AFP - The FTSE 100 soared on Monday, with the index of leading shares up 4.84 percent after leading banks accepted billions of pounds of taxpayers' money to prop up their ailing institutions.

Reuters - Shares of General Motors Corp jumped almost 18 percent on Monday after reports the No. 1 U.S. automaker had been in merger talks in recent weeks with smaller rivals Ford Motor Co and Chrysler LLC.

Reuters - Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc (MUFG) completed its $9 billion investment in Morgan Stanley on Monday as U.S. government support helped nail down a critical deal many investors had feared could fall apart.

Reuters - The world bet solidly on recapitalizing ailing banks as the fastest way out of the financial crisis in a clear new direction on Monday that reinvigorated stock markets after their worst week in history.

Reuters - Stocks surged on Monday, following their worst week ever, as global efforts to recapitalize banks sparked a rally in financial shares, while credit markets showed some signs of loosening up.

AFP - An unprecedented worldwide effort costing trillions of dollars to tame the financial crisis faces an acid test Monday when battered Asian stock markets pass a critical judgment on the measures.

Reuters - The Federal Reserve on Sunday gave its stamp of approval to the takeover of Wachovia Corp by Wells Fargo & Co of San Francisco, which had battled New York-based Citigroup for ownership of the wounded bank.

Reuters - Britain bailed out three major banks with 37 billion pounds ($64 billion) on Monday, as European governments used taxpayers' cash to take control and boost confidence in the battered industry.

Reuters - Spain's largest bank Santander is in talks to buy U.S. bank Sovereign Bancorp Inc, but that no deal has yet been reached, Santander said in a statement on Monday.

Reuters - Japan's Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, which has watched Morgan Stanley's share price plunge 58 percent last week, is seeking more favorable terms to its $9 billion deal, a person briefed on the matter said.

Reuters - Governments across the world moved on Monday to shore up confidence in the global banking system with a slew of bank bailouts worth hundreds of billions of dollars.

Reuters - Chrysler LLC has had talks with General Motors Corp about a deal to combine the No. 1 and No. 3 American automakers at a time when both are struggling to cut costs and shore up cash, according to three people familiar with the matter.