£10bn wiped off bank's shares
Royal Bank of Scotland shares plunged nearly 40% to a 15-year low as speculation mounted over an imminent taxpayer-funded rescue of Britain's banks.
RBS shares hit their lowest point since 1993 and eventually closed more than 39% lower - wiping around £10 billion off the value of the business.
Halifax Bank of Scotland - being bought by Lloyds TSB in a rescue takeover - tumbled 41% while Barclays slid 9% as investors bailed out in the uncertainty.
The falls came in another day of turmoil for bank shares after it emerged top executives had held crisis talks with Chancellor Alistair Darling.
The Government is considering a dramatic intervention to prop up banks' finances by using billions of pounds in public money to take stakes in the business.
The BBC reported RBS, Barclays and Lloyds TSB needed around £15 billion of extra capital each. The banks at the meeting called for the Chancellor to act quickly but Mr Darling did not have a fully-prepared rescue plan, the report said.
The banks' woes hampered a fightback by the FTSE 100 Index after Monday's 7.8% slump - the biggest since Black Monday in October 1987. The Footsie finished up just 16 points at 4605.2.
Meanwhile, savers with internet bank Icesave were warned that they are likely to have to claim their money from depositor compensation schemes.
The Financial Services Authority said it expected the Icelandic authorities to put the firm into insolvency proceedings, which would trigger payouts from the UK's and Iceland's saver protection schemes.
The warning came after Icesave stopped consumers withdrawing money from their internet accounts after its parent company Landsbanki was placed into receivership this morning.
-Ananova
Darling to unveil banks rescue deal
Chancellor Alistair Darling is to announce a comprehensive rescue package for the embattled banks on Wednesday.
Following talks on Tuesday with Bank of England Governor Mervyn King and Financial Services Authority chairman Lord Turner, Mr Darling said he would full release full details before markets open on Wednesday morning.
"The Bank of England has been putting substantial sums into the market today (Tuesday) and it is ready to do more when that is needed," he said in a brief holding statement.
"We have been working closely with the Governor of the Bank of England, the Financial Services Authority and financial institutions to put banks on a longer term sound footing.
"I intend to make a statement before the markets open and I will be making a further statement to the House of Commons later in the day."
The Prime Minister earlier reaffirmed his determination to "take whatever action is necessary" to maintain the stability of the financial system in the face of the latest market turmoil.
Following a Cabinet meeting, Gordon Brown's spokesman said: "He reiterated that the Government is ready to take whatever action is necessary to get the country through this challenging period for the global economy."
Meanwhile, business leaders piled on the pressure for a deep rate cut as Bank of England policymakers prepare their response to the worst financial turmoil in living memory.
Virgin billionaire Sir Richard Branson called on the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to slash rates as much as 1% when it votes on Thursday.
The call came after both the British Chambers of Commerce - which warned that the UK is already in recession - and the CBI business group both pressed for 0.5% cuts. The MPC has held rates at 5% since April because of inflation fears but the unprecedented chaos in financial markets has sent shockwaves through the banking system and threatens to tip the UK into a deep recession.
-Ananova
Concern over Iran nuclear ambitions
The UK is "very concerned" about Iran's nuclear ambitions and human rights record, Foreign Secretary David Miliband said.
Tehran's uranium enrichment programme represents a serious threat to security in the Middle East and the wider world, he told MPs.
The Government was continuing to press for oil and gas sanctions against the regime in Tehran, he said.
Tory spokesman David Lidington said Prime Minister Gordon Brown had "repeatedly promised but has not yet seen delivered" restrictions on oil and gas and a ban on export credits.
Mr Miliband said: "That remains an important part of our agenda, both within the European Union and internationally."
The Foreign Secretary and his officials met Iranian deputy foreign minister Mehdi Safari last month to discuss the country's nuclear programme, its role in the Middle East, human rights record and Tehran's relationship with the UK.
"We remain very concerned by Iran's behaviour in all these areas and are working bilaterally and with our partners to address them," Mr Miliband said at Commons question time.
Tory Andrew Robathan (Blaby) warned that "bellicose" comments directed against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's regime could rally support behind him.
