THE MARKETS IN EUROPE RECORDED A STRONG END TO THE WEEK .. LONDON'S FTSE ONE HUNDRED WAS 44 POINTS HIGHER, THE DAX AND EURO STOXX WERE ALSO UP

IN THE US, TRADING has closed and the DOW JONES has hit the 14 thousand mark.. WHILE THE S&P 500 IS.....

AND THE AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR IS WORTH NEARLY ..... US THIS MORNING ...... IT'LL ALSO BUY YOU ...

CHANNEL TEN HAS SACKED ITS CHIEF EXECUTIVE AND MANAGING DIRECTOR JAMES WARBURTON.

IN AN ANNOUNCEMENT TO THE STOCK EXCHANGE.... THE CHAIRMAN LACHLAN MURDOCH THANKED MR WARBURTON FOR ALL HIS HARD WORK IN A DIFFICULT PERIOD.

JAMES WARBURTON HAD ONLY BEEN IN THE JOB FOR A LITTLE OVER A YEAR... AFTER LEAVING THE SEVEN NETWORK.

HE IS BEING REPLACED WITH HAMISH MCLENNAN, THE EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE OFFICE OF THE CHAIRMAN OF NEWS LIMITED.

A NEW OFFICIAL FORECAST PREDICTS EUROPEAN ECONOMIES WILL PERFORM WORSE DURING THIS YEAR THAN HAD BEEN EXPECTED.

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION SAYS THAT COUNTRIES USING THE EURO WILL SHRINK BY 0-POINT-3 PERCENT, RATHER THAN GROW SLIGHTLY, AS HAD BEEN PREVIOUSLY FORECAST.

THE EUROPEAN UNION AS A WHOLE WILL HAVE ZERO GROWTH, AND UNEMPLOYMENT IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TO RISE.