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Geneva - Shirin Ebadi, the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003, said Friday that the violence against the demonstrators in Iran must stop, those arrested should be released and if the protests continued new elections should be held.

"I think it is very important that all those who have been arrested be released without any conditions," said Ebadi, a human rights lawyer from Tehran.

Brussels - The European Union's executive is to summon international lenders to Brussels next week to discuss if they can help Ukraine pay for Russian gas destined for the EU, the head of the European Commission said Friday.

The Brussels-based body "intends to host a meeting next week with representatives of the international financial institutions, European gas companies and EU member states to look at whether a short-term package of 'stop-gap' funding can be put together," Jose Manuel Barroso said at the end of an EU summit in Brussels.

Silverstone, Britain - The world governing motorsport body FIA will take legal action against Ferrari and the other seven teams organized in the FOTA umbrella organization over their plan to form a breakaway series.

"The actions of FOTA as a whole, and Ferrari in particular, amount to serious violations of law including wilful interference with contractual relations, direct breaches of Ferrari's legal obligations and a grave violation of competition law," FIA said in a statement on Friday.

"The FIA will be issuing legal proceedings without delay."

New Delhi, June 19 : Former Australian skipper Steve Waugh launched his charity foundation called ''Steve Waugh Global Foundation'' in New Delhi on Friday.

Addressing a press conference here, Waugh said that the foundation would manage and coordinate his charity work around the globe.

The first project of the foundation will be an extension of Waugh''s existing charity work, ''Udayan'', home for the rehabilitation for leprosy affected children or those whose parents suffer from leprosy.

Tunis  - The Tunisian government on Friday protested plans to send Tunisian prisoners from Guantanamo to Europe rather than Tunisia out of fears they could face torture in their home country.

Ten Tunisian nationals are held in the US military's prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The US government has been negotiating their resettlement in Hungary, Italy and Spain because of fears that the men might be tortured if sent back to Tunisia.

Washington/Ankara  - The International Monetary Fund has become more optimistic about the global economy's prospects for recovering from its first recession since World War II, a top official said Friday.

Deputy Managing Director John Lipsky said he expected the IMF was likely to raise its forecast for the global economy "modestly upward," mainly in 2010 when a more full-blown recovery is expected. He did not offer any figures.