Mr Miliband said: "I hope you won't find bellicosity in statements from the Government."
But, he added, Mr Ahmadinejad's statement to the United Nations last month - in which he described Israel as being a "cesspool of Zionism" - was "completely abhorrent".
-Ananova
'Reckless' claim over Menezes death
A senior policewoman was accused of giving "reckless" orders as events spiralled out of her control and ended in Jean Charles de Menezes being shot.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Cressida Dick told the inquest into the Brazilian electrician's death the ongoing terror threat meant police could kill another innocent person in the future.
But she rejected suggestions she was "sprinting to catch up" on the day of his death because the operation she led had not been properly organised.
Emotions ran high at the inquest as the jury was shown a crude police sketch of a stickman representing where Mr de Menezes fell in a Tube carriage after being killed.
A handwritten caption below the drawing read: "Challenged, shot 9-10 head".
Several jurors left the court in tears after watching CCTV footage of the Brazilian as he descended into Stockwell Underground station, where he was confronted by police marksmen.
Ms Dick was in charge of the Scotland Yard control room overseeing the pursuit of the Brazilian electrician by surveillance and firearms officers who feared he was failed suicide bomber Hussain Osman.
Michael Mansfield QC, counsel for the Menezes family, grilled her for more than five hours on alleged Metropolitan Police failings on July 22 2005. The senior officer, who remained standing in the witness box throughout her evidence, was visibly uncomfortable at times but firmly stood her ground as she defended her decisions that day.
Mr Mansfield put it to her: "What happened on this day under your authority and responsibility was a chain of events that spiralled out of your control. Essentially from the beginning you were sprinting to catch up with something that had not been properly organised that morning."
Ms Dick answered: "I follow it, I do not accept it."
-Ananova
Treasury in Iceland for bank talks
Treasury officials are in Iceland for urgent talks after the collapse of the country's banking sector left councils and charities in Britain facing losses of up to £1 billion.
The crisis sparked a furious war of words between London and Reykjavik, with Prime Minister Gordon Brown denouncing the "totally unacceptable" failure of the Icelandic authorities to guarantee UK depositors would get their money back.
Icelandic Prime Minister Geir Haarde in turn blamed Britain for the collapse of his country's third largest bank, Kaupthing, after the Government used anti-terrorism laws to freeze Icelandic assets in the UK.
Downing Street confirmed that the Treasury delegation - which included officials from the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority - was in Reykjavik.
Mr Brown's spokesman said they hoped now to work "constructively and co-operatively" with the Icelandic authorities. However, he strongly defended the Government's action in freezing the Icelandic assets.
Despite another turbulent day on the markets, with the FTSE suffering more heavy losses, Mr Brown was carrying on with a visit to the South West, including a meeting with pensioners in Swindon, Wilts.
The Government has promised individual savers with deposits in Icelandic accounts that it will reimburse any losses they suffer, but it has been resisting calls to extend the guarantee to local authorities and the charitable sector.
More than 100 councils, as well as police forces, fire services and transport authorities, have deposits running into millions of pounds each in the crisis-hit institutions.
Private companies are thought to have in excess of £10 billion in Icelandic accounts they are unable to access. Charities, too, have tens of millions of pounds on the line.
Following talks on Thursday between the Government and the Local Government Association, ministers said only that those councils facing the most severe difficulties would receive "appropriate" support.
-Ananova
£250bn wiped off Footsie stocks
Stock markets worldwide were gripped by fear as London's FTSE 100 Index endured its worst week since the Black Monday crash of 1987.
Recession panic and concerns over fragile banks sent investors stampeding for the exits as the Footsie tumbled 8.9% - surpassing even Monday's record sell-off.
The Footsie has plummeted 21% over the week - wiping more than £250 billion off the value of top-flight stocks in the process.
The index eventually finished below the 4,000 mark at 3932.1 - its lowest close for more than five years.
-Ananova
Bomb accused 'left bin Laden will'
An Islamic terrorist who launched a suicide car bomb attack on Glasgow Airport left a will addressed to Osama bin Laden, a court has heard.
