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Vienna - Two days before the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was set to meet in Vienna to discuss production cuts, the cartel’s basket price fell by 3.53 dollars Wednesday.

Berlin - Germany’s biggest newspaper group, Axel Springer, said Thursday it was launching a Chinese online edition of its car magazine Auto Bild.

Paris - French shares were mixed in early Thursday trading in the wake of overnight losses on Wall Street and Asian markets.

Stockholm - Main Swedish banking groups Nordea, Swedbank and SEB on Thursday reported third-quarter results suggesting they had weathered the first phases of the financial turmoil.

Madrid - Spain was stepping up diplomatic activity Thursday in a push to be invited to an economic summit to take place in Washington in mid-November.

London - Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp said Thursday that he would be interested in signing David Beckham on loan if a proposed deal to take the England midfielder to AC Milan falls through.

Stockholm - Sweden’s central bank said Thursday it was to cut its interest rate by 0.50 percentage points to 3.75 per cent, the second cut this month.

Tokyo - The death of a 36-year-old pregnant woman who died after she was refused admission by seven hospitals in Tokyo sparked heated debates over a shortage of doctors, newspapers said Thursday.

Washington - Republican donors were outraged over bills worth more than 150,000 dollars for Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin’s new wardrobe to outfit the vice-presidential candidate after her nomination, a US media report said.

Manila - The United States Thursday pledged 40 million dollars to help save the Coral Triangle, the world’s largest expanse of mangrove, coral reef and fish biodiversity, covering six nations.