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DETROIT — Detroit automakers and their allies in Congress said Wednesday that Barack Obama’s victory could help U.S. automakers line up federal funding needed for them to survive a terrible economic slump.

Obama made it clear during his campaign that he understood the automakers’ problems and would work to preserve the industry, U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said Wednesday.

"I’m very optimistic that we’re going to have a fighter in the White House for manufacturers, and that’s what we need," Levin said.

Levin said he was told Wednesday by Jason Furman, Obama’s senior economic adviser, that government aid is atop Obama’s agenda. Levin said the Obama adviser did not commit to a specific funding path for the industry but was supportive.

Obama has said he would meet with industry leaders and the United Auto Workers immediately to talk about helping automakers, but auto industry officials said a meeting had not yet been scheduled.

Levin noted that Obama expressed support for doubling an Energy Department loan program for automakers to develop fuel-saving technology to $50 billion from $25 billion.

The senator said he and members of Michigan’s congressional delegation would pursue several funding options to help the industry, including the $700 billion Wall Street bailout or access to capital from the Federal Reserve.

Obama’s victory over Republican John McCain came just three days before General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. are to release their third-quarter results, which almost certainly will show billions in losses and cash burn rates that will push the companies closer to emptying out their treasuries if auto sales don’t bounce back soon.

Further cuts by both automakers are expected on Friday, and GM’s top executives sent an e-mail to other executives Wednesday saying "important changes" will be announced just after the quarterly results are made public payday advance loan.

Spokesman Tom Wilkinson called the announcement a routine update. The e-mail did not give specifics, and Wilkinson said he could not comment on them.

Industry analysts expect GM and Ford to make further factory job cuts to match an ever-dwindling U.S. market.

Analysts say GM could close more plants, but Ford said it likely will do temporary factory shutdowns and overtime cuts at some of its car plants.

GM is talking with Chrysler majority owner Cerberus Capital Management LP about GM acquiring Chrysler. GM reportedly is after Chrysler’s roughly $11 billion cash stockpile and is seeking federal aid to make the deal happen.

Automakers and their congressional allies say some sort of government funding is necessary to bail out the troubled industry. They have been lobbying to speed up loans from the $25 billion Energy Department pot (the department late Wednesday said it planned to distribute the money by the end of the year), and for access to part of the $700 billion Wall Street bailout plan and perhaps other funding.

"What we need is to make sure that a vital industry like autos … which is such a big part of the overall economy, doesn’t lead us into a deeper and harsher downturn," Cerberus Chairman John Snow said Wednesday in an interview on CNBC. "The collapse of the auto industry at this time would be devastating for a new president."

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Chrysler Canada says it is cutting its salaried, white-collar workforce by 25 per cent, or almost 240 jobs, as the downturn in the North American auto industry deepens.

In announcing a continent-wide reduction of staff and contract workers, the company’s Detroit-based parent said yesterday it would achieve the reduction through lucrative voluntary retirement incentives, buyout programs and layoffs during the next few months.

When the Canadian subsidiary completes the reduction, its salaried workforce will fall to about 700 – down 465 jobs or almost 40 per cent from five years ago.

Bob Nardelli, chair and chief executive officer for Chrysler LLC, said the "unprecedented decline" in the global auto industry meant the company needed to take the action to remain competitive.

Earlier this week, the company accelerated the closure of an assembly plant in Delaware and cut a shift at another plant in Ohio. Chrysler also slowed down output at its Windsor minivan complex this month by cutting one shift for two weeks and possibly three.

In the past five years, Chrysler Canada’s hourly-paid production workforce has dropped more than 1,000 jobs to 8,925. The company has eliminated a shift at its Brampton assembly plant and trimmed the Windsor workforce by a few hundred jobs.

Chrysler would not comment on how many contract workers it currently employs in Canada who also face an overall cut of 25 per cent.

People familiar with the latest incentive program said staff in the U.S. between 51 and 62 with 10 or more years of service who earn less than $100,000 annually can receive full retirement benefits and health-care credits. Selected staff between 53 and 62 who earn more than $100,000 can also qualify for full retiree benefits.

Furthermore, workers 60 or older with more than 10 years’ service can get $50,000 in cash, a $25,000 voucher for a new Chrysler model and 100 per cent in health-care credits internet payday loan.

