Japan’s Prime Minister Taro Aso on Thursday unveiled a 277 billion dollar package to stimulate the world’s second largest economy as stock markets soared off the back of an interest rate cut in the US. As a slew of disappointing company results attested to the impact of the global financial crisis, the French government said that economic growth had slowed dramatically while house prices in Britain slumped by record levels. There was better news however in Europe’s largest economy, with Germany’s unemployment rate dropping below three million for the first time in 16 years. Full Story