Germany's government called on leading economies to accelerate the overhaul of financial-market rules, and on euro-zone members to coordinate their economic policies more closely, as Chancellor Angela Merkel sought to address criticism at home and abroad of her handling of Europe's debt crisis.
Stock markets tumbled Thursday, with industrial and materials stocks leading the decline. Crude-oil futures plummeted as worries mounted that Europe's debt woes and a possible slowing of growth in China will sap global demand.
Heralding a new era in biology, scientists have created a synthetic cell, completely controlled by man-made genetic instructions, which reproduces itself.
