The dollar-denominated RTS stock index plunged 9.4%, while the ruble-denominated Micex stock index fell 9.6%. The decline in Russia followed a tumble in oil prices and declines on global stock markets. In New York, the Market Vectors Russia ETF, which tracks the Russian markets, tumbled 14.4%.

It was a global wave of selling spurred by rising worries about how banks, automakers - entire countries - would fare in a deepening recession.

At the close, the Dow was down more than 297.81 points, AT 7,552.60 POINTS, a drop of 3.79 percent. The index was just a few fractions of a point away from its lows of November 20, when financial markets plummeted to their lowest point in a decade. The only Dow stock to trade consistently in positive territory was Wal-Mart, which rose after reporting better-than-expected profit.

The broader Standard & Poor's 500-stock index slid 37.67 points, or 4.5 percent, to 789.17 points, unable to cling to what analysts said was an important trading threshold. "If we get substantially below 800 then look out below," said Marc Groz, chief investment officer at Topos, a risk-advisory firm in Greenwich, Connecticut.

The request for additional aid from the top U.S. automaker came in a restructuring plan GM submitted to U.S. officials on Tuesday. The GM restructuring plan of more than 100 pages was posted on the U.S. Treasury Web site.

The request came on the same afternoon that No. 3 U.S. automaker Chrysler requested an additional $5 billion from the current $4 billion in U.S. government aid, saying it expected the brutal downturn in the U.S. market to run another three years. GM also said it had not reached deals with bondholders and its major union to reduce some $47 billion in debt but would work to reach those agreements by the end of March.

In response to signs of a prolonged slump in demand for new cars and trucks, the automaker also said it would step up cost-cutting, reducing its global workforce by 47,000 jobs this year and cutting five additional U.S. plants by 2012. In addition, GM said it would cut its U.S. workforce by another 20,000 jobs by 2012 with most of those reductions coming earlier.

Inside the halls of Futian Market, which sprawl over THE EQUIVALENT OF 800 FOOTBALL PITCHES, they haggled over hundreds of thousands of low-cost goods – everything from candles and fake flowers to eyeglasses and DVD players. Their orders would then be shipped across the globe to high street shops and supermarkets, fuelling China's incredible growth.

Li Xuhang, the city's deputy mayor, said: "If you spent only three minutes with each Chinese manufacturer and spent eight hours here each day, you would need over a year to make your way around the whole market." During the decade-long boom, Yiwu attracted buyers not only from American and European companies, but also increasing numbers of Arabs, Russians, and Africans. Scores of Pakistani, Korean and Middle-Eastern restaurants line the streets and there is even an Iraq Hotel.

But now, as the Chinese economic miracle unravels, the labyrinthine halls of Yiwu have emptied of foreign buyers. The latest figures from China's customs office show exports plunged by 17.5 per cent in January, the biggest fall in more than a decade.

The bronze by Sir Jacob Epstein, worth hundreds of thousands of pounds if it were ever sold on the open market, enjoyed pride of place in the Oval Office during President Bush's tenure. But when British officials offered to let Mr Obama to hang onto the bust for a further four years, the White House said: "Thanks, but no thanks."

Churchill has less happy connotations for Mr Obama than those American politicians who celebrate his wartime leadership. It was during Churchill's second premiership that Britain suppressed Kenya's Mau Mau rebellion. AMONG KENYANS ALLEGEDLY TORTURED BY THE COLONIAL REGIME INCLUDED ONE HUSSEIN ONYANGO OBAMA, THE PRESIDENT'S GRANDFATHER.

The rejection of the bust has left some British officials nervously reading the runes to see how much influence the UK can wield with the new regime in Washington.

The advice, which was first issued six years ago and remains the current Whitehall policy, re-emerged just days after 13-year-old Alfie Patten became what is thought to be Britain's youngest father. The Department of Health advice calls for teenagers to be equipped with the necessary "skills, knowledge and attitudes" to bring up children, with the then head of the pregnancy unit, Cathy Hamlyn, describing it as a "timely resource".

She added that "popular attitudes to teenage fathers have been shaped by the examples which the media have chosen to feature" but that TEENAGE BOYS COULD BE "PROUD AND ABLE PARENTS. Teachers have opportunities to develop the skills, knowledge and attitudes which are key in preparation for parenthood through the personal, social, health and citizenship aspects of the national curriculum," Miss Hamlyn said.

But Tim Loughton, Tory children's spokesman, said: "There are still too many young mothers and fathers having their childhoods robbed from them after starting families younger than they planned. We need to do more TO TEACH YOUNGSTERS ABOUT THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF RELATIONSHIPS AND PARENTHOOD and be careful not to glamorise teen parents which may encourage some to take irresponsible risks with sex."

Patricia Morgan, a researcher on teenage parenthood, told the Daily Mail: "Fatherhood before the age of 16 should be a matter for the police. The parents of teenagers involved should be charged with neglect for allowing them to sleep together under their roof. This is child abuse. After 16, fathers who want to help bring their children up should be given one piece of advice: Get a job."

