Germany adopts $650 bn bank bailout

BERLIN: German parliament definitively adopted a 480-billion-euro (650-billion-dollar) rescue package for the crisis-ridden financial sector Friday after it was approved by both upper and lower houses.

After the lower house, or Bundestag, gave the green light on Friday morning, the upper house, or Bundesrat, unanimously voted in favour in the early afternoon.

It will now be signed by President Horst Koehler later on Friday so that it can become law on Monday.