Reuters - Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama accused Republican John McCain on Thursday of backing a mortgage bailout plan that would reward banks responsible for the U.S. housing crisis, as he sought to press a perceived advantage on economic issues. Read more…

AFP - The FTSE 100 index of leading shares closed down on Thursday as a mid-day rally on stepped up government support for banks ran out of steam just before the close of trade. Read more…

BusinessWeek Online - Financial advisers are usually an unflappable bunch. When the markets are wild, investors turn to their financial planners for calm, consistent advice: Stick to the plan, think long term, don't do anything rash. Advisers have studied their history and know that markets go up, down, and sideways; proper investing requires patience. Read more…

AP - European markets on Thursday recovered some of Wednesday's hefty losses after a relatively steady performance in Asia overnight, with British banking stocks in particular enjoying a strong rally in the wake of the government's $865 billion rescue plan. Read more…

Reuters - BlackRock Inc and Pacific Investment Management Co (Pimco) are bidding to manage mortgage-backed assets in the U.S.'s $700 billion financial bailout, Bloomberg news agency said, citing people familiar with the matter. Read more…

AP - European central banks continued to push liquidity at the financial sector Thursday, offering $120 billion to prop up lending between banks. Read more…

AP - The United States on Thursday will push NATO allies to order their troops to target Afghanistan's thriving heroin trade in a bid to stem the flow of drug money to the widening insurgency against the troubled international military mission. Read more…

AP - World stock markets swooned once more Wednesday as concerns about the state of the global economy outweighed a coordinated rate cut by top central banks aimed restoring confidence in the world's crisis-stricken financial system. Read more…

AP - Ordering the government to buy up bad mortgages to cut homeowners' monthly payments might sound good, but experts are skeptical. They say the plan John McCain is promoting is unlikely to solve the housing crisis that's pushing the economy toward recession. Read more…

AP - Two French researchers who shared the Nobel Prize in medicine for discovering the AIDS virus are voicing fears that the world financial crisis will hurt funding to fight the disease. Read more…

Reuters - Citigroup Inc will cut 500 mortgage-related jobs and slash by 90 percent the number of independent mortgage brokers it works with, the company said, as the U.S. mortgage industry broadly shrinks amid the housing crisis. Read more…

Reuters - White House hopeful John McCain pitched a $300 billion plan to help struggling homeowners on Wednesday, as he sought to dent a lead Barack Obama has built over his handling of economic issues. Read more…

Reuters - UBS AG is halting its widely read weekly mortgage strategy report after more than 15 years of publication as the bank broadly scales down in the home loan business, including the closure of its asset-backed securities group, sources said. Read more…

AFP - Prime Minister Gordon Brown wrote to EU leaders Wednesday to urge them to follow Britain in guaranteeing loans between banks, proposing a "European-wide funding plan" to help ease the financial crisis. Read more…

Reuters - American International Group Inc , a day after being criticized for a lavish event held just days after the insurer got an $85 billion government rescue loan, shot back on Wednesday saying the event was for independent life insurance agents, not its employees. Read more…

AP - Savoring a rustic lunch of tuna salad, veal stew, and red wine, Benoit Gouez, chief vintner at Champagne house Moet & Chandon, took a long view of the financial crisis rocking the global economy. Read more…

AFP - Spain's new 30-billion-euro bank rescue fund is aimed at acquiring top-rated mortgages in exchange for injecting essential liquidity into the credit market, a government spokesman said Wednesday. Read more…

Reuters - (Corrects after NAR amends reference to low mortgage rates after Fannie, Freddie takeover. Also corrects to show pending sales were based on contract signings in August) Read more…

AFP - The FTSE 100 index of leading shares closed with heavy losses of more than 5.0 percent Wednesday as investors brushed aside central bank efforts to counter the global financial crisis. Read more…

Reuters - The leaders of France and Britain led calls on Wednesday for more joint action to combat the global financial crisis after criticism that divisions have hampered Europe's response. Read more…

AP - Iceland plunged further into financial crisis on Wednesday as it scrapped plans to nationalize a major bank, instead placing it into receivership, and abandoned attempts to put a floor under its falling currency by fixing the exchange rate. Read more…

AP - The U.S. still has the world's most competitive economy, despite the recent turmoil that has seen some Wall Street giants tumble and others turn to the Federal Reserve for financial bailouts, according to a survey released Wednesday. Read more…

AP - European governments struggled Wednesday to contain the deepening world financial crisis, with Britain stepping in to help its hard-pressed banks and Russia shutting down its biggest stock market for two days. But some relief emerged when the European Central Bank joined the U.S. Federal Reserve, the Bank of England and others in slashing interest rates. Read more…

AP - European markets tumbled in early trading Wednesday amid ongoing fears about the state of credit markets despite the British government's 50 billion pound ($87.5 billion) rescue package for the banking system. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei suffered its worst day since the 1987 stock market crash. Read more…

AP - Prime Minister Gordon Brown says the U.K. will take legal action to recover money held by British savers in branches of troubled Icelandic banks. Read more…