Asian stock markets fell today as criticism by ratings agencies sparked scepticism about a historic European Union plan to fix a massive debt crisis by binding member economies closer together.

Setbacks in Europe's efforts to isolate a debt crisis before it blows up into an all-out recession sent Asian stock markets tumbling today.

The prospect of Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi stepping down teased investors back to the market today although concerns remain over his country's increasingly fragile finances.

Better-than-expected UK growth figures were today overshadowed by a manufacturing slump and grim predictions the economy could yet collapse back into recession.

A Japanese government panel says it will take at least 30 years to safely close the tsunami-damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, even though the facility is leaking far less radiation than before and is considered relatively stable.

The yen dropped to a three-month low against the dollar yesterday after Japan intervened in the market to curb its currency's rise.

WPP yesterday cut its growth forecasts for the full year as pressure in the US and at its market research business caused revenues to slow in the three months to the end of September.

The bid by Chelsea to buy back the freehold of Stamford Bridge was defeated at a stormy meeting yesterday in which the club's supporters angrily rejected the proposal endorsed by owner Roman Abramovich with a sufficiently large proportion of "No" votes.

The directors of Britain's largest companies were last night dubbed "elite greedy pigs" for pocketing a 49 per cent pay rise in the past year.

One group seemingly immune to the impact of inflation, unemployment, economic stagnation and all the other woes afflicting this country is the men (it's usually men) who sit around the boardroom tables of Britain's biggest public companies. Income Data Services (IDS), which totted up pay, bonuses and various share awards, says FTSE 100 directors pocketed an average 49 per cent rise in the last financial year to bring their annual remuneration to an average £2.7m. Chief executives made do with a 43 per cent rise, poor lambs.

There was a man who watched his first game at Stamford Bridge in 1942. There was a woman who defied her Tottenham Hotspur-supporting father to follow Chelsea in the 1970s. There was a Chelsea-supporting QC who used words like "farrago" with accomplished ease, and knew his way around company law. There was a well-spoken man called Charles who said he felt "alienated" by the behaviour of the Chelsea board.

Yesterday's dramatic rally may have prompted the re-emergence of some familiar bid stories in the insurance sector, but investors in Jardine Lloyd Thompson (JLT) were told to wave goodbye to their hopes of a takeover. The insurance broker suffered a blow when Panmure Gordon instructed punters to bail out, warning that its current share price could be as good as it gets.

Virgin Media yesterday hailed the popularity of its connected television service TiVo and said it planned to bring it to all of its customers, as it unveiled solid quarterly results.