ROME - SOME 560,000 Italian workers were temporarily laid off in the first two months of 2009, Italy's biggest trade union said on Saturday, as companies grappled with an economic recession and a steep fall in demand.

NEW DELHI - THE board of India's Satyam Computer Services met on Saturday to review a list of bidders for the fraud-hit outsourcer as a third company announced it had joined the race.

Potential bidders had until late Friday to show they had at least 15 billion rupees (S$454.8 million) to back up their interest in the software services export giant whose finances were left in shambles by its founder.

WASHINGTON - TREASURY Secretary Timothy Geithner could announce as soon as Monday his much-anticipated plan to get toxic assets off the books of the country's struggling banks, administration and industry officials said.

The plan will use the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance to make the resources of the government's US$700 billion (S$1.06 trillion) financial rescue fund go further, the officials said on Friday.