The Dow Jones share index in New York fell to its lowest level in five years, amid fears of a protracted global recession.

In Asia overnight Japan's Nikkei index ended 6.8% down and Hong Kong's main index fell 5.5%.

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England beat Germany in an international friendly last night in Berlin.

Mathew Upson opened the scoring for England in the 24th minute, when he poked home a corner from the impressive Stuart Downing.

A defensive mix-up between John Terry and Scott Carson handed Germany an equaliser on 63 minutes.

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Surgeons in Spain have carried out the world's first tissue-engineered whole organ transplant - using a windpipe made with the patient's own stem cells.

The groundbreaking technology also means for the first time tissue transplants can be carried out without the need for anti-rejection drugs.

Claudia Castillo, a 30-year-old mother-of-two is in perfect health after the procedue carried out five months ago, The Lancet reports.

She needed the transplant to save a lung after contracting tuberculosis.

The disease had damaged her airways.

Scientists from Bristol helped grow the cells for the transplant and the European team believes such tailor-made organs could become the norm.

To make the new airway, the doctors took a donor windpipe, or trachea, from a patient who had recently died.

Then they used strong chemicals and enzymes to wash away all of the cells from the donor trachea, leaving only a tissue scaffold made of the fibrous protein collagen.

This gave them a structure to repopulate with cells from Ms Castillo herself, which could then be used in an operation to repair her damaged left bronchus - a branch of the windpipe.

 

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World leaders battling a deepening economic crisis are vowing to cooperate more closely. The vow came at the conclusion of a two-day emergency summit in Washington.

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The QE2 has arrived in Gibraltar for what will be the last time.
It sailed into the Bay of Gibraltar at around 09:00.

Here's the QE2 is in the distance with the African coastline behind.

 

 

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UK Telecoms firm BT is to shed 10,000 jobs worldwide by March 2009.
4,000 jobs have already been cut and a further 6,000 are planned.

BT expects that no compulsory redundancies will be needed.
The cuts will mainly affect agency and contract staff, including offshore workers. ... more

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown hinted at tax cuts in a speech given at the Lord Mayors banquet at the Guildhall in London yesterday evening. ... more

Ipswich Town player David Norris has been fined by the club for making a crossed hands "handcuff" gesture to celebrate a goal.

The gesture upset the family of two boys who died in a car crash caused by ex-Plymouth goalkeeper McCormick, who was jailed for drink-driving.

An Ipswich Town spokesman said the player deeply regretted that his actions were wrongly interpreted.

Aaron Peak, 10, and Ben Peak, eight, died when McCormick drove into the car in which they were travelling on the M6 in Staffordshire in June 2007. ... more

Rescue workers are continuing to search for survivors today after a school collapsed killing at least 50 children in Petionville near the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince.

At least  200 children remain trapped under rubble.

As many as 700 children were inside the building when it collapsed around 10 a.m. ET Friday, officials said. Some were in class and others were in a playground, Haitian media reported.

"We are looking at major casualties here," said Alex Claudon, a Red Cross official on the scene.

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The Royal British Legion provides financial, social and emotional support to millions who have served and are currently serving in the Armed Forces, and their dependants.

Currently, nearly 10.5 million people are eligible for our support and we receive thousands of calls for help every year.

The Legion was founded in 1921 as a voice for the ex-Service community and over 380,000 members continue to ensure that this voice does not go unheard. Although the needs of ex-Service people have changed over the years, we are still there to safeguard their welfare, interests and memory.

British service people are in action around the world every day of the year. They know that if they need our support - now or in the future - the Legion is always on active duty for them.

Website - Royal British Legion

Donate - Poppy Appeal

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Half-year profits at British Airways have fallen from £616m to £52m. The airline blames "incredibly difficult trading conditions" for the plunge.

BA said pre-tax profit totalled £52m ($81.6m) between April and September, down  91.6%, from tth a year earlier.

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The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee has today voted to cut the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves from 4.5% to 3%.

Although inflation is higher than the set target, most economists think that the loominrecession will curb any inflationary pressure in the United Kingdom. A lack of economic activity at home and abroad means commodity prices have fallen sharply.

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