US Republican presidential candidate John McCain voiced concern on Wednesday over the weakening US economy. "Americans are hurting. I'm very deeply concerned," McCain told Reuters while touring the Israeli town of Sderot, hit frequently by Palestinian rockets fired from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
Asked about the fire sale of US investment bank Bear Stearns, he said: "We've been kept up to date but not enough for me to make a formal comment." McCain is on what he described as a fact-finding visit to the Middle East. Before heading to Sderot, in southern Israel, he discussed prospects for a peace deal in a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and in a telephone conversation with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.