AP - The Kremlin is in crisis mode, pledging a $20 billion boost Thursday to shore up Russia's battered markets as it seeks to ward off a financial crash and restore confidence in its fragile banking sector.

AFP - Global stock markets hit fresh trouble Wednesday after the unprecedented US government bailout of giant insurer AIG failed to calm jitters and instead prompted a frenzy for safe haven assets.

AP - As Lehman Brothers secured court approval to begin the sale of key North American units to Barclays bank, its negotiators out of court neared a deal to sell parts of the business Barclays had not yet claimed, starting with its prized money management business.

AFP - Shares in the top home-loan lender HBOS swung wildly on Wednesday amid a report it might be taken over, spinning London stocks into volatile uncertainty after an overnight rescue for US insurer AIG.

AFP - The European economy will suffer collateral damage from the crisis roiling the financial sector, although the extent of the fallout remains to be seen, ministers and analysts warned on Wednesday.

AFP - London shares closed sharply lower on Wednesday, giving up early gains sparked by the overnight rescue of US insurance giant AIG and amid news of takeover talks between Lloyds TSB and struggling mortgage lender HBOS.

AFP - Global stock markets hit fresh trouble Wednesday, with early gains made on the unprecedented US government bailout of giant insurer AIG turning to dust as investors wondered where the next blow would fall.

AP - Russia cemented its ties with Georgia's two breakaway provinces on Wednesday by signing friendship treaties envisaging close economic and military cooperation.

AFP - US financier George Soros warned in a television interview Tuesday that the turmoil in the financial markets was far from over, with Britain likely to be the economy most badly hit by the crisis.

AFP - The share price of bank HBOS tumbled by 35 percent in early morning trade here on Wednesday, dragging London's FTSE 100 leading shares index back into negative territory.

AFP - London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares on Tuesday tumbled below 5,000 points for the first time in more than three years as global financial markets continued to suffer from the collapse of Lehman Brothers.