Japan ups nuclear crisis level; Vickers report latest - today's papers

The Japanese government has raised the severity of the crisis at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant to 7, a rating only previously applied following the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

Previously, the damage to reactors at the plant, 137 miles north of Tokyo, has been rated at level 5 on the scale, putting it on a par with the Three Mile Island accident in the United States in 1979. MORE...

More than £1bn was added to the stock market value of three major banks after the independent commission on banking stepped back from endorsing some of the more radical options designed to ensure taxpayers will never again have to bail out the financial system. MORE...

Meanwhile, Lloyds Banking Group is on a collision course with the Independent Commission on Banking (ICB) after it recommended Lloyds should be forced into a mass sell-off of its branches. MORE...

Retailers have warned the Bank of England that raising interest rates would do "more harm than good" after posting their worst monthly sales for at least 16 years. MORE...

There is no sign yet of the UK property market pulling out of the doldrums, says the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics). MORE...

The world's largest bond investor has given the United States government a massive vote of no confidence, likening Congress to a skunk and betting $7bn (£4.3bn) against US Treasuries. MORE...