US President Barack Obama has said he sees "glimmers of hope" in the economy, but warned that the system remained under "severe strain".

World leaders are set to gather in London for final talks on the eve of a G20 summit dogged by divisions on how to tackle the economic crisis.

Despite fears of violence in coming days that have prompted a major security operation in the British capital, Saturday's demonstration has so far been peaceful.

Nokia Oyj will slash 1,700 jobs globally over the coming few months because of falling demand, the world's top cellphone maker said on Tuesday.

Australia has said it will cut the number of skilled foreign workers it accepts by 14% to safeguard local jobs.

Ministers from the G20 group of rich and emerging countries are to meet in England amid growing rifts over how to tackle the worst downturn in decades.

An Israeli human rights group has filed a petition at the High Court demanding an immediate halt to Israeli mining operations in the West Bank.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai is to visit Iran to attend an economic summit of regional countries beginning Wednesday in Tehran, Hamshahri newspaper reported.

Oil prices fell in Asian trade Wednesday following a rebound in the US market overnight, on continued concerns over the worsening global economic crisis, analysts said.

European Union leaders are preparing for an emergency summit in Brussels seeking to bridge differences on how to deal with the global economic crisis.

European leaders meet on Sunday to form a consensual approach to tackle the global economic crisis, while U.S. President Barack Obama is due to unveil an ambitious plan to cut the ballooning deficit in half by 2013.

The economic crisis is biting ever deeper into Europe with no end in sight, a blast of bad data showed on Friday, increasing the urgency of a G20 planning meeting on Sunday.

US President Barack Obama has signed his hard-fought economic stimulus plan in Denver, after Congress approved the $787bn package last week.

Group of Seven finance ministers are meeting in Rome to devise a plan for halting the global economic slide. International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn warned Friday that advanced economies were in "deep recession."

The US Congress has approved a 787-billion-dollar package of tax cuts and fresh spending to salvage the broken US economy.

A 23 kilometer road distancing from Balkh textile manufacture to southern Mazar Sharif' fertile and electricity factories, opened.

Nissan Motor Co. on Monday announced 20,000 job cuts and warned of its first annual loss since Carlos Ghosn took the helm of the Japanese automaker almost a decade ago.

Badghis Emergency committee has just received 3500 tone of 10000 tones specified wheat.

Striking UK refinery workers voted unanimously Thursday to accept a deal to end more than a week of strikes, unions said.

Oil prices rebounded slightly on Tuesday, supported by strikes at refineries and a cold snap in Western Europe but gains were capped by concerns over falling energy demand worldwide, traders said.