THE HEADLINES AT 0800 ON FRIDAY 8TH DECEMBER

It's eight o'clock on Friday the 8th of December.

There's a new warning about the danger of blood transfusions contaminated with the human form of mad cow disease.

Police say some stretch-limousine firms are involved with organised crime.

The government is being urged to cancel a deal to buy American fighter-planes unless the US agrees to share sensitive technical information.

CJD 1

A study of twenty-four people who received blood transfusions contaminated with the human form of mad cow disease has concluded that they run a substantial risk of developing the disease. The assessment, by Professor John Collinge, was based on a study of three people who acquired variant CJD in the same way. His findings are published today in the medical journal, The Lancet. This report from Sarah Nelson:

NELSON: Professor John Collinge has been studying three people who developed new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease after being given blood which contained the infectious prions that are thought to cause it. Of those given the infected blood, twenty-four others are still well, but said to be at substantial risk. Prions are far more likely to be transmitted through infusions of infected blood than by eating infected beef, but, currently, there's no way of testing blood for contamination. Professor Collinge believes some people can be silently infected with vCJD for up to fifty years before showing symptoms, and as there's still no cure, he says a national tonsil screening study currently under way must report soon, as it represents the best chance of discovering how widespread the disease is, and who should be stopped from giving blood.

CJD 2

Professor John Collinge told us that he was concerned a new outbreak of vCJD could happen because blood donors could not be tested for the disease:

COLLINGE: We know about these particular incidences, because individuals went on to develop variant CJD, and then it was possible for the blood service to look back and see where that blood actually went, and identify the recipients of that blood. But of course people who are silently incubating variant CJD at the moment may be blood donors, and there's no way of knowing where that blood is going.

BUSH

The joint chairmen of the Iraq Study Group -- whose findings were published on Wednesday -- have urged the Bush administration to follow all their recommendations. But one key senator has described the report as "a programme for defeat", and President Bush's public comments on the document are being taken as a sign that he may reject the main proposals. Here's our Washington Correspondent, Justin Webb:

WEBB: Only hours after the publication of the study group report, and Tony Blair's endorsement of its findings as a strong way forward, its principal authors find that they have a fight on their hands. James Baker, the former US Secretary of State, told a Senate committee that the seventy-nine recommendations were not "a fruit salad" to be picked at by the administration. But President Bush signalled an intention to do exactly that. At his news conference with Tony Blair, he praised some aspects of the report, but appeared to rule out two key proposals: the phasing out of the US combat role in Iraq, and direct talks with Iran and Syria. The man who's likely to be the Republicans' presidential candidate in 2008, Senator John McCain, went further. He said the study group's findings were dispiriting; they had come up with a recipe for defeat.

BLAIR

Tony Blair has now flown back to Britain. Before leaving Washington, he was interviewed on ABC television, and took the opportunity to cast doubt on any suggestion of an early withdrawal of troops:

BLAIR: I think we've got to plan to succeed, and I think that if we start saying to the people that we're fighting in Iraq that we're ready to get out, irrespective of the success of the mission, I think that would be very serious.

LIMOS 1

More than twenty police forces are involved in an investigation into the growing business in stretch-limousines. One of the officers leading the operation said he was worried about the safety of the vehicles -- many had been imported to the UK because they were considered too dangerous for the US. Caroline Cheetham has been out with officers from the Greater Manchester force:

CHEETHAM: For the past month, police from more than twenty forces across the country have been targeting limousines in the first operation of its kind. Officers suspected many of the cars were unsafe and that some were using false number plates, but they didn't expect to uncover organised crime, including drug dealing and money laundering. Chief Superintendent Garen Anwell, has been surprised by the results:

ANWELL: We have uncovered some links into organised crime. There are a huge number of investigations going to be falling out of the work that's currently being undertaken.

CHEETHAM: Police also found drivers with serious criminal convictions. They say, with teenagers the most likely passengers in limousines, this is a worrying discovery.

LIMOS 2

The transport department said the government recognised that there was concern about stretch-limousines, and had been bringing together all relevant parties to work on ways of tightening and enforcing the law.

