We are in the red. We owe close to two thirds of what the entire country produces in a year. And the figure is rising. Collective government debt has risen a fifth since last year, according to official sources. It now stands at £857bn, or 60% of gross output

No, UK plc is not about to go bust. In Greece, the same ratio is almost double ours (113%). In Italy, one of the eurozone's most indebted countries, it is even higher (119%). Even good old Uncle Sam is more indebted than us. The US ratio stands at 69%.

Games specialist Nintendo is looking to social gaming as the next big thing that's going to push sales of the new hand held console, the DSi XL. Social gaming, like Farmville on Facebook and other applications adults and kids play, tends to happen on phones more than dedicated consoles but it's growing quickly.

Two things spring to mind about this. First, with game site Gamastura quoting analysts claiming the social gaming market will reach $1.3bn this year, everyone's bound to want to be in it. Second, the only real upgrade to the Nintendo in the new console is a bigger screen, so yes, they'd better do something to make it look a bit interesting.

Many apologies to those of you who aren't fans of headlines with loads of initials in them. What's happening is that Microsoft has announced that the next version of Internet Explorer, its market leading Internet browser, won't work with its last-but-one version of Windows, Windows XP.

All of which sounds reasonable enough until you consider how many Microsoft customers decided not to upgrade from Windows XP to Windows Vista when it came out, as the replacement system was widely regarded as a bit of a dog's breakfast. So in practice this is going to mean upgrading to Windows 7, like now, if you want the new IE to work.

Stories of big salaries for TV bosses have consistently angered the public. Today, ITV announced that the company's incoming boss Adam Crozier will receive a staggering base salary of £775,000 with a total package over the next few years worth £11.1m.

Crozier, who is pitched to earn slightly less than his predecessor Michael Grade, will join ITV from Royal Mail on 26th April 2010. His package includes a pension contribution of £69,750, as well as a 'golden hello' of £200,000 in cash and £420,000 in shares.

Mortgage lending increased by 6% in February to £9.3bn, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

The announcement will quell the fears of those who worried that January's drop in lending marked the start of a 'double dip' for the housing market.

It now looks like the winter weather and Stamp Duty distortion did indeed cause a New Year blip that has now corrected itself.

An association of church groups is to change investment policy to exclude companies that reward top executives at the expense of other employees further down the chain.

The association which includes Roman Catholic and Anglican representatives has in the region of £12bn to invest in pension funds and other investments.

The UK's struggling motor industry has had a much-needed "green" boost. The government has agreed to support Ford's new £1.5bn program of environmentally-friendly vehicles.

Several hundred new jobs are also to be created in Sunderland where Nissan will build the Leaf, a new electric zero-emissions model.

Greece is getting impatient. Premier George Papandreou (pictured) has told reporters that IMF help hasn't been ruled out in helping his country sort out its debt crisis.

Last night there were rumours that interest on an IMF Greek loan could come in as low as 3.25% - a full1% point below a potential combined EU deal.

Do you read the adverts on this site? And would you pay for what you're currently reading? If you're like the readers surveyed in a major new US study of media consumer behaviour the answer to both questions is likely to be 'no'. And this gets to the heart of the current debate about the media's future.

The annual State of the Media study was carried out by the Project for Excellence in Journalism. It found 77% of regular consumers of online news rarely, if ever, click on an online ad. With 53% of adults in America getting their news online, a sustainable online business model looks some way off.

Bermuda insurer and reinsurer XL Capital said preliminary loss estimates for the Chilean Earthquake, pre-tax and net of reinsurance and reinstatement premium, range from $140m to $205m.

It said $75m to $85m is attributable to the insurance segment and $65m to $120m to the reinsurance segment. This is another bitter blow to reinsurers and will add weight to the argument hat reinsurance rates must rise.