The company will offer U.S. employees with less than 10 years of service a $50,000 cash buyout, a $25,000 vehicle voucher, plus six months of health care. Employees with more than 10 years’ service who aren’t old enough to qualify for the early retirement offer or incentives to leave the company can get $75,000 in cash, the vehicle voucher and six months of health care.

Chrysler spokesperson David Elshoff said employees in Canada will receive "equivalent value" offers.

If not enough workers accept, the company would then lay off staff.

General Motors of Canada Ltd. and Ford Motor Co. of Canada Ltd. have also significantly reduced salaried workforces in recent years.

Cerberus Capital Management, Chrysler’s owner, is currently trying to find merger partners. Reports indicate Cerberus is talking to General Motors and has discussed the idea with Nissan and Renault.

Meanwhile, auto analysts expect the Canadian auto market will soon start sliding, in view of the major plunge south of the border in recent months. Despite U.S. turmoil, the Canadian auto market has improved almost 1.5 per cent this year.

"We question whether the Canadian market’s relative buoyancy will survive this fall," DesRosiers Automotive Consultants said in a note to clients earlier this month.

The decline in the U.S. market has cut vehicle and parts output here significantly. Canada exports more than 80 per cent of new vehicles and 60 per cent of parts to the U.S.

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DETROIT — The carnage in the ever-shrinking U.S. auto industry continues.

Chrysler LLC on Thursday announced it would cut 1,825 factory jobs. And General Motors Corp. trimmed some benefits and said it would make further white-collar cuts.

As the slumping U.S. economy speeds the industry’s slide, and tight credit cuts into sales, Auburn Hills, Mich.-based Chrysler said the jobs will be eliminated at the end of the year when it closes a Newark, Del., sport utility vehicle plant ahead of schedule and eliminates a shift at a Toledo, Ohio, Jeep plant.

At GM, senior managers sent a memo to executives Wednesday saying early retirement and buyout offers to white-collar workers had been well-received but that the company still would have to make involuntary layoffs.

More job cuts are likely if the U.S. auto sales volume continues to decline into 2009, said Laurie Harbour-Felax, president of the Harbour-Felax Group, a Detroit-area auto industry consulting company.

"If volume continues to fall through the tank as we go into 2009, then they’re going to be left with a whole bunch more people," she said.

If recent talk about a potential acquisition of Chrysler by GM comes true, even more job losses are likely, she said.

"The whole thing becomes somewhat scary of a concept to think about, more job losses, especially in Michigan," she said.

Chrysler’s job cuts Thursday amount to about 6 percent of its U.S. hourly work force. They include the indefinite layoff of about 825 workers at the Toledo North Assembly Plant, where the company makes the Jeep Liberty and Dodge Nitro.

The Newark Assembly plant, where 1,000 people make Dodge Durango and Chrysler Aspen SUVs, originally was expected to shut down at the end of 2009, and its hastened closure puts in doubt whether the company will keep making the large truck-based SUVs.

Chrysler spokesmen wouldn’t say if production would be sent to another factory. They said, however, that a plant in Detroit was being retooled to make several sport utility vehicles.

The company said it would work with the United Auto Workers union to handle the layoffs in a "socially responsible manner." In the past, it has offered buyout and early retirement programs to workers affected by plant slowdowns and closures free credit report online.

Chrysler said in a statement that the changes will adjust inventory to better match consumer demand. Through the first nine months of the year, the company’s U.S. sales have fallen 25 percent from the same period last year, the largest decline of any major automaker. U.S. sales industrywide are down 13 percent from a year earlier.

The sales slump showed up on Daimler AG’s bottom line Thursday. Daimler’s third-quarter earnings release showed a $154.5 million operating loss for its 19.9 percent share of Chrysler, indicating that Chrysler lost about $772.5 million in the second quarter as its U.S. sales slumped.

Chrysler is privately owned and does not have to report its earnings, but issued a statement saying its second-quarter loss totaled $660 million when taking into account the differences between international and U.S. accounting standards.

Chrysler’s majority owner, New York private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP, has been talking to GM, the combined Nissan Motor Co.-Renault SA and others about a possible sale or merger, or Chrysler could be sold in pieces to other companies, according to people briefed on the talks. The people have asked not to be identified because the talks are private.

