A look at economic developments around the globe

A look at economic developments and activity in major stock markets around the world Tuesday:

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ATHENS, Greece — Europe's days-old plan to solve its crippling debt crisis and restore faith in the global economy has been thrown into chaos by the Greek prime minister's stunning decision to call a referendum on the country's latest rescue package.

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ATHENS, Greece — Two Socialist lawmakers revolted over their prime minister's shocking decision to hold a referendum on the European debt deal, with one defecting from the governing party and another openly calling for an early election.

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LONDON — Markets plunged Tuesday on fears that Europe's plan to save the euro was unraveling after Greece's leader unexpectedly called a referendum on the country's latest rescue package.

The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares fell 2.2 percent, while Germany's DAX slid 5 percent. The CAC-40 in France was 5.4 percent lower.

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TOKYO — In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 index retreated 1.7 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 2.5 percent and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 shed 1.5 percent. Benchmarks in Singapore, India, Indonesia and Thailand were also down.

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SHANGHAI — China's manufacturing remained sluggish in October, with a government industry group reporting the slowest growth in nearly three years, partly due to weak export orders.

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LONDON — Britain's economy improved in the third quarter, with output growing by a higher than expected 0.5 percent, official figures showed.

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SYDNEY — Australia's central bank cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point in a bid to bolster the nation's economy amid uncertainty stemming from Europe's debt crisis.

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NICE, France — Thousands of protesters are converging on the French Riviera to urge the Group of 20 leading economies to focus on spreading global largesse more equitably instead of saving banks and pleasing financial markets.

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MOSCOW — Capital flight from Russia is expected to double to $70 billion this year, the Central Bank said Tuesday, highlighting investors' concerns about political and economic uncertainty in the country.