But on Sunday two boys, aged 14 and 16, both claimed they could be the father of 15-year-old Chantelle Steadman's daughter. Several others have also claimed to have had a sexual relationship with the schoolgirl, from Eastbourne in Sussex.

Mrs Patten told The Mirror: "He's absolutely devastated these lads have come forward to say they slept with her at the time she got pregnant. Everything is wrong. Now that is in his mind and I'm not happy. I don't know where they get this from. I mean, that's my son, that's his baby. Alfie is distraught and upset about everything." The Patten family have now accepted that a DNA test is needed to confirm the paternity.

It was reported last week that Alfie was the youngest father in Britain following the birth of Maisie, who was conceived when Alfie was 12-years-old. Politicians including David Cameron spoke about the situation, and said IT RAISED "WORRYING" QUESTIONS ABOUT MODERN SOCIETY.

The announcement came a day after California lawmakers narrowly failed to pass a $40 billion budget that would have plugged the state's deficit with a mix of tax hikes and spending cuts. "In the absence of a budget, the governor has a responsibility to realize state savings any way he can," said Aaron McLear, a spokesman for the Republican governor. "This is unfortunately a necessary decision."

The layoff notices will affect about 20 percent of state workers, McLear said, adding the cuts would extend to every part of state government. The positions would be eliminated in June in preparation for California's next fiscal year, which starts in July.

CALIFORNIA, AMERICA'S MOST POPULOUS STATE AND THE WORLD'S EIGHTH BIGGEST ECONOMY, has experienced a dramatic fall in revenues because of the housing downturn, rising unemployment and a sharp pullback in consumer spending. To conserve cash, the state has stopped public works projects, furloughed state employees for two days a month and postponed sending out tax refunds.

It is incredible, but there it is – now it's Prince Harry's turn to go on an "Equality and Diversity Awareness" training course put on by the Ministry of Defence. What a load of pure, unadulterated garbage. But apart from the sheer anger all this causes with ordinary people – and it does – what a waste of money! The question I am asked, time and time again is – WHERE DOES ALL THIS POLITICAL CORRECTNESS COME FROM and how did we allow it to seep into every aspect of our lives? Particularly when "1984" and "Brave New World" are there to warn us all about the control freaks.

What political correctness has achieved is to make every normal person constantly look over their shoulders in case they are saying something sexist, racist, ageist, Muslimist, right-wing, reactionary, homophobic and anything hinting of discrimination and prejudice. WHAT THIS HAS GROWN INTO, IS FULL–BLOWN THOUGHT CONTROL AND SPEECH CONTROL.

It has been put into place by a flawed and totalitarian type of political intimidation, dressed up as "the law" and presented as "hate crime" – it is neo-fascist baloney. At the heart of political correctness is a false desire to avoid confrontation, to avoid social abrasion and to avoid causing offence. The only problem is of course – political correctness itself offends eighty percent of the population.

But how did this insidious system creep into place? How did we allow political correctness to corrupt our long traditions of freedom of speech and freedom of thought? Greg Lance-Watkins reckons it was introduced during the Cold War by the Russians to disrupt and undermine British society. If he is right – then it certainly worked. But is he right?

When the customs officers carried out a routine check on a container recently, they were in for quite a surprise. Their radiometers indicated unusually high levels of radiation. They measured a level of 71 microsieverts per hour, a level that in 24 hours would exceed the amount permitted for an entire year. The officials reacted swiftly. THEY ORDERED THAT THE CONTAINER BE PUT BACK ON THE SHIP IMMEDIATELY AND BE SENT BACK TO INDIA.

An expert at the Federal Office for Radiation Protection, who did not wished to be named, agreed, telling SPIEGEL: "Some of the levels are so high, that one should not stay in contact with these things for long." Just how the radioactive isotope cobalt 60, which can be found in nuclear power stations or some medical technology, is finding its way into the Indian steel industry isn't completely clear. It may be that sources of radioactivity, from hospitals for example, are being thrown into blast furnaces along with other scrap. The resulting steel is then sold to companies abroad.

The dangerous import from Asia shows the downside of globalization. CHEAPER IS NOT ALWAYS BETTER. Machine manufacturers and metal-working companies in Germany know that the cheaper the steel coming from a supplier is, the more likely it is that a high proportion of the metal is from India.

Pelosi, a self-proclaimed "ardent Catholic" who has sparked significant criticism from fellow Catholics in the US for her pro-abortion views, arrived in Italy on Sunday for an eight-day official visit. On Monday, Pelosi began a series of meetings with Italian political authorities at the Quirinale Palace, where she was received by the President of the Italian State, Giorgio Napolitano. Later in the evening, a reception honoring the US delegation will take place at the Library of Montecitorio Palace where Pelosi will deliver the address: "Strong Allies for a Secure Future."

Although numerous reports have been published either confirming or denying that Pope Benedict would receive Pelosi in an audience, the Holy See's Press Office confirmed to CAN on Monday at noon Rome time, that the [Pontiff] will receive the US representative on Wednesday at midday.