NHS doctor Bilal Abdulla, 29, wrote he was planning to kill in revenge for injustices against Muslims by British and American soldiers, Woolwich Crown Court was told.
A draft of the will was found on a badly-burned laptop in the remains of a Jeep Cherokee that ploughed into the airport's main terminal building. The computer also contained videos of attacks on coalition forces in Iraq, coffins of American soldiers and clips of speeches by Osama bin Laden.
Jonathan Laidlaw QC, prosecuting, said Abdulla wrote the document because he expected to die in the attack alongside a second man, Kafeel Ahmed, 28. He said: "This document is addressed to, amongst others, the leaders of jihad in Iraq to bin Laden and to the brothers or soldiers of jihad in Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya, Palestine and other areas of the world.
"The terms in which it is written, we submit, expose that the defendant's position in his trial before you is a lie. The attacks he was planning were intended to kill. They were in revenge for the injustices as the defendant sees them that the British and American people and their armies visit on the Muslim communities."
Abdulla, who is on trial with a third man, Mohammed Asha, 28, was arrested at the airport despite attempting to fight off police officers and members of the public. His accomplice Ahmed, who drove the vehicle and helped fill it with gas canisters and petrol, died in hospital several weeks later from burns.
Abdulla, of Houston, near Glasgow, and Asha, of Newcastle-under-Lyme, worked as doctors at NHS hospitals in Scotland and Staffordshire. They deny conspiring to murder and cause explosions.
Abdulla and Ahmed launched the desperate suicide attack after attempts to detonate car bombs in London's West End in the early hours of the previous day failed, the court was told.
Mobile phone detonators in two Mercedes cars failed to ignite a potentially deadly cocktail of incendiary chemicals, including liquid petroleum gas and petrol.
Mr Laidlaw said CCTV footage captured the two men catching rickshaws to escape the scene after parking the vehicles - one outside the Tiger Tiger nightclub in Haymarket and the other in adjoining Cockspur Street. Ahmed was seen dumping an umbrella, which he had apparently been carrying to shield his face from security cameras, in a bin before the men met in Edgware Road.
-Ananova
Murder accused's DNA 'on bike'
A bicycle used by the alleged gunman to flee the scene where schoolboy Rhys Jones was shot dead had the DNA of a teenager accused of his murder on it, a court has heard.
The satin silver Specialized Hardrock mountain bike, which was found dumped six months after the killing and handed to police following an appeal, was linked directly to Sean Mercer, 18, prosecutor Neil Flewitt QC said.
Football-mad Rhys, 11, was gunned down in the car park of the Fir Tree pub in Croxteth Park, Liverpool, on August 22 last year.
He was hit by one of three bullets blasted at members of north Liverpool gang the Nogga Dogz by opposing Crocky Crew gang member Mercer, of Good Shepherd Close, Croxteth, Liverpool Crown Court has heard.
Mr Flewitt told the jury that Mercer got the Specialized Hardrock mountain bike in April last year after his previous bike was stolen.
The jury heard that Leslie Shimmin saw the bike on the news and in the local paper and realised he had found the frame of the bike the day after Rhys's murder while cycling with his sons very close to an industrial unit used by co-accused Melvin Coy, 25, in Kirkby, north Liverpool.
The bicycle had been hidden less than 250 yards from the unit that Mercer and several of his co-accused allegedly visited hours after Rhys's murder.
Mr Flewitt said: "It will, perhaps, come as no surprise to you to learn that the serial number of the silver Specialized Hardrock mountain bike found by Mr Shimmin in Kirkby is the same as the serial number of the Specialized Hardrock mountain bike supplied to Sean Mercer in April 2007."
Furthermore, he said, DNA swabs taken from the alleged murderer matched DNA on the discovered bicycle.
The trial continues.
-Ananova
Woman charged with killing children
A mother has been charged with the murder of her son and daughter, who were stabbed to death at home.
Sasikala Navaneethan, 36, is accused of killing five-year-old Shanjayan and four-year-old Sharani.
