Unveils £24bn loss

LONDON: Royal Bank of Scotland on Thursday reported a loss of 24.1 billion pounds ($34.3 billion) for 2008, the biggest in UK corporate history, and said it planned to place 325 billion pounds of assets in a state insurance scheme.The bank said the record deficit reflected a 16.2 billion pound writedown against acquisitions, including its takeover of parts of Dutch rival ABN Amro in 2007, plus a