In today's FT

View an online version of this email here.  All times are London time: Wednesday Feb 04 2009 Financial Times - UK Homepage Darling revives option of 'bad bank' Feb 03 2009 23:41 Alistair Darling admitted UK taxpayers may have to buy toxic assets from Britain's banks to help stimulate lending Read more » Twin blow for Obama as Daschle quits Feb 03 2009 23:37 Barack Obama was grappling with his first full-throated political crisis when Tom Daschle, his closest Washington mentor, withdrew his nomination as health secretary following revelations of unpaid back taxes Read more » Olympic contractors face marketing ban Feb 03 2009 23:32 Companies winning work on the London 2012 Olympics are being obliged to sign a contract forbidding them from marketing their involvement in the games Read more » Financial Times - US homepage Twin blow for Obama as Daschle quits Feb 03 2009 23:37 Barack Obama was grappling with his first full-throated political crisis when Tom Daschle, his closest Washington mentor, withdrew his nomination as health secretary following revelations of unpaid back taxes Read more » TPG ends talks over stake sale Feb 03 2009 23:46 TPG has broken off talks to sell a stake in itself to investors including the Kuwait Investment Authority and two California state pension funds, because of difficulties valuing the private equity firm Read more » BofA Asia head and Thain ally leaves Feb 04 2009 03:13 A key lieutenant to former Merrill Lynch chief executive John Thain is stepping down from his position as president of Bank of America's Asia/Pacific operations Read more » Financial Times - Europe homepage Twin blow for Obama as Daschle quits Feb 03 2009 23:37 Barack Obama was grappling with his first full-throated political crisis when Tom Daschle, his closest Washington mentor, withdrew his nomination as health secretary following revelations of unpaid back taxes Read more » EU issues warning over Buy America plan Feb 04 2009 00:45 Brussels warns of possible trade litigation against the US if Washington presses ahead with the provision in its forthcoming economic stimulus bill Read more » BP sees challenges ahead Feb 03 2009 20:15 Europe's second-biggest listed oil company by market value reported record profits of $25.6bn for 2008 but warned of "a much more challenging environment" because of the fall in oil and gas prices Read more » Financial Times - Asia homepage Twin blow for Obama as Daschle quits Feb 03 2009 23:37 Barack Obama was grappling with his first full-throated political crisis when Tom Daschle, his closest Washington mentor, withdrew his nomination as health secretary following revelations of unpaid back taxes Read more » IMF cuts forecast for Asian growth Feb 03 2009 19:51 The scale of the economic slowdown in Asia was starkly underlined when the International Monetary Fund virtually halved its 2009 growth forecast for the region Read more » BHP escapes fate of debt-strapped rivals Feb 04 2009 00:43 BHP Billiton, the world's biggest mining group, underlined the strength of its balance sheet compared with debt-strapped rivals when it said that cash flows of US$13.1bn in the opening half year had reduced gearing to less than 10 per cent Read more » FT.com - World Twin blow for Obama as Daschle quits Feb 03 2009 23:37 Barack Obama was grappling with his first full-throated political crisis when Tom Daschle, his closest Washington mentor, withdrew his nomination as health secretary following revelations of unpaid back taxes Read more » Buy America plan not cast in steel Feb 03 2009 20:13 The political imperative of the Buy American provisions in the economic stimulus bill is to create jobs at home but they could cost more jobs than they save Read more » Dutch fire salvo at London's tax cut Feb 03 2009 17:50 The UK's cut in value added tax and the do-nothing stance of some European Union states to the financial crisis have been criticised by Wouter Bos, Dutch finance minister Read more » Olympic contractors face marketing ban Feb 03 2009 23:32 Companies winning work on the London 2012 Olympics are being obliged to sign a contract forbidding them from marketing their involvement in the games Read more » Brown fights union demand to tighten law Feb 03 2009 22:49 The UK prime minister was battling to contain union demands to tighten the law on the use of foreign workers as he attempted to prove he was serious about fighting protectionism Read more » FT.com - Companies TPG ends talks over stake sale Feb 03 2009 23:46 TPG has broken off talks to sell a stake in itself to investors including the Kuwait Investment