International

• Monday, October 13th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  UK rescue plan to support four of the largest banks

  Up to £50bn of taxpayers' cash is to be injected into four of Britain's biggest banks through the government's rescue package, the BBC has learned. Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), HBOS, Lloyds TSB and Barclays is to sell off shares, the majority of which the government is expected to buy.

• Monday, October 13th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Asian test of weekend financial decisions reacting positively

  Asian markets have reacted positively to efforts by world leaders to end the recent financial turmoil. Sydney's benchmark index leapt 5.5%, as markets in South Korea and Singapore opened up around 3%. Tokyo's market was closed for a public holiday.
  
  EU leaders earlier said no big bank would be allowed to fail, as they agreed a plan to tackle the crisis.

• Monday, October 13th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Bush critic and trade expert Nobel Prize for Economics

  

  United States economist Paul Krugman, a well-known critic of the President George Bush administration for policies that he argues led to the current financial crisis, won the 2008 Nobel Prize for economics on Monday.

• Monday, October 13th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  China record trade surplus but exports growth rate slower

  

  China's trade surplus widened to a record 29.3 billion US dollars in September as exports withstood the global economic slowdown and falling commodity prices reduced the import bill.

• Monday, October 13th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  More chemicals added to UN Persistent Organic Pollutants list

  

  Scientists started on Monday reviewing some everyday and industrial chemicals used in such products as carpets and medical equipment to determine whether they should be added to a United Nations-backed major treaty banning hazardous chemicals.

• Monday, October 13th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  IMF: now to work on limiting damage to real economy

  

  Coordinated global action is starting to reverse the tide of the financial crisis, but governments also need to “deploy all instruments” to limit damage to the real economy, IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn told world financial leaders meeting in Washington.

• Sunday, October 12th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Ship breaks in two on Gibraltar rocks; crew rescued safely

  

  The 35.000 tonnes Liberian cargo ship, built in 1977 Fedra lies in two pieces adjacent to the Lighthouse at Europa Point, Gibraltar.

• Sunday, October 12th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  Economic reforms for rural China include land transfer and rent

  China's Communist Party leaders agreed on a package of rural reforms that could shape the country's economic policy over the coming years. A four-day enclave including President Hu Jintao had approved “major issues” on reform, Xinhua news agency said.
  
  No details were given but it is thought farmers will now have more power to transfer or rent out their land.

• Sunday, October 12th 2008 - 20:00 UTC

  IMF hails G7 accord as “first big success in coordination”

  World financial leaders endorsed on Sunday an action plan announced by the seven leading advanced economies to combat the international financial crisis in what IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn called the “first big success in coordination” to halt the downward spiral in world markets and support the global financial system.

• Saturday, October 11th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Price of crude has plunged 50% since July's peak

  The price of crude oil has now plunged by almost 50% since striking record high levels above 147 US dollars per barrel on July 11. Trading on Friday was below 80 US dollars a barrel as demand declines amid a worsening economic outlook caused by a global credit crisis.