Meanwhile, Cerberus has said it’s in talks with Daimler to buy the German company’s stake in the struggling U.S. automaker. On a conference call Thursday, Daimler Chief Financial Officer Bodo Uebber said those negotiations continue.

At GM, the company decided it will temporarily stop matching salaried employees’ 401(k) contributions as of Nov. 1, and it will suspend tuition reimbursement and adoption assistance programs at the end of this year.

Spokesman Tom Wilkinson would not say how many white-collar workers had accepted offers to leave, nor would he say if the company has a goal for reducing their ranks.

GM has reported losing $57.5 billion in the last 20 months, including a $15.5 billion loss in the second quarter. Its vehicle sales declined 18 percent in the first nine months of this year, and it is burning through $1 billion in cash per month.

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PepsiAmericas Inc. said Wednesday third-quarter profit rose 2% as the bottler of Pepsi beverages raised prices and sales climbed in Eastern and Central Europe.

Profit rose to $73.1 million, or 58 cents per share, from $71.5 million, or 55 cents per share, a year earlier. Results in the most recent quarter included 11 cents in charges.

Sales rose 12% to $1.33 billion from $1.18 billion, helped by acquisitions, currency benefits and higher pricing to help cover higher raw material costs. A lower tax rate also boosted results.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, who usually exclude one-time items from their estimates, expected profit of 62 cents per share and sales of $1.30 billion.

"We successfully navigated what continues to be a challenging U advance america cash advance.S. environment through disciplined pricing, strong marketplace execution and effective productivity initiatives," Chairman and Chief Executive Robert C. Pohlad said.

Total U.S. pricing rose 3.2% to help cover higher raw material costs. Average net pricing rose 18.4% internationally, boosted by exchange rates, PepsiAmericas (PAS) said.

Total volume, or the number of cases sold either directly or indirectly to consumers, rose almost 8%.

For the full-year, the company expects adjusted earnings per share between $1.92 and $1.96. Analysts expect $1.93 for the year. 

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Qwest Communications International Inc. said Saturday it has reached a tentative agreement for a four-year contract with a union representing about 20,000 employees.

Members of the Communications Workers of America last month rejected a tentative three-year agreement with Denver-based Qwest (Q, Fortune 500), after the previous contract expired Aug. 16.

Results of a ratification vote on the new agreement by union members are expected by Oct. 31.

The new deal calls for a 12 http://payday-advance-i.com.5% raise over the course of the contract and a pension increase of 3% for those who are eligible and retire from the company after Oct. 12.

The CWA represents Qwest workers in 13 states.

Qwest shares closed Friday at $2.18, down 10 cents. 

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Easing monetary policy in Asia will support what is now the only source of growth for the world economy, but oversold regional stocks and short-maturity bonds will only get a lift when central banks globally follow suit.

Such moves could provide the trigger for many investors that have switched into cash or money-market mutual funds not only to avoid spikes in volatility but also so they are ready to pounce on attractive investments when the time is right.

Total assets in money market mutual funds have soared this year, data from the Investment Company Institute (ICI) shows, suggesting many investors are staying on the sidelines as valuations of stocks relative to long-maturity bonds get increasingly attractive.

“Coordinated central bank action including Asian central banks would be a powerful signal to global financial markets. I wouldn’t rule it out but international coordination is very difficult to achieve,” said Stephen Roach, chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia (pay day loans).

A big 1 percentage-point rate cut by Australia’s central bank provided investors with a taster on Tuesday. Markets jumped immediately, providing relief from a credit crisis that JPMorgan economists say is driving the world economy into recession.

The economists say developing Asia-ex Japan will be spared recession and grow 7.1 percent this year, although China, Taiwan and Hong Kong have sought some insurance by cutting policy rates in the wake of Lehman Brothers’ collapse last month.

Bond markets globally are starting to price in the risk of coordinated rate cuts among the world’s major central banks, which would be an about turn for many policy makers, who until recently were largely focused on keeping monetary policy tight to combat inflation.

But time is of the essence. 

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If you want to see how America’s credit crisis is hitting the streets of your hometown, go to your local car dealer. Auto dealers depend on credit. They need it to run their stores and their customers need it to buy their products. From every angle, credit trouble hurts.

