Taipei- The number of foreigners visiting Taiwan rose 5.6 per cent to 1.9 million from January to June, amid Taiwan's efforts to find ways to lure more foreign tourists, the government said Friday.

The Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said that of the 1.9 million foreigners, 44.7 per cent were tourists, 24.5 per cent were business visitors and 30.8 per cent were foreigners entering Taiwan for other purposes.

Frankfurt  - Despite high fuels costs and growing economic uncertainty, luxury German carmaker Audi said Friday it expects to report an improved business performance this year.

Munich  - The market fallout unleashed by the US mortgage crisis continued to take its toll on the European financial sector with the giant German insurer Munich Re forced Friday to slash its 2008 earnings forecast.

The world's second biggest reinsurer expects earnings this year to come in at "well above" 2.0 billion euros (3.14 billion dollars) compared to a previous estimate of between 3.0 and 3.4 billion euros.

The projection sent Munich Re shares down by more than 10 per cent to about 104 euros.

"The main reason for this is the turmoil on the capital markets, which has led to an appreciable reduction in the group's investment result in the first half of 2008," the Munich-based company said announcing the results.

London - Economic growth in Britain slowed considerably to 0.2 per cent in the second quarter of this year, as the housing market and consumer spending were affected by the credit crunch.

Seoul - South Korea's economy grew 0.8 per cent from the first quarter to the second quarter as robust exports made up for a drop in consumer spending, the central bank said Friday.

The gross domestic product saw a 4.8-per-cent increase from 2007's second quarter, down from the 5.8-per-cent jump between 2007's and 2008's first quarters, the Bank of Korea said.

Exports of goods, which account for about 40 per cent of South Korea's GDP, rose 3.7 per cent in the second quarter from the quarter before after falling 1.3 per cent in the first quarter.

Tokyo - Japan's core consumer price index (CPI) rose 1.9 per cent in June from a year before, the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry said Friday.