San Francisco  - Microsoft is laying off 5,000 workers, Intel is closing five fabrication plants, and even mighty, can-do-no-wrong Google is slashing perks and laying off recruiters.

But for a Silicon Valley steeled by the 2001 dot-com bust, a recession that could be the longest and deepest in 80 years is not causing panic or prophecies of doom.

Hong Kong  - Hong Kong people were gloomy Wednesday about the city's economic prospects for the Year of the Ox after Chinese New Year festivities were overshadowed by bad omens.

As celebrations to mark the New Year took place across the city of 6.9 million, which slipped into recession at the end of 2008, headlines were grabbed by two seemingly ominous events.

Wellington  - The New Zealand economy, which is in the grip of a recession, suffered a further blow Wednesday with a forecast that will wipe up to 1 billion New Zealand dollars (about 530 million US dollars) off the critical dairy industry's earnings this season.

The Fonterra Co-operative Group, which has huge influence on the economy as the country's biggest single exporter, told its 10,700 farmer-shareholders that the global recession had cut international demand for dairy products and slashed commodity prices.

Washington - US consumer confidence continued to fall to new lows

Berlin - Business confidence in Germany has defied the current global economic gloom by chalking up an unexpected increase in January, a key survey released Tuesday showed.

A major test of the economic mood in Europe, the closely- watched Ifo business confidence index marked the start of the new year by edging up to 83 points this month.

Analysts had predicted that it would fall to 81.5 points.

Berlin - Business confidence in Europe edged down again in January, economists expect a key survey to be released Tuesday to say, as the economic gloom deepens in boardrooms across Europe's biggest economy.

A major test of the economic mood in the Europe, the closely- watched Ifo business confidence index is forecast to have marked the start of the new year by slipping to 81.5 points this month.