Brown renews banker pension plea

The prime minister is expected to renew his appeal for Sir Fred Goodwin to hand back part of his £16m pension at a meeting of Labour activists.

Gordon Brown has threatened legal action against the ex-Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) chief over his pay-out. Read more

Cost of care

By Maryam Moshiri
Business reporter, BBC News

A task such as making a cup of tea is simple enough for most of us, but it’s the kind of everyday act that’s becoming more and more difficult for 70-year-old Graham Doggett.

Graham suffers from posterial cortical atrophy, the rare form of Alzheimer’s disease highlighted by writer Terry Pratchett, who has the same condition.

Graham, who used to work as a chemistry lecturer at York University, is cared for by his wife Susan. The couple do receive some financial help, but Graham says it wasn’t easy to get and isn’t enough. Read more

GE makes rare cut in dividend

US conglomerate General Electric has made a rare cut in its shareholder dividend as it seeks to conserve cash to see out the recession.

GE said it would cut its quarterly dividend to $0.10 (£0.07) per share from an originally planned $0.30 - a 68% reduction. Read more

US economy suffers sharp nosedive

The US economy shrank by 6.2% in the last three months of 2008, official figures have shown, a far sharper fall than had previously been reported.

Plunging exports and the biggest fall in consumer spending in 28 years dragged the figure down from the 3.8% estimate the government gave earlier. Read more

US increases stake in Citigroup

Citigroup and the US Treasury have reached a deal that sees the government substantially increase its stake in the ailing bank from 8% to 40%.

The deal does not require extra taxpayer investment, but is dependent on Citi raising extra private capital. Read more

Broken by debt

By Jonny Dymond
Europe correspondent, BBC News, Budapest

Standing in the small space between a double sofa bed and another sofa in his two room apartment in Budapest’s 7th district Istvan Rakitovski exudes not anger but bafflement.

Ishtvan lost his job as a construction work last year. His employer failed to pay him for the last eight months work. Read more

China warns of unemployment risk

By Tim Bowler
Business reporter, BBC World Service

The biggest challenge facing China is not slowing growth but unemployment, which could trigger social unrest, a Chinese government minister has said.

Commerce Minister Chen Deming told the BBC that when economic growth slowed “the chances of possible social unrest increase as well”. Read more

US firm takes over Wedgwood

Waterford Wedgwood, which went into administration earlier this year, has been sold to a US private equity firm.

The iconic but debt-laden company, which is known for its Wedgwood pottery, Royal Doulton and Waterford crystal, was hit hard by the downturn. Read more

Gloomy Lloyds Group results due

More bad news from the UK’s banks is expected later when the Lloyds Banking Group posts its results for 2008.

Shares in Lloyds, which is 43% government-owned, fell sharply after a trading update revealed larger-than-expected losses at its subsidiary HBOS. Read more

Indian economy in sharp slowdown

India’s economy grew by less than expected in the last three months of 2008, official figures have shown.

The country’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 5.3%, compared to 7.6% in the previous three months and 8.9% in the same period a year earlier. Read more

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