AP - Paul Krugman, whose relentless criticism of the Bush administration includes opposition to the $700 billion financial bailout, won the Nobel prize in economics Monday for his work on international trade patterns.

Reuters - Spain's Banco Santander SA, the largest euro zone bank, (SANB4.SA) said on Monday it will buy U.S.-based savings and loan Sovereign Bancorp Inc in a stock-for-stock transaction worth $1.9 billion.

AFP - The London stock market rallied 2.65 percent to 4,369.55 points in initial trading on Tuesday as investors continued to cheer global government action aimed at rescuing banks crippled by the credit crunch.

AFP - The European Commission has approved the government's a half-trillion-pound bank rescue plan intended to stabilise financial markets.

AFP - Governments around the globe launched a multi-pronged attack on the finance crisis Monday, with markets enjoying record one-day rises as Europe approved more than a trillion dollars in loans.

AP - The British government injected $63 billion into some of the country's leading banks Monday to avoid a full-scale collapse of the sector.

AP - European markets rallied strongly Monday following Asia's lead in response to the widespread government efforts over the weekend to shore up the world's battered financial system.

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.

AFP - Former EU trade chief Peter Mandelson was elevated to the House of Lords Monday to allow him to re-join the government -- and immediately faced new criticism over money.

AP - EU nations were divided Monday over whether to resume talks on a political and economic pact with Russia that were frozen in protest over its war with Georgia.

AP - Paul Krugman, the Princeton University scholar, New York Times columnist and unabashed liberal, won the Nobel prize in economics Monday for his analysis of how economies of scale can affect international trade patterns.

AP - European governments overcame their differences to put $2.3 trillion on the line Monday in guarantees and other emergency measures to save the banking system in their most unified response yet to the global financial crisis.