The US Senate has approved a rescue bill designed to prop up America's battered housing market.
The new law will allow homeowners to get cheaper loans and may also be used to bail out the struggling mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.
The bill has been approved in a very short time. President George Bush is expected to sign it into law next week.
Between them, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac own or guarantee around half the country's mortgage debt.
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Top bankers 'leaving US for Asia' ... Izzard in Washington says the bill will help hundreds of thousands of Americans trapped by mortgages they can no longer afford.
They will be offered the chance to refinance with state-backed, fixed rate loans.
The bill's Republican critics say it will cost US taxpayers billions, and query the wisdom of bailing out irresponsible homeowners or unscrupulous lenders.
President Bush had initially threatened to veto the bill.
(BBC)
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