In brief: G-20 summit ends with vows to act
PITTSBURGH – World leaders on Friday issued sweeping promises to fix a malfunctioning global economic system in hopes of heading off future financial meltdowns. President Barack Obama said actions taken so far “brought the global economy back from the brink.”
“We leave here today confident and united,” Obama said at the conclusion of a two-day gathering of the world’s 20 top economies to deal with the worst financial crisis since the 1930s.
The leaders agreed to keep stimulus plans, which include government spending and low interest rates, generally in place in their respective countries for now to avoid derailing still-fragile recoveries.
“Our coordinated stimulus plans played an indispensable role in averting catastrophe. Now we must make sure that when growth returns, jobs do, too,” Obama said at a wrap-up news conference.
Ginsburg released, heads back to work
WASHINGTON – Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who had cancer surgery earlier this year, made a quick return to work Friday after feeling ill at the office and spending the night in a Washington hospital as a precaution.
The 76-year-old justice was released from Washington Hospital Center in the morning and was at her desk by early afternoon, the court said.
Police stopped suspect in N.Y.
DENVER – An Afghan immigrant was on the verge of unleashing a terrorist attack on New York City on the Sept. 11 anniversary but was scared off after drawing suspicion from police, prosecutors said Friday as they provided new details about the alleged plot.
Najibullah Zazi, 24, was stopped by police on Sept. 10 as he entered the city, and he dropped his plans for an attack after realizing law enforcement was onto him.
Zazi was sent to New York on Friday by federal marshals to face charges of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction in a plot law enforcement has said was focused on blowing up commuter trains.
Kirk appointed to Kennedy seat
WASHINGTON – Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick on Thursday named former Democratic National Committee Chairman Paul Kirk, 71, to fill Edward Kennedy’s Senate seat until a replacement is chosen in a special election in January.
Kennedy, D-Mass., died on Aug. 25.
His appointment comes as members of Congress are debating a health care overhaul and gives Democrats the 60th vote needed to block Republican filibusters.