AP - Russia may have to tap into rainy-day reserves of billions of dollars to help state finances through the economic crisis and declining oil profits, the country's finance minister said Wednesday.
AP - The Bank of England said Wednesday it expects inflation to fall to the government's target of 2 percent next year, but warned that inflation would then continue falling to below that level as the economy contracts further.
AP - European stocks were mostly lower Wednesday, with investors still hurting from Tuesday's heavy losses, and as earnings reports and economic data showed the global gloom is thickening.
AP - Spanish airline Iberia said Wednesday its 3rd-quarter profits plummeted 80 percent to 30.4 million euros ($38.8 million) compared to the same period of 2007, as international economic slowdown sapped demand.