She was also charged with the attempted murder of her six-month-old baby daughter at the family's house in Carshalton, south London, in May.
Mrs Navaneethan and her 40-year-old husband, who are thought to be from the Tamil area of Sri Lanka, were arrested.
He was later released but she was detained under the Mental Health Act.
She will appear before magistrates in Sutton.
Paramedics were called to the detached house in a quiet suburb on May 30.
Neighbours reported seeing the children, covered in blood, carried from the house late at night.
The two older children were taken to hospital but both died within 90 minutes of the police call.
The baby girl was taken to hospital with serious stab wounds and given life-saving treatment.
-Ananova
Husband's grief over floods tragedy
A British man has spoken of his grief at the loss of his wife and one of his twin daughters who died after being swept away by floods in Spain.
Mark Cullen, 49, said his wife Lorraine, 47, and daughter Lauren, 14, lost their footing as they tried to cross a swollen river with fellow twin Samantha, 14 and the girls' Spanish friend Gemma, 14.
The pair were trying to cross the River Clariano to get to their home in L'Olleria, near Valencia, but were carried off by the current. Their bodies were retrieved on Friday morning.
Mr Cullen, from Brighton, said: "My wife went to pick up Samantha from the town centre. When they drove back the water was up high over the bridge. They got out of the car, all held hands and started to walk across the river.
"It was only up to their knees, but one of them slipped and the others came crashing down. It carried them across the edge.
"My daughter Sam is quite strong and managed to grab hold of a tree and climb up. She saw Gemma and grabbed her, but Lorraine and Lauren were gone."
Mr Cullen flew out to Valencia on Thursday with his sons Daniel, 22, and Darren, 19, to be with his surviving daughter as she was treated at a local hospital.
He said: "When I saw Sam, she was absolutely covered in bruises. Nothing is broken but her body's a mess, I've never seen anything like it. It's a blur, you don't expect to lose two members of your family in one hit."
Mr Cullen said he and Lorraine had just celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary.
He said: "My priority is to see my wife and daughter and bring them back home. That's all I can do."
-Ananova
We must unite to beat crisis - Bush
The financial turmoil is a "serious global crisis that requires a serious global response", President George Bush said.
Mr Bush was speaking after a rare meeting with international finance ministers, including chancellor Alistair Darling, at the White House.
The crisis talks came after the US government announced it would buy stock in troubled financial institutions in a bid to stabilise the global markets.
"As our nations carry out this plan we must ensure the actions of one country do not contradict or undermine the actions of another," Mr Bush said.
"In our interconnected world no nation will gain by driving down the fortunes of another. We're in this together, we will come through it together."
The president said that while nations must confront the challenges unique to their individual financial systems, they must also ensure their actions were "co-ordinated". He said the joint interest rate cut earlier this week was a good example of this collaboration.
"I'm confident that the world's major economies can overcome the challenges we face," Mr Bush said.
"There have been moments of crisis in the past when powerful nations turned themselves against each other, started to wall themselves off from the world. This time is different."
Speaking with the G7 finance ministers - from the UK, the US, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Canada - standing behind him in the White House Rose Garden, Mr Bush went on: "The leaders gathered in Washington this weekend are all working toward the same goals.
"We will do what it takes to resolve this crisis and the world's economy will emerge stronger as a result."
-Ananova
Pensions at risk from shares plunge
Millions of people with pension schemes that invest primarily in shares may not be aware of the risks to their retirement nest egg, a non-profit organisation warned.
Some five million workers are paying into defined contribution schemes - and if they opted for the default fund, all their investments could be in shares, The Pensions Advisory Service (TPAS) said.
With such schemes, also known as "money purchase" plans, amounts paid out at retirement depend on the performance of shares.
Malcolm McLean, of the TPAS, told BBC Radio 5 Live: "My concern is people think the default fund has been recommended to them and that it's appropriate for them personally, which it may not be, because it may be 100% invested in shares.
"But they may actually be taking more risk than they know about and are comfortable with."
The value of personal pension funds had dropped by almost a fifth this year as a result of turbulence on the stock market, the TPAS said.
