Reuters - U.S. lawmakers rejected a $700 billion bailout plan for the financial industry in a shock vote that sent global markets sliding as the world credit crisis claimed more banks.

Reuters - Britain's government will nationalize troubled mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley and is discussing the sale of its savings book and branches, people in the banking industry familiar with the matter said.

AFP - Germany's Hypo Real Estate, a mortgage bank, is on the brink of bankruptcy, the daily Financial Times Deutschland reported in an advance copy of its Monday edition.

AP - Sold to American taxpayers for up to $700 billion: an unprecedented plan to buy distressed banks' least desirable mortgage assets.

Reuters - Britain's government will nationalize troubled mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley and is discussing the sale of its savings book and branches, people in the banking industry familiar with the matter said.

AP - Nervously eyeing the markets' next trading session, congressional Democrats and Republican senators pushed for an agreement Saturday on a multibillion-dollar bailout for the financial sector.

Reuters - Britain will nationalize troubled mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley , the BBC reported on Saturday, but the government said discussions on the bank's future were still going on.

AP - Congressional leaders said Saturday they hoped to reach an agreement on a multibillion-dollar bailout plan for the financial sector before the markets open Monday, even if House and Senate votes would come later.

Reuters - Wachovia Corp and National City Corp shares tumbled as talks on a $700 billion government bailout of the financial sector stalled and regulators seized Washington Mutual Inc .

AFP - The Australian government announced Friday it would invest four billion dollars (3.32 billion US dollars) in the mortgage market in response to the global credit crunch.

AP - As the debate over a $700 billion bank bailout rages on in Washington, one of the nation's largest banks — Washington Mutual Inc. — has collapsed under the weight of its enormous bad bets on the mortgage market.

AP - Lawmakers say they're making progress and hope to reach an agreement over the weekend on a $700 billion government bailout to rescue Wall Street bankers from the bad loans that threaten to derail the economy and send it into a deep and long depression.