UK - The Army has more top brass than battle tanks, alarming statistics have revealed. There are 256 brigadiers and generals but just 200 Challenger II tanks, according to the figures uncovered by a former senior military intelligence officer.
USA - The FBI is investigating threats purportedly from the hacking collective that calls itself Anonymous to bring down the New York Stock Exchange on Monday by hacking into its computer system. Members of the notorious hacker group appear to be threatening to bring the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York to a dangerous new level, sounding a call to "declare war on the New York Stock Exchange" on Monday by "erasing" it from the Internet.
EUROPE - Panic on markets reflects a growing mood that Greece will inevitably default, triggering another Great Depression. Financial crisis across Europe saw share values fall further on Tuesday.
ITALY - Ratings agency Moody's slashes Italy debt rating by three points, increasing pressure on European governments trying to contain financial crisis. Italy's sovereign debt rating has been cut for the second time in as many weeks, with ratings agency Moody's citing "sustained and non-cyclical erosion of confidence" as it slashed its forecast for the country.
USA - Holding up a plastic debit card on the Senate floor this afternoon, Senator Dick Durbin, Democrat for Illinois, had some advice for Bank of America customers angry about the new $5 monthly fee: leave.
SAUDI ARABIA - The Saudi Arabian government blamed an unnamed foreign power - normally a code word for Iran - for trying to stoke trouble in the heavily Shia-populated area around the city of al-Qatif after 14 people were injured in clashes on Monday.
SYRIA - In meeting with Turkish FM, Syrian president discusses possibility of NATO strike, says 'I won't need more than six hours to transfer hundreds of rockets to Golan to fire at Tel Aviv.'
SYRIA - China and Russia have vetoed a UN Security Council resolution condemning Syria over its crackdown on anti-government protesters. The European-drafted resolution had been watered down to try to avoid the vetoes, dropping a direct reference to sanctions against Damascus.
GREECE - A 24-hour general strike is underway in Greece in protest at the nation's austerity measures. Flights and ferry services have been cancelled, schools, government offices and tourist sites closed, and hospitals are working with reduced staff.
LONDON, UK - The FTSE 100 fell 1.5% to 5,002.47 points at the open. However, within 45 minutes of trading it was down 117 points at 4958.45 as it flew in the face of reports that the finance minister said they were reviewing the size of the private sector's involvement in a second bailout package for Greece - a move that threatens to hasten a default.
UK - Computers aren't supposed to make mistakes. And they certainly aren't supposed to have fat fingers. But on Monday currency traders were gossiping about a fat-fingered algorithm that caused the pound to crash by almost a cent after a computer mistakenly pushed through a large sell order.
GERMANY - He used to be regarded as Germany's safest pair of hands when it comes to the euro crisis. Now, criticism of Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble is growing within the government parties. Some believe that Schauble wants to exploit the crisis to push through his vision of a United States of Europe.
GERMANY - US President Barack Obama has recently suggested that Europe must take on more debt to stimulate the economy. Such reliance on cheap money, though, is what got us into the current crisis in the first place - both in Europe and in the US. America's problem isn't too little money. It's a lack of competitive products.
EUROPE - For two years the euro zone has fought desperately to get on top of its debt crisis, throwing hundreds of billions of euros and countless hours of talking at the problem, largely without success. The coming weeks may prove pivotal.
CHINA - China warned Washington it is "adamantly opposed" to a proposed US bill aimed at forcing Beijing to let its currency rise, saying its passage could lead to a trade war between the world's top two economies.