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Paulson: No magic bullet for the economy

WASHINGTON, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said there's no magic bullet to fix the economy and it is naive to assume one piece of legislation could do so.

At a news conference to explain the latest moves taken by the federal government to shore up the economy, Paulson said he is confident events are moving in the right direction and markets are stabilizing.

Treasury officials Tuesday contributed $20 billion to a $200 billion program announced by the Federal Reserve to help increase credit availability by guaranteeing securities issued by the Federal National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp.

"The housing correction continues to be a major focus," Paulson said, adding Tuesday's action is "a good deal for taxpayers. There's no way the taxpayer is going to lose money on that."

Paulson said the government is working closely with President-elect Barack Obama's transition team and that New York Federal Reserve Bank chief Timothy Geithner, Obama's pick for Treasury secretary, is in a perfect position to work on the situation now and provide a seamless changeover once the new administration takes control.

Paulson said the authorities provided by Congress in the emergency $700 billion bailout plan have given the government the ability to stabilize the financial situation domestically as well as work with the central banks of other countries to stabilize the situation globally. But, he said, it will take time to get the programs up and going.

"It is naive for any of us to think when you're dealing with a situation of this magnitude that a bill could be passed or a single action could be taken and make all of the issues to go away," Paulson said.

Britain set to issue foreigner ID cards

LONDON, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- Some foreigners living in Britain will soon be issued compulsory identity cards, the first phase of a $7 billion security effort, officials said.

The British Home Office announced Tuesday that foreign students and those given visas on the basis of marrying a British citizen will be the first to receive the credit-card-style cards, The Times of London reported.

Government officials said the foreigners will be photographed and their fingerprints taken, after which they will be issued an identity card bearing their name, the type of visa and how long it is valid. On the back will be the date and place of their birth, sex, nationality and whether they have access to state benefits and other services, The Times reported.

The Home Office said it expects to issue 50,000 such cards by April and that up to 3 million foreign nationals will have them by 2010.

"In time, identity cards for foreign nationals will replace paper documents and give employers a safe and secure way of checking a migrant's right to work and study in the United Kingdom," Home Secretary Jacqui Smith told the newspaper.

10 Taliban arrested for acid attack

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- Ten Taliban militants have been arrested in connection with an acid attack on Afghanistan schoolgirls, officials said Tuesday.

Rahmatullah Raufi, the governor of Kandahar province, where the Nov. 12 attack occurred, told CNN the militants confessed to spraying acid on the girls, blinding at least two of them.

Raufi said the suspects admitted being paid $1,265 by high-ranking Taliban officials in Pakistan to cross into Afghanistan and carry out the acid attacks, CNN reported.

Saying the attackers were "enemies of education," Kandahar government spokesman Parwaz Ayoubi told the broadcaster the extent of the injuries to the girls was unclear, saying that six were burned, one of them severely.

Girls were forbidden from attending school under the Taliban's rule of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.

Carter decries crisis in Zimbabwe

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, part of a delegation denied access to Zimbabwe, says conditions in that country are worse than he thought initially.

Carter, speaking in Johannesburg, South Africa, also expressed dismay at Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and his administration's refusal to meet with the United Nations or relief organizations or accept their aid, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.

"The entire basic structure in education, healthcare, feeding people, social services and sanitation has broken down," Carter said Monday. "These are all indications that the crisis in Zimbabwe is much greater, much worse than we had ever imagined."

The delegation last week was denied entry into Zimbabwe to assess the crisis. The group also includes former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Graca Machel, wife of former South African President Nelson Mandela.

An estimated 4.9 million people in Zimbabwe need food aid and 300 have died in a cholera epidemic.

Because the delegation cannot travel to Zimbabwe, it is meeting in South Africa with Zimbabwean refugees and opposition leaders, South African government officials, diplomats, humanitarian agencies and non-governmental organizations, the Times said.

Citing information gotten from those briefings, Carter said the Mugabe government refused to meet with the United Nations, other organizations and ambassadors from major donor countries for the last year.

South African President Kgalema Motlanthe blamed the lack of a legitimate government for Zimbabwe's crisis. Mugabe, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and the leader of another opposition group, Arthur Mutambara, agreed in September to share power following disputed elections.

Brazil flood death toll rises to 65

RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- The death toll in flooding that devastated the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina has reached at least 65.

More than 40,000 people were left homeless by weekend rains that pounded the region, O Globo reported Tuesday.

Four cities were hit particularly hard by the flooding, washing out roads and making it difficult for authorities to send in relief supplies and rescue workers.

Aid was being sent in to some cities by helicopter, Brazil's state news agency reported.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said the federal government would provide aid to those affected by the flooding.

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