President Elect Barack Obama last night said that America was facing "the greatest economic challenge of our lifetime and we must act swiftly to solve it".
In his first press conference since being elected to succeed President George W Bush, he said that he would confront the crisis "head on" immediately after taking office on January 20, adding: "I'm confident a new president can have an enormous impact."
Mr Obama's first unscripted remarks as President Elect were watched by an audience of tens of millions across the globe, with TV networks running feeds of the press conference which was held in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois.
They came on a day when the grim reality of the international financial meltdown's impact on America was underscored by two devastating developments: the US unemployment total rose to a 14-year high of 6.5%, and the totemic Ford Motor Company announced more than 2000 redundancies.
Mr Obama said the day's announcements were more "sobering news about the state of our economy".
Taking questions from reporters, he also addressed the issue of Iran, adding that "international effort" was needed to prevent the country developing a nuclear weapon.
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