilities. Mukesh even goes so far as saying that all activities were overseen by his brother before the split, and has been “expunged” from his half of the company.

See kids, Greed does make you go crazy!

Hawthorn has bet last years AFL Grand Final winners Geelong to secure their 10th VFL/AFL premiership, with The Age calling Geelong’s performance as “dreadfully inaccurate” because of the dreadful misses by the key players.

The final scores were Hawthorn 18.7 (115) defeated Geelong 11.23 (89).

Source: The Age

First it was blogging, then it was YouTube – now Twitter is now involved in the US’s presidential coverage, after launching its election website using the recently acquired Summize to showcase all the tweets made by users, along with specific filters for all both the Republican and Democratic candidates, John McCain and Barack Obama, while showing their own tweets in a special section.

It has also partnered up with Current TV to help in its election coverage, allowing the “tweets” to be displayed on-screen during the presidential debates.