Authority and two California state pension funds, because of difficulties valuing the private equity firm Read more » BofA Asia head and Thain ally leaves Feb 04 2009 03:13 A key lieutenant to former Merrill Lynch chief executive John Thain is stepping down from his position as president of Bank of America's Asia/Pacific operations Read more » US car sales fall below China's for first time Feb 04 2009 00:13 US car sales fell to their lowest level since 1963 in January – and were less than China's on an annualised basis for the first time – as rental fleets and consumers bought fewer vehicles in spite of steep industry discounts and government efforts to ease lending Read more » Dimon blasts political criticism Feb 04 2009 00:33 Attacks by US politicians on bankers' bonuses should spare institutions that have escaped the worst of the crisis, said Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JPMorganChase, which has outperformed most of its rivals during the turmoil Read more » News Corp poised to trim newspaper jobs in US and UK Feb 03 2009 22:51 A steep decline in print advertising has forced sharp cost reductions on the news business and is expected to entail staff cuts Read more » FT.com - Financial Markets News Overview: Wall St lukewarm at central bank plans Feb 03 2009 18:49 Central bank efforts to bolster the financial system and combat the recession caused equity markets in the US and Europe to rally Read more » US stocks rally on pharmaceuticals Feb 03 2009 21:39 US stocks advanced for the first time in four sessions as strong performances among consumer and health care stocks helped offset more selling in the financial sector Read more » CDS regulation in Europe moves closer Feb 03 2009 10:51 The prospect of legislation which would force banks and dealers in Europe to clear their deals in the huge credit default swap market centrally moved closer, when a top EU regulator asked parliamentarians to back the move Read more » Aussie dollar rallies after rate cut Feb 03 2009 21:42 The Australian dollar rebounded from ten-week lows against the US dollar on Tuesday after the Reserve Bank of Australia hinted that it might slow the pace of monetary easing. Read more » Late rally takes Europe out of the red Feb 03 2009 17:31 European shares oscillated in and out of negative territory on Tuesday but managed to end the session higher after a rally from the continent's telecoms and energy companies Read more » FT.com - Comment and analysis Why Davos Man is waiting for Obama to save him Feb 03 2009 19:08 However easy it is to blame the US for global economic woes, it is also to the US that the world looks for a solution. Concerted action is needed to reverse the downward spiral of despair, and that will only occur if the US gives leadership, writes Martin Wolf Read more » A Russia united by anti-westernism Feb 03 2009 19:01 In dangerous times such as these, with anti-western feelings rooted in Russian society, new rules of engagement are required, writes John Thornhill Read more » Unhealthy levels of 'Great Leap Forward syndrome' Feb 03 2009 20:00 Although the UK's National Health Service has spent heavily on IT, the management of information remains poor, writes John Kay Read more » There is no need to be afraid of a big bad bank Feb 03 2009 19:31 Institutions should be forced to surrender all assets in certain categories. The state would determine pricing, writes Daniel Gros Read more » Give the market a free hand in Digital Britain Feb 03 2009 19:36 Let consumers make informed choices about what they wish to pay for, driving reinvestment in high-quality programming, writes Jeremy Darroch Read more » FT.com - Business Life Start-up with all to play for Feb 03 2009 23:34 After one of the most complex land deals in Taiwan's history, a Welsh developer aims to build its first offshore casino Read more » Challengers for Olympic orders Feb 03 2009 23:34 The 2012 games offer the chance for smaller companies to win valuable contracts. But many think they face a hurdle race Read more » ABOUT THIS EMAIL You have received this email because you have signed up for this briefing on FT.com Manage subscriptions | Unsubscribe | Change your email address Change whether you receive this email as HTML or plain text | Forward this email to a friend Privacy policy | Advertise | Contact © Copyright The Financial Times Ltd 2009. "FT" and "Financial Times" are trademarks of the Financial Times. The Financial Times Limited, registered in England and Wales number 227590. Registered office: Number One Southwark Bridge, London SE1 9HL. VAT number GB 278 5371 21.