Paris - Peugeot plans to present a four-door coupe concept study, the RC 508, with green hybrid drive at the Paris Motor Show in October.

Teaser images released by the car maker show a design with headlights integrated into the fenders and the Peugeot lion logo taking a prominent position in the centre of the front grille.

According to the French car maker, the RC concept will also showcase a hybrid drivetrain.

Paris - Honda has announced details of the new Jazz that will be unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in September and is set for sale on European markets in November.

A key styling feature is the "cab forward" body style with the A-pillar width reduced by 23 mm, a windscreen 25 mm wider and 205 mm taller. The wipers have been positioned well below the vision line improving visibility by 20 per cent, said the car maker.

Paris - In a sign that the global economic crisis is more protracted than was foreseen, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on Tuesday said that the European and Japanese economies would grow more slowly than had been forecast.

Eurozone countries will see their economies grow by only 1.2 per cent in 2008, instead of the 1.7 per cent the OECD had predicted previously. Japan's GDP will expand by only 1.2 per cent this year, also down from a previous forecast of 1.7 per cent.

However, the US economy appears to be more robust that believed, with GDP seen to grow by 1.8 per cent in 2008, up from 1.2 per cent projected earlier.

Paris, August 29 : ESA''s (European Space Agency''s) formation-flying quartet of satellites, Cluster, has discovered that the Earth''s own magnetic field is causing the constant leak out of oxygen from its atmosphere into space.

The new work uses data collected by Cluster from 2001 to 2003.

During this time, Cluster amassed information about beams of electrically charged oxygen atoms, known as ions, flowing outwards from the polar regions into space.

Cluster also measured the strength and direction of the Earth''s magnetic field whenever the beams were present.

Paris - French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner voiced fears Wednesday that Russia may destabilise other countries following its recognition of two Georgian breakaway regions.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev formally recognized on Tuesday the breakaway territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia after Russian lawmakers on Monday unanimously passed a resolution to that effect.

Russia had "acted outside international law," Kouchner told French radio station Europe-1. "Other targets" for Russia now could be "the Crimea, Ukraine, Moldova."

"We cannot accept these violations of international law" and "the taking of a territory by the army of a neighbouring country," Kouchner said.

Tokyo - Mazda will unveil the new Mazda 3 at the Paris Motor Show in October with the Japanese manufacturer releasing sketches by its chief designer Kunihiko Kurisu.

The pictures reveal a more aggressive design than the predecessor model with side vents on either side and "teardrop" headlights. The wheel arches are also bigger. The taillights are similar to the Mazda 6.

A four-door version is expected to debut at the Los Angeles Motor Show in November, while a five-door hatchback is expected to be shown at the Bologna Show in Italy in December.