Los Angeles - Microsoft released key details Tuesday of the next generation of software that it hopes will run the world's computers.

The software giant, whose dominance is under threat, said Windows 7 will replace the disappointing Windows Vista in January 2010.

Microsoft said the new operating system was designed to function like a tighter version of Vista, which launched in 2006 but was widely derided as a "system hog" that slowed down computers with features that most users never accessed.

Tokyo - Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average continued to rise in early trading Wednesday, again topping the 8,000 mark.

Hamburg - Bayer Leverkusen moved top of the German Bundesliga Tuesday with a 2-0 victory at Werder Bremen, while Schalke go third with a facile win at SC Karlsruhe.

Tel Aviv/Ramallah - There are not many parts of the world where George W Bush - one of the most unpopular US presidents in history - is as well liked as he was in Israel.

It remains to be seen whether his successor, either Democrat Barack Obama or Republican John McCain, will be able to fill his shoes.

Outgoing Israeli premier Ehud Olmert called Bush "our closest ally and partner" and "a force of inspiration" during a visit in May. President Shimon Peres welcomed him as a "dear" and "Biblical" friend of Israel.