e Yugoslavia

London  - Aero-engine maker Rolls-Royce said Thursday it would cut up to 2,000 jobs worldwide as a result of the current economic “uncertainties.”

Washington  - It’s known as “America’s attic,” but the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History in Washington has shed its dusty image.

Washington  - Chief executives from the United States’ iconic Big Three automakers faced a skeptical audience this week as they took their plea for a 25-billion-dollar bail-out to US lawmakers.

Paris  - As has been the custom every year since 1985, shortly after midnight French time on the third Thursday of November 2008, wine drinkers around the world celebrated the new vintage of the Beaujolais Nouveau.

San Francisco  - The California Supreme Court said Wednesday that it would hear legal challenges to the recent voter initiative that banned same-sex marriage.

San Francisco (dpa) - Worldwide sales of computer chips will fall by 5.6 per cent in 2009, the Semiconductor Industry Association forecast Wednesday.

Washington  - Republican John McCain picked up the final prize of the US presidential election on Wednesday, winning the hotly contested battleground of Missouri by a narrow margin.

Washington  - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defence Secretary Robert Gates briefed lawmakers Wednesday on the pending troop agreement with Iraq.

Sydney  - Football fans were convinced Thursday that Australia would make it to a third World Cup, after their team snatched a goal in injury time to clinch a 1-0 victory over Bahrain in Manama.

Villarreal, Spain - A handsome 3-0 defeat of Chile on Wednesday rounded off a wonderful 2008 for the Spanish national team.