PLANES

A committee of MPs says Britain should refuse to sign a contract to buy American fighter-planes unless the US agrees to share sensitive technical information. It's one of the world's most expensive military projects, but the Defence Select Committee says Britain should be prepared to look elsewhere. This report from our Political Correspondent, Carole Walker:

WALKER: The F35 Joint Strike Fighter is due to take its maiden test flight next week. Britain is due to take up to one-hundred-and-fifty of the aircraft at a total cost of more than seven-billion pounds. But the chairman of the Defence Select Committee, James Arbuthnot, says the government should refuse to go ahead with the deal unless it gets access to sensitive computer codes and other technical information from the United States:

ARBUTHNOT: We believe that the crunch point is now. The memorandum of understanding needs to be signed at the end of this year, or the government needs to tell the United States that we will not be buying the Joint Strike Fighter.

WALKER: It was thought the problem had been solved six months ago when President Bush and Tony Blair declared that Britain should get all the information it needs. But the government has yet to get agreement on the details.

MISBAH

The Supreme Court in Pakistan has this morning agreed to hear an appeal by the father of the twelve-year-old British girl, Misbah Rana, who's at the centre of an international custody battle. Last week, a judge ruled that she should be sent back to her mother in the Western Isles. The appeal will be heard next month; Misbah -- who's said she wants to stay in Pakistan -- will remain there in the meantime.

MONSARTO

The BBC has been shown private letters which show that one of the UK's leading cancer researchers was acting as a consultant for the chemical industry. Sir Richard Doll, who died last year, was paid about seven-hundred-and-fifty pounds a day to advise the multi-national chemical company, Monsanto. More details from Angus Stickler:

STICKLER: Sir Richard Doll was a scientist of international renown. He exposed the link between cancer and smoking in the 1950s, and was knighted in recognition of his work. But it's now emerged that Sir Richard was paid to act as a consultant to the multi-national chemical company, Monsanto, in the 1980s. At the time, Sir Richard was looking at and advising on two controversial chemicals which had been produced or used by Monsanto. Vinyl chloride, used to make PVC, and Agent Orange, the herbicide used in the Vietnam War. It's now well-documented by the United Nations International Agency for Research on Cancer that both chemicals are dangerous carcinogens. In a statement, Monsanto confirmed that Sir Richard has acted as a consultant, but could not verify what for.

TORNADO

Residents of more than twenty houses in north-west London have spent the night in emergency accommodation, because their homes were badly damaged by yesterday's tornado. Four streets remain closed.

TESCO

Three of Britain's biggest clothes retailers -- Tesco, Asda and Primark -- have been accused of profiting at the expense of workers in Bangladesh who make their garments. The pressure group, War on Want, says that clothes for the three chains are being made in sweat-shops --- where some people are paid as little as five-pence an hour. Our correspondent in Dhaka, Roland Buerk, has visited a factory to see conditions for himself.

SOUND: FACTORY NOISE

BUERK: The report from War on Want is perhaps an uncomfortable reminder for British shoppers of what lies behind cheap, high street fashion. War on Want says it spoke to sixty workers from six unnamed factories making clothes for Tesco, Asda and Primark. The pressure group claimed the workers said they were forced to do long hours of unpaid overtime. A senior figure in Bangladesh's garment industry has criticised the big Western retailers for squeezing suppliers too hard. Anasil Haq, who employs seven-thousand people in his factories, said they were forcing down prices:

HAQ: There are a lot many rooms for the stores to pay a little bit more, ethically. They should not really negotiate so hard.

BUERK: In statements, the British companies said they carry out regular inspections to maintain standards.

EBOLA

Scientists say the ebola virus -- one of the most deadly known to man, and which has killed hundreds of people in Africa -- has wiped out more than five-thousand gorillas. The scientists say that such a sharp decline in numbers could lead to gorillas becoming extinct.

PARTIES

Business leaders have issued some timely guidance on how to behave at office parties. They say careers can be enhanced and valuable contacts made -- but, as our Labour Affairs Correspondent, Stephen Cape, reports, there's also a warning:

CAPE: According to the Forum of Private Business, the wrong behaviour at the Christmas party can limit a career, but the right schmoozing - without being regarded as a creep - can help a person move up the corporate ladder. The business organisation has produced ten festive tips for success. Experts schmoozers should arrive early at the party, making a point of speaking to the boss and thanking the host. Be entertaining, self-confident and remain highly visible. Don't hide behind the kitchen door, or dance drunkenly on tables.