World News from the BBC
A senior advisor to the Libyan prime minister has been freed following his kidnapping nine days ago. Mohammed al-Ghatous was grabbed from his car on the outskirts of the capital Tripoli. He’s now said to be with his family in Misrata. Correspondents say there’s been a rise in the number of kidnappings and security threats in recent weeks.
The five biggest European economies say they are setting up a new mechanism to share information to help fight tax evasion. In a joint statement, Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Spain said they would automatically share data on income from investments, which will deter people seeking to evade tax by opening secret bank accounts abroad.
The former head of a British bank that collapsed during the financial crisis, has offered to hand back his knighthood following a scathing parliamentary report. Sir James Crosby was chief executive officer of HBOS bank until 2006. Last week’s report called him the
architect
of a
strategy
that set the course for disaster. It recommended that he and two other former HBOS executives should never work in the financial sector again. The bank required a $30bn bailout from British taxpayers to survive.
A Roman Catholic nun in the United States has pleaded
guilty
to stealing nearly $130,000 from parishes in New York State. Sister Mary Anne Rapp, who’s 68, said she stole the money to fund a gambling addiction. Paul Adams reports.