First black FTSE 100 boss at Pru

Tidjane Thiam will become chief executive of Prudential in October, becoming the first black head of a FTSE 100 company.

Mr Thiam joined Prudential from Aviva in 2007 and is now finance director at the firm. He will replace Mark Tucker.

Originally from the Ivory Coast, Mr Thiam had previously been the country's Minister of Planning and Development.

Mr Thiam will be one of a limited number of ethnic minorities who are represented in the UK's boardrooms.

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Crude oil prices back above $50

Crude oil's price has risen back above $50 a barrel for the first time in ten weeks, pushed higher by a weaker dollar and hopes of an economic upturn.

US light crude gained rose to $52.25 before closing at $51.61 a barrel in New York trading.
Oil has gained more than 15% since the start of the year.

Oil gained after the US Federal Reserve announced a plan to buy $1.2tn (£843bn) of debt to boost its economy, which in turn may stoke oil demand.

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World economy 'to shrink in 2009'

The world economy is set to shrink by between 0.5% and 1.0% in 2009, the first global contraction in 60 years.

In its gloomiest forecast yet, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) says that developed countries will suffer a "deep recession".

The global economic body says "the prolonged financial crisis has battered global economic activity beyond what was previously anticipated".

Just two months ago, the IMF predicted world output would increase by 0.5%

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