"I’m talking to dealers every day who are just hanging on," said Denny Fitzpatrick, Chairman of the California New Car Dealers Association and owner of Fitzpatrick Chevrolet Hummer in Concord, Calif.

There could be 300 to 400 fewer auto dealerships in America by the end of the year, predicted Paul Taylor, an economist with the National Automobile Dealers Association. In an ordinary year of economic growth, the industry adds 75 to 150 dealers, he said.

High gas prices that have turned buyers away from large trucks and SUVs - and all but obliterated Hummer sales - have hurt his business, but Fitzpatrick thinks tight credit is doing even more damage.

"We’re seeing people with Beacon scores that are pretty darned good," Fitzpatrick said, "and the finance companies are just looking for reasons to turn them down."

Not every car dealer sees the situation as that dire. John McEleney, president of McEleney Autocenter in Clinton, Iowa and vice chairman of the National Automobile Dealers Association, says he understands that things are hard, but his business is holding up fairly well.

McEleney owns several dealerships and sells several General Motors brands as well as Hyundai and Toyota cars and trucks.

"Probably the most direct effect for me has been availability of retail financing for my customers," said McEleney.

So far his customers can still get auto loans, McEleney said, but they may need a bigger down payment.

"I wouldn’t say it’s that dramatic, yet," he said.

Fortunately for him, McEleney said, Iowa didn’t experience the run-up in home prices other parts of the nation did, including California. That’s means it hasn’t experienced the home equity crash, either.

In most of the country, the collapse of the housing market has left consumers without the low-cost home equity loans that drove car sales in recent years. Also, the drain of home equity has left potential customers feeling poor, said NADA economist Paul Taylor. That, as much as the actual loss of low-interest credit, has hurt car sales.

With sales down, auto dealers who carry large inventories are experiencing their own credit squeeze.

"The cost of doing business is going up," said Mike Jackson, chief executive of AutoNation, the country’s largest car dealership chain. "Especially on floorplanning with domestics."

"Floorplanning" is the line of credit dealers use to pay for their inventory. Domestic-brand auto dealers who carry large inventories will be among the first to die, Jackson predicts.

Floorplan loans become burdensome the longer cars go unsold. For the first three months a car is in inventory, interest on the floorplan loan is usually reimbursed by the manufacturer. Later, if a vehicle is still there after about six months, finance companies can start demanding payment on the principal on the loan.

As credit markets have tightened, GMAC and Chrysler Credit have raised interest rates and what are called "curtailment" costs, the cost of having vehicles in inventory for a long time, according to reports in the industry newspaper Automotive News. (GMAC and Chrysler credit would not confirm those reports.)

"When you’re scrambling with cash flow like this, it’s ‘How are we going to pay these costs?’" said California dealer Fitzpatrick, who finances his inventory through GMAC.

Many dealers have learned to operate with leaner inventories, said Iowa’s McEleney.

"When a dealer is called upon to pay down $100,000 to $200,000 in inventory they have to look to other outlets," said McEleney. Those other "other outlets," other credit sources to draw from to pay curtailment costs, are no longer easily accessible, he said.

Finance companies have an incentive not to squeeze high-performing dealers too hard, McEleney said. Pushing away a good car dealer means driving away a lot of potential consumer auto loans.

"Historically, that’s been a very desirable piece of business from a lender’s standpoint," he said.

That gives big, multi-store dealers more bargaining clout with lenders, said NADA economist Taylor. For example, Asbury Automotive, a large national dealer chain, recently announced that it had locked in a line of credit with several banks. Smaller dealers can’t do that and their interest rates have been fluctuating widely, said Taylor.

Squeezing dealers on curtailment costs can be a way for manufactures and their affiliated auto finance companies to weed out dealers they see as underperforming, Fitzpatrick said. GMAC has been scrutinizing his dealership’s finances more closely, he said. (GMAC could not immediately comment on Fitzpatrick’s complaints. A spokewoman for General Motors said GM plays no role in floorplan financing.)

"The big question is ‘Who’s going to be left standing?" he said. 

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The Bush administration widened the scope of its $700 billion plan to avert a financial meltdown by including assets other than mortgage-related securities.

