Chancellor Alistair Darling has begun holding meetings with cabinet members to look at possible spending cuts, the BBC has learned.
PM Gordon Brown admitted this week cuts are needed in “unnecessary” spending.
Cabinet ministers are being asked which programmes they believe could be sacrificed and which should be spared.
The Tories have accused Mr Brown of keeping the [...]

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) says the global recession could cost 25 million people their jobs…
This is despite recent signs that economies of its 30 member countries may be starting to recover.
“A recovery is in sight, but it is likely to be modest for some time to come,” OECD chief Angel Gurria [...]

European and Asian shares have risen strongly while Wall Street
built on on Tuesday’s gains, after the latest signs of US economic
recovery…..
The UK’s FTSE 100 index was up 1.5% in mid-afternoon trade, while Japan’s Nikkei ended up 0.5%.
The US Dow Jones added 0.3% after Tuesday’s 0.6% gains took it to its highest level since October 2008.
Investor [...]

Number 10 has insisted Gordon Brown would “never mislead Parliament” after David Cameron accused the Prime Minister of a “cover-up”.
The Tories have obtained internal Treasury documents which suggest cuts in public spending of nearly 10% were under discussion as long ago as the Budget in April.
Yesterday Mr Brown admitted for the first time that if [...]

Conservationists are telling people not to approach a 9ft (2.74m) whale after it was spotted off the Dorset coast
The northern bottlenose, which has been named Gilbert after an RNLI lifeguard who spotted him, has been seen swimming near Bournemouth Pier and in Poole Bay.
Rescuers fear if the mammal feeds only on small fish in the [...]

Stock analyst Joe Youssef from Austock says people have to be ‘very particular’ about which small cap they invest in.
‘I remember in 2007 actually doing a presentation for the stock exchange and at that time highlighting how the small caps were trading at historically high P/Es,’ he says. ‘But I think it’s fair to say [...]

Japan’s parliament has elected Yukio Hatoyama prime minister, handing power to an untested government that faces tough economic and social challenges.
His Democratic Party of Japan won a huge poll victory last month, ending more than 50 years of almost unbroken rule by the Liberal Democratic Party.
Mr Hatoyama said he was excited by the prospect of [...]

Another banking crisis is just around the corner unless the Government cracks down on the ‘get rich quick’ City bonus culture, a think thank has warned.
Speaking a year on from the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) said “real reform” had been “very limited”.
The group said the City was still [...]

Environmentalists have warned that an oil slick caused by an accident on a rig in the Timor Sea is threatening wildlife in Australian waters.
Oil has been flowing from the West Atlas platform for three weeks.
Safety authorities have been using chemicals to try to break up the spill but warn it could be at least two [...]

The US has said it is concerned by an arms build-up in Venezuela, a day after its president announced a major weapons deal with Russia…
US state department spokesman Ian Kelly said Venezuelan policy posed “a serious challenge to stability” in the region.
He also urged Venezuela to be “transparent” about buying weapons.
On Sunday, Venezuelan President Hugo [...]