Taipei- Sales of Taiwanese information security products are expected to surge by 15 per cent annually in the next three years as global companies become increasingly concerned about computer viruses and spam, a research agency said Monday.

Seoul - The population of North Korea is facing a year of privation due to the ongoing food crisis in the country, according to a report by the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported Monday.

Around 40 per cent of the population or around 8.7 million people - primarily children, pregnant women, nursing mothers, and the elderly - may require urgent aid, the report said, adding that the coming months may see a serious food shortages due to a deficit in cereals.

Moscow - Tens of thousands of Russian Orthodox Church followers paid their last respects Monday to Patriarch Alexi II who died on Friday at the age of 79.

People, many carrying white roses - Alexi's favourite flower - spent hours standing in line in the rain for a chance to file past the the patriarch's body lying in state at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.

The funeral is scheduled for Tuesday, when Alexi's remains will be buried in the Ephiphany Cathedral in Moscow.

Stockholm - Volvo Cars, the Swedish carmaker owned by US giant Ford, is to shed some 2,700 jobs mainly in its home base, the company said Monday.

The announcement was made after unions and management concluded talks. The outcome suggested that 1,000 fewer jobs were to be cut than initially signalled.

Volvo Cars chief executive Stephen Odell said that while he regretted the measures he was "satisfied with the fact that our cost reduction program has been successful and it has enabled us to stay with a lower number of redundancies."

Tokyo - Just ten weeks after taking office, Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso finds himself under growing pressure, with approval ratings dropping below 25 per cent, according to latest surveys.

Levels that low indicate that an administration's life signs have reached the critical stage. The first calls for Aso's resignation have started to filter in.

In light of the survey results, Aso spoke Monday of a "very serious" situation. "I think it indicates criticism that we are not living up enough to expectations about measures against the slumping economy and the deteriorating job situation," he was quoted as saying.

Taipei - Taiwan's exports, plagued by the global downturn, slumped to a seven-year low of 16.8 billion US dollars in November, the finance ministry said Monday.

Total exports declined for the third straight month by 5.1 billion US dollars in November, down 23.3 per cent from the same month last year, the ministry said in a statement.

Imports totaled 15.3 billion US dollars, the lowest since March 2002, representing a drop of 2.32 billion dollars or 13.2 per cent year-on-year, the ministry said.