BBC News with Victoria Meakin.

The Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has declared victory in the vote to replace the Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as leader of the main governing Kadima Party. A number of exit polls said Ms Livni had taken more than 40% of the vote well ahead of her nearest rival, the Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz. From the election count in TEL AVIV, here is Tim Franks.

In a conference call the party workers broadcasted in Israel radio, Tzipi Livni congratulated her campaign with the words: the good guys won. Tzipi Livni is regarded as being more dovish than her main rival, Shaul Mofaz when it comes both to dealing with the Palestinians and possibly to her readiness to order military action against Iran in an attempt to curb its nuclear ambitions. Her next task will be to form a governing coalition that may well not be easy. If she were to fail in the six weeks allotted to her, a general election in a further three months would be held.

It's been another day of feverish activity on the stock markets with the main US index, the Dow, falling just over 4%. The markets failed to stabilize despite the government in Washington intervening to prevent the collapse of America's biggest insurance group, AIG. The White House said there was still concern about other big financial companies.



In Europe, markets closed down sharply. London's main share index fell to its lowest level for 3 years. Britain's biggest mortgage lender has been taken over by one of its rivals. In a deal facilitated by the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Lloyds TSB has agreed to take over HBOS whose shares have taken a battering on the stock market. There have been concerns that HBOS was overexposed to the slowdown in the British and American housing markets.



The British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has ordered to a review of the material gathered by British intelligence agencies in the run-up to a deadly bombing by a splinter group of the IRA in Northern Ireland 10 years ago. The bombing, in the town of Omagh, killed 29 people. A BBC television documentary earlier this week reported that phone conversations between the bombers were intercepted and monitored. Nick Miles reports.



Over the last 10 years, there have been numerous reports suggesting that the police and security services had ignored warnings about the attack, and had failed to act on crucial intelligence. The BBC television report earlier this week suggested that British intelligence officers had bugged the bombers' phones and were monitoring them when they drove into Omagh. The BBC investigation could not determine whether the conversations were listened to live which might have allowed police to foil the attack, or whether they were recorded for later scrutiny.



The Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says there are still obstacles to an agreement with the United States on the future status of American forces in Iraq. Speaking to Iraqi journalists, he said a dispute remained over the issue of American soldiers' immunity from prosecution by Iraqi courts.



World News from the BBC.



A three-year study to examine near-death experiences in heart-attack patients has started in Britain and the United States. Doctors will monitor the brains of 1500 heart attack survivors and test whether they have had what are known as out-of-body experiences while they were clinically dead. As part of the study, researchers will ask survivors if they can recall any images from pictures which were, are visible only from the ceilings of hospital resuscitation areas.



Russia has signed friendship treaties with Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The new agreements formalize ties between Moscow and the two territories. Russia recognized them as independent after its conflict with Georgia last month. From Moscow, our correspondent, James Rodgers reports.



A champagne toast concluded the ceremony in the Kremlin. Russia is proud of its military action in support of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, action which it believes it was forced to take. The leaders of the two separatist Georgian regions, which Moscow has recognized as independent, came to the Russian capital to sign new cooperation agreements. The documents outlined military, diplomatic and economic ties between Russia and the two territories. President Dmitry Medvedev signed on Russia's behalf.



The hurricanes that in recent weeks brought devastation to Cuba have accelerated political reform on the island. The Cuban authorities have brought forward the start date for accepting applications from farmers and private citizens to lease unused state land. From today farmers can increase their holdings to 40 hectares while Cubans without land can apply for about 13 hectares.



Global warming could diminish the ability of plants and trees to absorb carbon dioxide. The research by the Desert Research Institute in the U. S says that after an abnormally warm year, the amount of CO2 the plants absorbed is reduced.



BBC News.