AFP - The leading stock exchange nosedived by more than 5 percent on Monday as the nationalisation of Bradford & Bingley rattled investor hopes that the financial crisis can be contained by a massive US bailout plan.

AP - Dutch-Belgian bank and insurance giant Fortis NV was given a 11.2 billion euro ($16.4 billion) lifeline to avert insolvency as part of a wider bailout plan agreed to by Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, officials said Sunday.

AP - In France, President Nicolas Sarkozy says the death knell has rung for freewheeling, U.S.-style capitalism. German's finance minister calls it downright "dangerous." Even the leader of more Wall Street-friendly Britain says financiers need closer watching, maybe on a global scale.

AP - Fortis NV named a new chief executive officer on Friday, after the banking and insurance company's shares fell 21 percent over worries about its solvency.

AFP - The leading share index fell sharply into the red on Friday after the proposed $700 billion bailout of the US financial sector hit an impasse amid political wrangling in Washington.

AP - French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Thursday the world came within "a whisker of catastrophe" during the recent financial crisis and that those responsible for the crisis must be identified and held accountable.

AP - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown offered support for U.S. President George W. Bush's economic rescue package Thursday, a day before the two leaders plan to meet in Washington to discuss the global turmoil.

AFP - Europe's leading stock markets sank Friday in early trade, hit by growing doubts about the progress of a 700-billion-dollar bailout package for the US financial sector.

AFP - London shares closed up sharply on Thursday as optimism over the US Congress' approval of a 700-billion-pound government rescue plan fueled investor confidence.

AFP - European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso on Wednesday urged the next US president to work with the EU to confront challenges like the financial crisis, ties with Russia and climate change.

AP - Police arrested 11 suspected Basque militants Wednesday in southwest France in two separate investigations, including the financing of terror attacks in France and Spain, officials said.