e Yugoslavia

Amman – The Jordan Engineers Association on Monday called on its 70,000 members to refrain from joining packaged tours to the Palestinian territories and Israel, according to a JEA statement.

Vienna  – Austria-based builder Strabag SE improved its net profit by 29 per cent to 106 million euros (152 million dollars) in the second quarter, the company announced Monday.

Istanbul  – Four Turkish soldiers died in fighting with militants from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in south-eastern Turkey, reported the Turkish military on Monday.

Hamburg  – Dinara Safina continues to be the top ranked player ahead of the Williams sisters Serena and Venus in the women’s tennis rankings issued on Monday by the WTA.

Madrid  – European champions Barcelona have loaned Eidur Gudjohnsen to AS Monaco and defender Henrique to Racing Santander, according to Spanish press reports on Monday.

Hamburg  – Roger Federer stayed well clear of an unchanged top 10 in the ATP men’s tennis rankings published Monday.

Stockholm  – Nordic banking group Nordea Monday signed a deal to buy regional Danish group Fionia Bank for 900 million kroner (177 million dollars).

Zurich – The percentage of club-trained players in the top European leagues has continued to fall, a study conducted by the Professional Football Players’ Observatory (PFPO) has found.

New Delhi  – The Indian economy recorded 6.1-per-cent growth during the first quarter of the financial year despite the global financial crisis, indicating that Asia’s third-largest economy could be on the road to recovery, officials said Monday.

Warsaw  – Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin condemned the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact – a treaty that remains a sore point in Polish-Russian relations 70 years after it was signed – in an open letter in a Polish daily on Monday.