Mexico City - The Bank of Mexico sold 6.4 billion dollars in the currency markets Friday, in an ongoing effort to prevent the local peso from depreciating too far, Mexico's central bank said.

On Wednesday, the Bank of Mexico sold 2.5 billion dollars, and promised to keep intervening in the currency markets with some 400 million dollars per day for as long as it took to protect the peso. However, their efforts have so far not had the desired effect, and the Mexican currency continued to slide.

Brussels - The European Union on Friday approved a Danish plan for restoring confidence to the country's financial sector, saying that it was the "most appropriate" response.

"The scheme would provide liquidity facilities for banks operating in Denmark and protect depositors and ordinary creditors in case of insolvency," the EU's executive body, the European Commission, said in a statement.

Munich - Kurt Viermetz, chairman of Hypo Real Estate (HRE), resigned Friday, 12 days after the German government backed a huge and troubled bail-out for the struggling mortgage lender.

He was the second senior man to leave the bank, under pressure from the German government and commercial banks, which claimed HRE had under-stated its exposure. The chief executive of HRE, Georg Funke resigned earlier this week.

Washington - President George W Bush sought to assure the world that the US government was doing all it could to keep the world's largest economy afloat as global stocks were in free-fall on Friday.

Bush said a "startling" drop in US stocks in the last few days was being "driven by uncertainty and fear," and insisted the US already had all the tools necessary to resolve the financial crisis.

London - Clara Furse, the chief executive of the London Stock Exchange, was made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II at a ceremony in Buckingham Palace Friday as turmoil again raged on the stock market.

Dame Clara, as the 51-year-old will now be known, emerged from the ceremony clutching a presentation box holding the damehood insignia, but refused to speak to the media.

London - The Church of England has found that an increasing number of people turn to its prayer website for support in the current global financial crisis, the church said Friday.

A Church of England website focusing on advice to those concerned about rising personal debt had seen a 70-per-cent increase in traffic in recent weeks, the church's own website said.

The number of web users looking up the page for the daily prayer had grown by 25 per cent, with one addressing the financial turmoil proving especially popular, the church website said.

The prayer had been viewed nearly 8,000 times since it was published online in September.