New York  - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon welcomed Monday the agreement between Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai to hold talks on sharing power and ending the political crisis in that country.

"The secretary general encourages all sides to engage, in good faith, in serious talks that would lead to a lasting solution to the political crisis and address the urgent economic and humanitarian needs of the Zimbabwean people," UN spokeswoman Michelle Montas said.

New York - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday welcomed an assessment for future international humanitarian assistance to Myanmar following the devastation by cyclone Nargis in May.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) presented the assessment for medium-term recovery needs in Myanmar at a meeting in in Singapore on Monday, attended by John Holmes, the chief UN humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator.

New York - US manufacturer Honeywell sa

New York - Technology colossus IBM reported second quarter income of 2.77 billion dollars Thursday, up 22 per cent over the year ago quarter on strong global growth in sales of services, hardware