LONDON, Sunday, 12-Oct-2008 05:03:29 GMT

WORLD BUSINESS: Top news stories from the BBC GM and Chrysler 'in merger talks' Struggling US car giants General Motors and Chrysler are in talks about a possible merger, US media say. Venezuela shuts down McDonald's Venezuela shuts all branches of restaurant chain McDonald's for 48 hours, citing tax irregularities, officials say. OTHER TOP NEWS STORIES IN THIS SECTION WORLD BUSINESS: Other news stories Equifax - Official Site... Ad - www.equifax.com G.M. Held Merger Talks With Ford Before Chrysler... New York Times White House Overhauling Rescue Plan... New York Times Rich Nations Pushing for Joint Financial Rescue... New York Times World bankers welcome part-nationalisation... The Times Bankers welcome part-nationalisation... The Times U.S. to Buy Stakes in Banks to Help Free Credit... New York Times Keeping An Eye On UPS... Forbes.com U.S. Stocks Trim Losses After Early Plunge... Red Herring Alistair Darling calls for decisive action... The Times NEW: Pressure grows to fast-track $700bn US bailout... The Times No rescue for Hardy Amies company... BBC As Credit Crisis Spreads, Global Approach Weighed... New York Times Barclays to cut 3,000 after Lehman deal... CNN Money Eric Schmidt For America's Clean-Technology Officer... Forbes.com Solving Demand Trumps Solving Supply... Forbes.com The U.S. Has To Take Control Of Its Energy Future... Forbes.com GM plunges nearly 30% as outlook dims... CNN Money Administration Is Considering Cash Injections Into Banks... New York Times Steel And Telecom Lose Fans... Forbes.com GM, Ford fall sharply as outlook dims... CNN Money Iceland halts all share trading... BBC How climate change could affect corporate valuations... McKinsey Quarterly prem Bank earnings don't look pretty... Fortune TechSpin:Europe Feels the Pain... Red Herring Wells Fargo, Citi extend Wachovia legal halt... Fortune Britain's Big Banks Bailout... BusinessWeek 3 bank stocks even a bear can love... Fortune Stocks Meredith Whitney loves... Fortune Tokyo Shares Lose 9.4 Percent as Europe Slides in Early Trading... New York Times Britain Announces Bank Bailout Worth Hundreds of Billions... New York Times