The U.S. Treasury submitted revised guidance to Congress on its plan late yesterday as lawmakers and lobbyists push their own ideas. The department also adjusted its new plan to insure money-market funds to limit protection to balances as of Sept. 19, after complaints from bank lobbyists.

Officials made the changes two days after unveiling plans for an unprecedented intervention in financial markets in an effort to halt the deepening crisis. The change to potentially allow purchases of instruments such as car loans, credit-card debt and other devalued assets may force an increase in the size of the package as the legislation proceeds through Congress.

“The Treasury's thinking is to make it as big and wide as possible so they have the flexibility to act if need be,'' said Shane Oliver, Sydney-based head of investment strategy at AMP Capital Investors, which manages about $108 billion. “There have been losses on a whole range of U.S. debts and as the economy deteriorates in response to the housing slump those losses could escalate.''

Treasury officials now propose buying what they term troubled assets, without specifying the type, according to a document obtained by Bloomberg News and confirmed by a congressional aide.

`Significantly Higher'

“The costs of the bailout will be significantly higher than originally considered or acknowledged,'' said Josh Rosner, an analyst with independent research firm Graham Fisher & Co. in New York. “How, given these changes, can the administration and Federal Reserve believe they are being forthright in their unrevised expectation of future losses?''

Separately, the Treasury said in a statement late yesterday it would limit its $50 billion plan for insuring money-market funds to those held by investors as of Sept. 19, excluding any subsequent contributions.

The American Bankers' Association, which had expressed concern about the plan last week, praised the move, saying it would eliminate an incentive for savers to shift out of bank accounts into money-market funds. The Treasury put no limit on the money-market fund insurance, while the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. protects bank deposits up to $100,000.

“If all money market mutual funds had been included with the government guarantee moving forward, this proposal would have threatened to take money out of local FDIC-insured banks,'' Edward Yingling, president of the ABA in Washington, said in a statement.

International Scope

In its latest guidance on the bad-debt fund, the Treasury said firms that are headquartered outside the U.S payday loans. will now be eligible.

The changes come after two days of weekend talks between administration officials and congressional staff in Washington. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke told lawmakers Sept. 18 that a comprehensive attack on the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression was critical after a series of government interventions failed to normalize markets.

Paulson on Sept. 19 announced his intention to seek legislation from Congress. Appearing on television talk shows yesterday he called for rapid passage of a bill. Congressional panels have scheduled two hearings this week on the crisis; Bernanke appears at a third hearing on the economic outlook.

Lawmakers are also seeking changes to Paulson's plan, which amounts to an unprecedented intervention in financial markets and would prevent courts from reviewing actions taken under its authority.

Lawmakers' Demands

Democrats are pressing for oversight through the Government Accountability Office, and for the inclusion of efforts to refinance mortgages for struggling homeowners. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank wants limits on compensation of corporate executives who benefit from the program.

Republicans are urging limits on how any profits from the program could be spent.

“Just about everyone in the markets agrees the Paulson plan needs to be simple — unencumbered by complications and penalties,'' Christopher Low, chief economist at FTN Financial in New York, wrote in a note to clients. “Of course, Washington doesn't know how to do that.''

It was the third straight weekend of crisis work for Paulson and his Treasury colleagues. The previous week, Paulson and New York Fed President Timothy Geithner led talks with banks in an effort to avert the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. While Lehman did end up in bankruptcy, Merrill Lynch & Co. agreed to be taken over by Bank of America Corp.

Weekend Warrior

On Sept. 7, Paulson seized Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the largest sources of U.S. mortgage financing, after the government-chartered, shareholder-owned companies failed to raise sufficient capital from private sources to satisfy regulators.

Late yesterday, the Fed approved requests from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley, Wall Street's last two independent investment banks, to become bank holding companies.

“It's hard to say there are any illusions left'' about the seriousness of the financial crisis, said Jason Trennert, chief investment strategist at Strategas Research Partners in New York.

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Bankers and economists reacted with caution Friday to the broad outline of a government plan to take on troubled loans and other "bad" assets from banks in an attempt to unclog the nation’s financial system.

With most of the details yet to be worked out, bankers and others had more questions than criticisms of the plan. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and congressional leaders are expected to work out the details this weekend.

