Week in pictures

Chancellor Alistair Darling has warned that the UK must become less dependent on oil by replacing nuclear power stations and investing in renewable energy, as he described the soaring cost of crude - which hit another record high this week - as a 'huge threat' to the economy Photograph: Justin Lane/EPA

The rocketing price of a barrel of oil has prompted American Airlines to make swingeing cuts to its aircraft fleet, workforce and timetable in a sign of the severity of the financial storm gathering over the global aviation industry. Read the article Photograph: Justin Sullivan/Getty

Marks & Spencer has pushed its profits through the £1bn barrier for the first time in 10 years, but said it will slash bonus payments for staff as it warned that trading conditions on the high street remained tough. Read the article Photograph: Gabriel Szabo/Newscast

Tuesday: Wolseley, the world's biggest trade distributor of plumbing and heating supplies, announced it was cutting 2,000 jobs in the UK Photograph: Gabriel Szabo/Newscast

Rachel Lomax, one of two deputy governors at the central bank, told the Treasury on Friday that she would be leaving when her five-year term on the monetary policy committee comes to an end next month. Read the article Photograph: David Sillitoe/Guardian

GlaxoSmithKline became the first drug manufacturer to be granted marketing approval for its pre-pandemic influenza vaccine, called Prepandrix, in all 27 EU member states. Read the article Photograph: Matthias Kulka/Corbis

Brian Wilson announced that he is returning to EMI's Capitol label, where the Beach Boys had their first big hit, "Surfin' Safari", in 1962. Read the article Photograph: Lon Horwedel/AP

Shares in Yellow Pages publisher Yell Group plunged by more than a fifth after it halved its dividend to try to protect itself against the economic slowdown. Read the article Photograph: Gabriel Szabo/Newscast

Warren Buffett, the world's richest person, went on a four-day, four-city corporate shopping spree in Frankfurt, with family-owned European firms in his sights. Read the article Photograph: Seth Wenig/AP

Taxi-maker Manganese Bronze said that its joint venture in Shanghai has now landed orders for 3,000 TX4s, its latest cab model, for delivery over the next three years. Read the article Photograph: David Macdiarmid/Getty