POUND-euro parity is likely to happen in the next week, according to the Bank of New York, which said it is possible considering market liquidity is as thin as it is.

Barclays Plc may be close to securing a 100bn yen (€594m) capital injection from Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. as part of the bank’s efforts to weather the impact of the global credit crisis, according to media reports.

Last year, Kazusada Sumiyama and his wife, Mari, made their first visit to New York. Their son Yoichi had been transferred there, and he showed them all the sights - Battery Park, the Statue of Liberty, the Fourth of July fireworks.