Vaduz - Lichtenstein's VP Bank Group said Monday it lost 80.3 million Swiss francs during 2008, after being forced to take writedowns due to the financial crisis.

The group said it would reduce operating expenses in 2009 by at least 10 per cent.

In a statement the bank said it had to write down 117 million francs in the income statement and 55.3 million of shareholders' equity.

The financial crisis pushed the bank to offer capital protection for clients invested in VP Bank's cash and money market funds, adding some 68.1 million francs to the 2009 financial statement.

London, Feb. 23 : Ex-Chelsea coach Jose Mourrinho believes he deserves credit for turning Manchester United into European champions.

Mourinho claims his reign at Chelsea made United up their game, resulting in them winning back the Premier League and Champions League.

The data from study of 12 European cities from Dublin to Valencia disclosed that temperatures increase during the summer may increase the number of hospitalizations for respiratory problems, especially among elderly people.

The data comes from a European project known as the “Assessment and Prevention of Acute Health Effects of Weather Conditions in Europe” (PHEWE).

Berlin  - The leaders of Europe's major economies are hoping to hammer out plans this weekend to face up to the global recession against the backdrop of a deepening sense of economic gloom in Eastern Europe and a shakeout in the region's currencies.

After a dramatic sell off in currencies and shares earlier in the week, a fragile calm returned to Eastern European markets Thursday on hopes that Sunday's meeting will deliver a blueprint for addressing the slump and overhauling financial markets.

London - European NATO allies need to provide more troops for Afghanistan but Britain believes it has already made contributions above its weight, defence secretary John Hutton said Thursday.

In a BBC interview from Krakow, where NATO defence ministers were meeting Thursday, Hutton said that no decision been made about an increase of British troop levels in southern Afghanistan.

However, if and when an official request was made by the US, he would "look at whether the UK could do more."