Week in pictures

The euro broke through 90p level for the first time, leading to large profits on bets placed against the pound Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters

Unemployment looks certain to rise to 2 million in the new year after the number of people out of work increased by the largest amount since the early 1990s, and amid warnings that the onset of recession will push the number even higher Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA

Some 28,000 Woolworths staff are set to join the growing ranks of Britain's unemployed after being told that all stores are to close by early January Photograph: Carl Court/PA

Workers weld steel pipes at an oil field preparing for oil and gas exploitation in Yilong, Sichuan province, China ... Opec ministers surprised the oil markets by agreeing to slash production more deeply than expected in a desperate bid to push up the oil price Photograph: Reuters

New Land Rover Freelanders outside the Halewood Jaguar and Land Rover factory in Liverpool ... The business secretary Lord Mandelson said that he was in intensive talks about a bail-out for Jaguar Land Rover, but said the primary responsibility for the company lay with its parent company, the Indian owners Tata Photograph: Phil Noble/Reuters

Talks for a $6.4bn (£4.1bn) merger between British Airways and Qantas have collapsed, putting an end to BA boss Willie Walsh's hopes for a 'truly global' airline. Photograph: Andrew Winning/Reuters

The head of the International Monetary Fund Dominic Strauss-Kahn urged governments to step up action to stem the global economic crisis or risk delaying a recovery and sparking violent unrest on the streets Photograph: Juan Carlos Ulate/Reuters

From Hollywood to Tokyo, London and Jerusalem, furious victims of Bernard Madoff are demanding answers. How could a 70-year-old man on the 17th floor of a Manhattan tower block fiddle the global financial community out of $50bn? Photograph: Justin Lane/EPA

Fairline Boats has announced a further 275 redundancies after a big drop in demand for its luxury yachts, only months after moving to two- and three-day weeks Photograph: Pierre Verdy/AFP/Getty Images

International property advisor Savills shocked investors with its second profit warning in two months reflecting the impact of tumbling house prices and the credit crunch on Britain's once red-hot property market Photograph: Linda Nylind

National Express, the bus and train operator, is shedding 750 jobs in the UK after a slowdown in revenues Photograph: Tim Ireland/PA