Reuters - A radical U.S. taxpayer-funded plan to restore confidence in battered financial markets by mopping up toxic mortgage-related debt triggered a rally in stocks, but raised questions over how long it would take and how it would work.

AFP - US President George W. Bush promised more action to help stricken markets Thursday as central banks staked billions of dollars to douse a firestorm of credit woes threatening to claim more victims.

Reuters - Lloyds TSB rescued Britain's biggest mortgage lender HBOS Plc on Thursday in a $22 billion takeover as the government swept aside competition rules to ease the deal through.

Reuters - Wall Street's manic dealmaking reached a new pitch on Wednesday as U.S. share prices plummeted to three-year lows and forced increasingly desperate major banks to scramble for merger partners.

AFP - Lloyds TSB has reached a deal to merge with HBOS, Britain's biggest mortgage lender, after the latter's shares plummeted for a third day running, British media reported Wednesday.

AFP - HBOS, Britain's biggest mortgage lender, has reached a deal to merge with its rival Lloyds TSB, media reports said Wednesday, after the lender's shares plummeted for a third day running.

Reuters - British bank Lloyds TSB has agreed to buy rival HBOS Plc to create a 28 billion pound ($50 billion) mortgage company, a person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, making it the latest troubled bank to be forced into the arms of a better-funded rival.

Reuters - Washington Mutual Inc , the giant U.S. savings and loan beleaguered by mortgage losses, has put itself up for sale, sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

Reuters - Britain's Lloyds TSB sealed a 12.2 billion pound ($21.7 billion) deal to buy HBOS Plc to create a dominant mortgage and savings bank, encouraged by the government amid fears turmoil in financial markets would claim another UK victim.

Reuters - Construction starts on new U.S. homes plummeted to a 17-1/2-year low during August as builders scaled back sharply to try to cope with the worst slump in U.S. housing since the Great Depression.

Reuters - Construction starts on new homes plunged to a 17-1/2-year low during August as builders scaled back sharply to try to cope with the worst slump in U.S. housing since the Great Depression.

Reuters - British bank Lloyds TSB is in advanced talks to buy domestic rival HBOS Plc , HBOS said on Wednesday, to create a 28 billion pound ($50 billion) mortgage giant.