Both banks agree that full-scale merger is not the right strategy so long as huge differences remain in Europe's tax and company laws.

ECONOMIST: British banking

For America will come up with the money only if its fellow-members agree to a new scale of assessment under which the Americans will regularly contribute rather less than they did and a handful of other countries rather more.

ECONOMIST: Saddam defies the UN, again

There are very credible voices who agree with the government's position - that the markets need to be reassured by signalling the scale of cuts the government expects to deliver over five years, and by beginning these cuts now.

BBC: Budget: Osborne package will test coalition strength

He said president Obama was not talking of a full-scale break-up of the banks but wanted to "separate retail deposit-taking from large-scale proprietary trading, large internal hedge funds and large internal private equity funds and I agree with him".

BBC: Treasury questions

Campaign groups agree that it is better to use offcuts as a resource rather than let them rot, but the potential scale of the enterprise alarms them as they believe in future power generators will be scouring the globe for stuff to put in the furnace.

BBC: Biomass may hinder climate fight