Berlin - The decline in German unemployment slowed this month, data to be released Thursday is forecast to show, as employers curbed hiring in the face of growing economic uncertainty.

The numbers of out of work in Europe's biggest economy fell by 20,000 in July analysts say Germany's Labour Office will report with the jobless rate remaining at 7.8 per cent.

The expected drop in July German unemployment comes after the numbers out of work fell by 38,000 to a 16-year-low in June of 3.27 million.

But since then, a steady steam of data and economic sentiment surveys have pointed to the nation's economy losing steam amid fears that inflation has been picking up on the back of high food and energy costs.

Berlin - European consumer prices jumped to a record 4.2 per cent in July, data to be released Thursday is predicted to say, increasing the pressure on the European Central Bank as it faces up to the threats posed by surging inflation and slumping growth.

Analysts' forecasts for consumer prices in July, which are to be released by European Union's statistics office Eurostat, would leave inflation in the 15-member eurozone at more than double the ECB's target of "close to, but just below 2 per cent".

Hamburg - European aircraft manufacturer Airbus delivered the first A380 from its Hamburg plant Monday, handing over the superjumbo jet to Dubai's Emirates airline at a colourful ceremony attended by the chief executives of the two companies and hundreds of staff.

The aircraft is the first of 58 ordered by Emirates, which is to date the largest customer for the flagship of the Airbus fleet.

Emirates chief Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum said the American continent was one of the company's key markets and that the airline was pleased to be the first to enter the US market with the new A380.

London, July 26: War criminal Radovan Karadzic, the wartime leader of the Bosnian Serbs, was so successful as a “miracle” healer that he travelled across Europe to treat wealthy Serbs.

The bearded fugitive, 63, is said to have made so much money curing a variety of ailments that he was about to start a new life in Russia.

Mina Minic, his tutor in Serbian capital Belgrade, said: “He learned quickly and soon became a name in his own right. He was preparing to move to Russia but decided to stay to learn more from me. It seems he left it too long.”

Berlin - Europe factory orders slumped sharply in May, data released Wednesday showed, led by falling demand for electronic equipment and manufacturing goods.

Washington - Iran probably can already hit most of Europe and even Britain with a ballistic missile, even though it has not demonstrated the capability, the Pentagon's missile defence chief said Monday.

"I personally believe, based on what I've seen, that right now Iran has the ability to reach most of Europe. Right now. And they just haven't demonstrated it yet," Lieutenant General Henry Obering said in an interview with Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Obering heads the Pentagon's Missile Defence Agency, which is building the missile shield that the Bush administration wants to deploy to Poland and the Czech Republic to counter the Iranian threat.