World Digest

G-20 finance officials: Too early to end stimulus

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland (AP) — Finance officials have pledged to maintain emergency support for their economies until recovery is assured.

There was also a mixed reaction among the Group of 20 leading rich and emerging nations yesterday to a British-led push to consider a fund for bank bailouts, possibly financed by a tax on financial transactions, to ensure that taxpayers don’t bear the brunt of any future rescues.

The grouping said in a statement after talks in St. Andrews, Scotland, that economic recovery is “uneven and remains dependent on policy support.”

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said U.S. jobs figures out Friday showing unemployment at a 26-year high of 10.2 percent “reinforced that this is still a very tough economic environment.”

While the “process of growth is now beginning,” that fledging growth still needs to be reinforced to create jobs and get businesses investing to underpin the recovery in the housing market and elsewhere, Geithner said.

The statement smoothed over divisions among G-20 nations about whether it was time to start talking about exit strategies to unwind recent massive stimulus measures.

U.S. tourist dies while 'car surfing'

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Police say a U.S. tourist who was pretending to be surfing on the hood of a friend's moving car was killed when he fell and broke his neck in a popular Puerto Rican beach town.

Police spokeswoman Yolanda Hernandez said Long Beach resident Jorge Geysel, 29, fell off his friend's Isuzu Trooper as he was "car surfing" along a road in the west coast community of Rincon early yesterday.

She said the insurance salesman died instantly. Hernandez said she can't yet say whether Geysel's two companions will face any criminal charges.

More troops certain in Afghan plan

BRUSSELS - A top Pentagon official said President Barack Obama's new strategy for Afghanistan will be certain to include reinforcements of foreign troops from both the United States and allied nations.

Undersecretary of Defense Michele Flournoy said a strategy decision on new deployments involving the U.S. and other troop-contributing nations would be made within the next few weeks, according to an official transcript released yesterday.

"No one is talking about leaving Afghanistan, or even standing pat. We are increasing our commitment and we're talking about how best to do that with both civilian and military resources," Flournoy was quoted as telling NATO ambassadors.