LATEST NEWS AND ARTICLES

The Bank of Canada has cut interest rates for the first time since April 2004, saying that the global economic outlook looked uncertain. It cut rates by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.25% from 4.5%. The central bank said that it expected financial market turmoil, stemming from a collapse of the US sub-prime mortgage market, to persist. Canada's surprise cut raised the chances of a cut in interest rates by the Bank of England, analysts said. Canada's central bank said that credit costs in the country had tightened and it expected a slowing US economy to suppress demand for Canadian exports. The rate cut weakened the Canadian dollar, which fell sharply against the US dollar, and may help boost demand for exports as they were now cheaper. Tight call The Bank of England is due to announce its decision on interest rates this Thursday after a two-day meeting of its Monetary Policy Committee. Most economists had expected rates to remain at 5.75% but analysts on Tuesday said Cana...

US mortgage giant Fannie Mae is to sell $7bn of shares to raise money to cushion itself against losses in sub-prime home loans. The additional capital will allow the company to "manage increased risk in the housing and credit markets". Fannie Mae, which finances or guarantees one of every five home loans in the United States, will also cut its dividend by 30%. This follows similar moves by smaller rival Freddie Mac. Fannie Mae last month reported a third-quarter loss of $1.4 bn. Bad times The company said that worsening housing and credit markets will hurt its fourth quarter and 2008 results. "Fannie Mae has a responsibility to serve the mortgage market in good times and in times like these," Daniel Mudd, Fannie Mae's chief executive officer, said in a statement. "The steps we are taking today are designed to enable us to meet that responsibility." Its sister firm Freddie Mac said last month it is to sell $6bn of shares to cover more bad debt losses. H...

Plans for reform of cancer services in England have been set out by ministers. Cancer survival in the UK is still below the European average, despite recent improvements and the publication of the first Cancer Plan in 2000. The plans, unveiled by Health Secretary Alan Johnson, will be underpinned by a £370m investment by 2010. They include speeding up drug approval, more money for radiotherapy services and a possible clampdown on sun beds and cigarette vending machines. Breast and bowel cancer screening programmes will be extended. There will be a greater emphasis on preventing cancer, and providing more support for people living with the long-term effects of the disease. Ministers - mindful that smoking is linked to one in three cancers - will test public opinion on whether to ban cigarette vending machines, and reduce cigarette displays in shops. HAVE YOUR SAY Experience with family members has shown that only those who went private stood a chance of real recovery Anne Wotana Kaye, ...

One in three of us will be diagnosed with cancer during our life. The disease tends to affect older people - but can strike at any time. Excluding certain skin cancers, there were more than 270,000 new cases of the disease in 2001 - and the rate is increasing by about 1% a year. Some cancer, such as breast, are becoming more common, while new cases of lung cancer fall away due to the drop in the number of smokers. However, while the overall number of new cancers is not falling, the good news is that successful treatment rates for many of the most common types are improving rapidly. BBC News Online has produced, in conjunction with Cancer Research UK, a guide to some of the most common forms of cancer and the treatments used to tackle them. To learn more about different types of cancer, and to read the experiences of patients, click on the links to the right.

Women who eat crisps or chips every day may double their chances of ovarian or womb cancer, say scientists. The fears surround acrylamides, chemicals produced when you fry, grill or roast a wide range of foods. Dutch researchers quizzed 120,000 people on their eating habits, and found that women who ate more acrylamide appeared more at risk. UK experts say other factors could be to blame, and urged women there was not need to panic. General advice, resulting from this project, is to avoid overcooking when baking, frying or toasting carbohydrate-rich foods EU spokesman Laboratory tests highlighted as a possible danger five years ago, but the University of Maastricht study, published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, is the first to find a link between acrylamides in the diet and cancer risk. Food which has been coloured or burned by cooking is far more likely to contain acrylamides. Food experts say it is virtually impossible to eliminate them from our die...