WASHINGTON - THE Obama administration plans to move quickly to tighten the nation's financial regulatory system.

Officials say they will make wide-ranging changes, including stricter federal rules for hedge funds, credit rating agencies and mortgage brokers, and greater oversight of the complex financial instruments that contributed to the economic crisis.

BEIJING - TENS of millions of people across China prepared to usher in the Lunar New Year on Sunday with fireworks and big family reunions, but the global economic crisis put a dampener on celebrations.

Railways and planes worked full tilt over the weekend as people made last minute dashes home to welcome the Year of the Ox, which begins on Monday.

BANGKOK - THAILAND'S deeply divisive ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra on Sunday launched an attack on new Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's first month in office, accusing his foe of copying his policies.

Speaking on Thai television from an undisclosed location abroad, Thaksin accused Mr Abhisit's government of espousing populist policies such as loans for the poor and expanded social security simply to win over detractors.

By taking the unprecedented step of unlocking Singapore's reserves, the Government is sending out this clear signal: It intends 'to respond to the crisis decisively and with all means at our disposal', said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

And to underscore its severity, he warns that the crisis is one that could see the economy contract for 'more months, and perhaps for the whole year'.