A recent report showed retirement savings have lost in excess of 10% of their value in the last month alone as credit-crunch hit investors attempt to offload their shares.
However, the National Association of Pension Funds said default funds should shift members' money away from shares to safer investments as they approach retirement.
-Ananova
Cancer centre 'could lose £7.5m'
One of the UK's leading cancer treatment centres has revealed it could lose £7.5 million as more casualties of the Icelandic banking system's meltdown emerged.
The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, in Manchester, said the bulk of the money - £6.5 million - was made up of charity donations while the remainder deposited with Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander had come from the NHS.
The money had been put aside to fund research and service improvements in the next five years, the trust said in a statement last night.
The collapse of Iceland's major banks also caught out the Chelsea Building Society, which has some £55 million invested in the troubled country.
Local authorities have around £1 billion tied up, while charities stand to lose more than £120 million.
On Friday, Treasury officials arrived in Reykjavik for talks to try to settle the dispute over the Icelandic government's refusal to guarantee the deposits of British savers.
Caroline Shaw, chief executive of Christie NHS Foundation Trust, said: "I want to reassure everybody that our patients will continue to be treated as normal and we are working extremely hard to ensure that this money is returned to us."
The statement from the trust said: "This is money we have put aside to fund future service developments and research for cancer patients over the next five years.
"We have taken expert legal advice and are working closely with the Financial Services Authority to ensure that we protect these deposits."
More than 100 councils, as well as police forces, fire services and transport authorities, have deposits running into millions of pounds each in the crisis-hit institutions.
-Ananova
Luxury yacht maker to axe 290 jobs
A company which manufactures luxury motor boats and yachts is set to shed more than 290 jobs due to the global economic downturn.
Sealine, which has its headquarters in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, also confirmed that it plans to close its sites in nearby Hartlebury and in Burntwood, south Staffordshire, next year.
The firm, which currently employs around 630 people, stressed that it was entering into a 90-day consultation process with staff and would do everything it could to minimise the number of compulsory redundancies among its office and production workers.
In a statement, Sealine's managing director, Steve Coultate, said: "It is with great regret that we are planning these changes, but they are necessary given the current leisure marine market conditions and economic environment.
"We need to take action to protect the long-term prospects of both our company and our international dealer network."
Mr Coultate added that the action the company was taking would leave it well positioned to respond to a market upturn.
"We will seek to minimise the number of compulsory redundancies by inviting applications for voluntary redundancies and for all of those employees affected we will be providing a full consultation and counselling programme," he said.
-Ananova
Brown urged to freeze fuel duty
Petrol retailers have called for a freeze on fuel duty to help reduce forecourt prices even further.
The cost of petrol is 9% less than three months ago as oil prices plummeted to their lowest level for a year, according to the AA.
This offers consumers a modicum of comfort during the turbulent financial situation, with a 50-litre refill now £5.33 cheaper than when unleaded reached a record high of 119.7p on July 17.
But prices are still over 11p a litre more than this time last year, an equivalent increase of £5.70 for a 50-litre refill.
Ray Holloway, director of the Petrol Retailers Association (PRA), said: "Gordon Brown always has the ability to reduce fuel prices through a fuel tax reduction, but avoids it.
"The price of fuel at the pump is influenced by a range of factors beyond just the price of a barrel of oil but despite this, forecourt retailers have still managed to reduce the cost of fuel to the motorist at the expense of their own profit margin during recent weeks.
"Prices for crude oil and forecourt fuel are obviously linked but they do not move in tandem. Therefore they do not automatically move up or down at the same time."
A PRA spokesman added that oil price changes typically take between six to eight weeks to filter down to forecourts.
Supermarket giant Tesco lowered unleaded and diesel by 3p across its 430 UK forecourts on Friday. It follows a penny cut by rival Asda at the start of this week, and price drops made by a host of retailers last month.
AA spokesman Paul Watters said: "The 3p drop in the price of petrol is very welcome, particularly with another supermarket taking the lead in price reductions. This should cut the cost of filling a tank by £1.50, which will help to offset grocery and domestic energy inflation."
-Ananova
