Rolls-Royce is to axe up to 2,000 jobs worldwide including 140 in the UK, the company announced today.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved a two-year, $2.1bn (€1.67bn) support programme for Iceland that is designed to restore confidence and stabilise that country’s shattered economy.

Japan fell into a recession in the third quarter for the first time since 2001 as the impact of the global slowdown took its toll on the world’s second largest economy, the government said today.

New government data show that the German economy is officially in recession.

The Bush administration is abandoning the centrepiece of its massive €520bn economic rescue plan and exploring new ways to shore up not only banks but credit card, car loan and other huge businesses.

America’s sinking economy was hit by two more financial torpedoes today when the unemployment rate shot to a 14-year high and Ford announced more redundancies.

The world will slide into recession next year, the International Monetary Fund predicted today, slashing its global economic forecasts in the face of a growing credit crisis.

The White House, under fire from Democrats and Republicans alike, has defended giving billions of bail-out dollars to banks that plan to reward shareholders and executives or even buy other banks.

The US Federal Reserve today slashed a key interest rate by half a percentage point as it seeks to revive an economy hit by a long list of maladies stemming from the most severe financial crisis in decades.

US home prices had a record fall in the year to August, with little indication of a turnaround in sight.

The seeds of the global credit crunch lie in the US response to the 9/11 terror attacks, an academic said today.

US President George Bush said today that despite diving stock markets and fears of global recession, now is not the time for nations to abandon open market policies or approve changes that would threaten free enterprise.

World stock markets were mixed today after Wall Street rebounded strongly overnight, with Japanese shares recovering from a historic fall in the previous session.

A French bank today admitted it lost more than €515m on the world markets last week.

Japanese stocks have rebounded from an historic fall in the previous session as positive sentiment regained some momentum following strong overnight gains on Wall Street.

Stock markets slumped today after more grim economic news from the US stoked fears that the world’s largest economy is plunging into a deep and protracted recession.

European stock markets dropped today after Japan’s Nikkei tumbled more than 11% overnight amid mounting anxiety that the world economy is plunging into a deep and protracted recession.

The US government plans to expand protections greatly for the US banking system out of deep concern for the economy, an industry official said after banking executives and top federal officials met to revamp the largest bail-out plan in the nation’s history. President George is to announce the expansion later today.

Iceland today suspended trading on its stock exchange for the third consecutive trading day, citing “unusual market conditions”.

The ISEQ Index of Irish shares was up 4.5% in early trading today, with the banks all seeing their share prices rise.

In early trading, most Asian stock markets rallied following last week’s massive plunge as governments around the world stepped up efforts to revive the ailing financial system.

Wall Street capped its worst week ever with a wild session today that left stocks with a widely mixed finish.

Iceland’s prime minister sought to draw a line under the bitter spat with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown tonight by insisting they were now working together to deal with the banking crisis.

Eurozone countries will hold an urgent summit meeting on Sunday to discuss ways to respond to the worldwide financial crisis, French officials said tonight.

Crisis-hit Iceland suspended trading on its stock exchange until Monday today.

The Icelandic government took control of the country’s largest bank, Kaupthing, today as it struggled to prevent a collapse in its entire banking system.

Central banks across the world co-ordinated emergency rate cuts in an attempt to stem market chaos today.

Chancellor Angela Merkel is to address the German parliament about the financial market crisis this afternoon.

Russia today pledged a €4bn loan to bolster Iceland’s foreign exchange reserves.

Russia’s stock markets made early gains today after trading opened several hours late – a day after suffering steep plunges.

Shares fell around the world again today as one country battled for economic survival.

German car maker Adam Opel AG today said it was shutting down production at its Eisenach plant for three weeks as global financial turmoil led to flagging demand for its vehicles.

Iceland’s banks face a battle for survival today, after the country’s government introduced emergency legislation giving it sweeping new powers over the collapsing financial sector.

Japanese shares dropped to their lowest level in almost five years amid growing fears over the widening financial crisis.

Trading was suspended on Moscow’s stock exchanges today – a day after they suffered their biggest-ever one-day losses.

Australia’s central bank cut its official interest rate by a bigger-than-expected 1% today to ease credit concerns amid a global financial turmoil, cheering investors around the region.