NEW YORK (Reuters) - CIT Group Inc, a lender to hundreds of thousands of small and medium-sized businesses, filed for bankruptcy on Sunday, as the global financial crisis left it unable to fund itself and the recession clobbered its loans.
The bankruptcy, one of the largest in U.S. corporate history, has been widely expected for months and is unlikely to provide a massive near-term shock to the financial system. But CIT's trouble could further weigh on the fragile U.S. economy.
The bankruptcy is also a blow for the U.S. government, which invested $2.33 billion in CIT in December through the Troubled Asset Relief Program and will likely lose most of it.
Taxpayers will receive money only after bank debt and bond investors are repaid. The bankruptcy would translate to the first realized loss for the government from TARP, although it may recover some funds over time.
周日，由于全球金融危机导致资金链断裂及债务重重，美国最大的中小企业商业贷款机构CIT集团正式申请破产保护。
CIT破产案是美国商业史上最大的企业破产案件之一，这是很久之前人们就已在预料到的。它的破产近期不太可能对美国的金融系统造成很大冲击。但是， CIT的困境会给脆弱的美国经济带来更大的压力。
它的破产也将重创美国政府。去年十二月，美国政府通过不良资产救助计划（TARP）为该企业投资的2.3.3亿美元，将可能损失其中大部分投资。
只有在银行债务和债券投资者被偿还资金后，纳税人才能收到钱。虽然过段时间后政府可能会回笼一些资金，但CIT破产却是政府在TARP的首次亏损。 原文
Clinton faces Arab ministers after backing Israel
援助以色列后，克林顿会见阿拉伯部长
MARRAKESH (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton prepared to meet Arab foreign ministers on Monday to seek support for resuming Middle East peace talks that Palestinians already say are impossible any time soon.
After a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in which Clinton endorsed Israel's view that settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank should not be a bar to resuming negotiations -- contradicting the Palestinian position -- Clinton was to begin sounding out senior Arab officials.
Clinton met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday in Abu Dhabi before heading to Israel to talk to Netanyahu.
周一，美国国务卿希拉里－克林顿准备会见阿拉伯外交部长，以在巴勒斯坦已经声明近期不可能和谈的情况下寻求恢复中东和平会谈的支持。
在会见以色列总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡后，克林顿认可了以色列关于在占领的约旦河西岸的定居点问题不应该成为恢复协商阻碍的观点－—这和巴勒斯坦一方立场矛盾。克林顿已经开始试探阿拉伯高级官员。
周六，在去以色列和内塔尼亚胡见面前，克林顿在阿布扎比市会见了巴勒斯坦总统马哈茂德·阿巴斯。 原文
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