The press office made clear that THE POPE WILL MEET WITH PELOSI IN HIS CAPACITY AS A HEAD OF STATE SINCE THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE IS THE THIRD IN LINE TO LEAD THE US, should the president and vice president be unable to do so. The idea of providing Pelosi with a photo-op has disturbed a significant number of US Catholics and pro-life activists.

In an interview in a Spanish newspaper, published in the Daily Telegraph, she also accuses the US of "tortures". The Home Office said it was vital to strike the right balance between privacy, protection and sharing of personal data. It said any policies which impact on privacy must be "necessary and proportionate".

Dame Stella, who stood down as the director general of the security service in 1996, has previously been critical of the government's policies, including its attempts to extend pre-charge detention for terror suspects to 42 days and the controversial plan to introduce ID cards. "It would be better that the government recognised that there are risks, RATHER THAN FRIGHTENING PEOPLE IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO PASS LAWS WHICH RESTRICT CIVIL LIBERTIES, PRECISELY ONE OF THE OBJECTS OF TERRORISM - that we live in fear and under a police state," she told the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia.

She said the British security services were "no angels," but they did not kill people. "The US has gone too far with Guantanamo and the tortures," she said. "MI5 does not do that. Furthermore it has achieved the opposite effect - there are more and more suicide terrorists finding a greater justification."

He warned that "the Commission, the Parliament and the Council must be cautious not to take things from democratically elected member states that cannot be taken away." He also said, "The German Parliament has rights in EU politics which it is not using sufficiently".

Meanwhile, in an interview with German daily Handelsblatt, the President of the German liberal party FDP in the European Parliament, Silvana Koch-Mehrin, said: "IF THE EU ITSELF APPLIED FOR MEMBERSHIP OF THE EU, IT WOULD BE REFUSED. THE REASON WOULD BE: NO DEMOCRACY". She added: "Meanwhile more and more competences have been transferred to the EU level, without the EU structures having become more democratic".

According to the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, Mr Danielson told business representatives in Brussels last week that: "6,000 meetings in different working groups will be held in Brussels during the Swedish Presidency." He said, "The preparations consist mostly of planning meetings and coordinating with the current Czech Presidency."

The 'working groups' are those which prepare meetings of the Council, such as the 'Police Cooperation Working Party', the 'Working Party on Olive Oil' or the 'Working Party on Youth'. Reporting the story, the News of the World noted that, because the EU institutions are in recess during August, this means THERE WILL BE 6,000 MEETINGS OVER FIVE MONTHS, WHICH MEANS AN AVERAGE OF AROUND 60 A DAY.

Open Europe's Lorraine Mullally was quoted saying, "These secret meetings of bureaucrats will be costing taxpayers millions of pounds a year. What possible justification can there be for this enormous waste of time and money?"

Austria's finance minister Josef Pröll made frantic efforts last week to put together a €150bn rescue for the ex-Soviet bloc. Well he might. His banks have lent €230bn to the region, equal to 70pc of Austria's GDP. "A failure rate of 10pc would lead to the collapse of the Austrian financial sector," reported Der Standard in Vienna. Unfortunately, that is about to happen.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) says bad debts will top 10pc and may reach 20pc. The Vienna press said Bank Austria and its Italian owner Unicredit face a "monetary Stalingrad" in the East. Mr Pröll tried to drum up support for his rescue package from EU finance ministers in Brussels last week. THE IDEA WAS SCOTCHED BY GERMANY'S PEER STEINBRÜCK. Not our problem, he said.

Stephen Jen, currency chief at Morgan Stanley, said Eastern Europe has borrowed $1.7 trillion abroad, much on short-term maturities. It must repay – or roll over – $400bn this year, equal to a third of the region's GDP. Whether it takes months, or just weeks, THE WORLD IS GOING TO DISCOVER THAT EUROPE'S FINANCIAL SYSTEM IS SUNK, and that there is no EU Federal Reserve yet ready to act as a lender of last resort or to flood the markets with emergency stimulus.

The sums needed are beyond the limits of the IMF, which has already bailed out Hungary, Ukraine, Latvia, Belarus, Iceland, and Pakistan – and Turkey next – and is fast exhausting its own $200bn (€155bn) reserve. We are nearing the point where the IMF may have to print money for the world, using arcane powers to issue Special Drawing Rights. If Deutsche Bank is correct, the economy will have shrunk by nearly 9pc before the end of this year. THIS IS THE SORT OF LEVEL THAT STOKES POPULAR REVOLT.

The implications are obvious. BERLIN IS NOT GOING TO RESCUE IRELAND, SPAIN, GREECE AND PORTUGAL as the collapse of their credit bubbles leads to rising defaults, or rescue Italy by accepting plans for EU "union bonds" should the debt markets take fright at the rocketing trajectory of Italy's public debt (hitting 112pc of GDP next year, just revised up from 101pc – big change), or rescue Austria from its Habsburg adventurism. So we watch and wait as the lethal brush fires move closer. IF ONE SPARK JUMPS ACROSS THE EUROZONE LINE, WE WILL HAVE GLOBAL SYSTEMIC CRISIS WITHIN DAYS.