Members of the US Congress gave the Big Three US automakers' request for billions of dollars in federal aid a far warmer welcome than just two weeks ago in an indication that a bail-out of Detroit may be gaining political momentum

The music publisher is in talks with rivals over a US distribution deal that could bring in tens of millions of dollars for the indebted company, after earlier talks about selling some of its labels stalled

Interest rates were slashed on a historic scale across Europe as central banks reacted aggressively to the sudden and brutal deterioration in the economic outlook since the autumn

Ben Bernanke, the US Federal Reserve chairman, urged policymakers to boost efforts to stem home foreclosures

US retailers experienced their worst month this decade in November, as stores such as Macy's, Gap and Abercrombie & Fitch reported double-digit falls in comparable store sales amid the economic gloom

The proposed C$34.8bn ($27.3bn) buy-out of BCE, the Canadian telecommunications giant, appeared less likely as the private equity firms that agreed to the takeover debated instead whether to buy a minority stake in the company

Huge volumes of US Treasury bonds issued as part of an effort to reverse an economic slump threaten to stop access to credit by Latin American governments facing financing needs of an estimated $250bn next year, a group of prominent economists from the region has warned

A day after official figures signalled that the country was moving perilously close to recession, the Australian government instructed its workforce to take a break

The US was lectured about its economic fragilities as senior Chinese officials urged the administration to stabilise its economy, boost its savings rate and protect Chinese investments

The Swiss bank warned it had lost a net SFr3bn in the two months to the end of November and would axe about 5,300 jobs, principally in investment banking

AT&T, the largest US telecommunication group, plans to cut 12,000 jobs, or about 4 per cent of its workforce, and reduce capital spending in response to the economic slump which has accelerated the loss of residential phone lines