Left unclear were the answers to four key questions:

— What assets will the government accept, and what entity will accept them?

— Who will set the price for the assets?

— Will the government hold the assets for the long term, or will it sell them back into the market once the economy improves?

— Will the government accept assets from all banks, only large banks, or only the banks that are in trouble?

"I think action is certainly required," said Terrance McCarthy, chief executive of First Banks Inc. of Creve Coeur. But he was not sure taking bad loans off bank balance sheets would restore healthy sales of houses or free up the mortgage market.

Steve Marsh, president of Enterprise Bank & Trust in Clayton, said, "My initial reaction is that I’m glad to hear that there are serious proposals being considered because it’s clear that we’re facing unusual risk today."

Marsh said he was concerned about the burden the bailout could place on taxpayers. He said he hoped it would not benefit only the biggest banks. Marsh also expressed skepticism that a solution could be approved by Congress with elections less than seven weeks away.

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Tom Chulick, chairman and chief executive of UMB Bank in St fast cash. Louis, said Paulson’s proposal calmed the market, but he wondered if the government can come up with an orderly means for assets to flow to and from whatever trust or institution the government designates.

"We think it’s going to be a net plus," Chulick said.

Todd Solomon, president of Pinnacle Financial Services Inc. in Chesterfield, said the plan could make it easier to get mortgages approved. Banks have been adding conditions on mortgages that can make it nearly impossible to close a deal. For example, he said, one lender asked that the borrower name it as a beneficiary of a life insurance policy.

Radhakrishnan Gopalan, an assistant finance professor at Washington University, said banks will have to take losses on the bad loans, even if they do sell them to the government. The loans now are difficult to value; removing them from the banks’ books could make bank financial statements more transparent and restore trust in the market, he said.

Anne Villamil, an economics professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, said she was concerned about how the losses from the financial institutions would be allocated among taxpayers and the private sector.

"I take (Paulson) at his word that this is designed to fix the fundamental problem," she said. At the very least, it will break the vicious cycle some institutions found themselves in of having their capital erode, being forced to raise more capital and then be downgraded because they had too much debt.

J. Fred Giertz, also an economist at Illinois, said he believed action was needed to "keep the financial system from exploding" and sending the economy into a long and severe recession or even a depression.

Although it may seem unfair that big banks and investment firms have gotten the most help from the government so far, the government had to do something to stop what could have been a deep downward spiral, Giertz said.

"It is a temporary fix, but if it’s done correctly and followed through on, it could be a step to a more stable situation," he said.

jerristroud@post-dispatch.com | 314-340-8384

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LONDON–

The oil market was also hit by turbulence in the U.S. financial sector, which aggravated expectations that a global economic slowdown will suppress demand.

Light sweet crude for October delivery was down $5.39 at $95.79 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after going as low as $94.13 overnight.

The contract had settled Friday at $101.18 after dipping to $99.99 — the first time Nymex crude had traded below the $100 mark since April 2.

“Now that Ike has come and gone, initial reports indicate no real damage to the oil infrastructure in the Gulf coast area,” said Victor Shum, an energy analyst with consultancy Purvin & Gertz in Singapore.

Federal officials said the storm destroyed at least 10 oil and gas platforms and damaged pipelines in the Gulf of Mexico — a small proportion of the 3,800 production platforms in the Gulf. Three years ago, back-to-back hurricanes knocked out more than 100 platforms.

However, power outages were slowing efforts to restart refineries.

“Hurricane-related problems on the region’s electricity grid appear to be the biggest hurdle to a prompt restart of operations,” wrote analysts from JBC Energy in Vienna, Austria.

Investors are now turning their attention toward falling oil demand in the U.S., Europe and Japan as slowing economic growth threatens to undermine consumer spending.

“Market sentiment is decidedly bearish, with all these concerns about developed countries going into recession or a serious slowdown impacting oil demand,” Shum said.

Oil fell despite reports that militants launched another attack on Nigeria’s oil infrastructure in a third day of violence.

The Nigerian military in the southern oil delta region said militants in speedboats attacked troops at a Royal Dutch Shell PLC oil-pumping station early Monday how to get a free credit report. The fighters arrived in about 10 boats and detonated dynamite and other explosives during the battle

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