Stockholm - Three agencies including the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) said on Thursday that reducing food waste was a means to improve global water conservation and shore up future food production.

The call was made during World Water Week, currently taking place in Stockholm, where scores of experts and policy makers have gathered to discuss water and sanitation related issues.

A British researcher was to receive the 150,000-dollar Stockholm Water Prize, administered by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), on Thursday for launching the concept of "virtual water" - a system that measures the amount of water used to produce and trade goods.

Stockholm - Swedish senior citizens have reacted angrily after a newspaper disclosed that several banks have upper age limits for loans or credit cards.

Stockholm - Swedish teachers consider it is important to teach about the Holocaust but many lack knowledge about it, a survey released Wednesday suggested.

Only two of the roughly 5,000 teachers polled were able to answer all 11 questions in the poll while 70 per cent of the teachers had at least eight wrong answers, the Swedish government agency Living History Forum said.

For instance, many teachers thought that the Gulag - the extensive prison system and forced labour prison camps in the Soviet Union - were extermination camps set up by Nazi-led Germany.

About half of the teachers polled said teaching about the Holocaust was just as important or more important than other subjects in history.

Stockholm - Saab is offering the all-wheel drive (XWD) system for the 2009 models of the 9-3 Sport Sedan and SportCombi range, the car maker has announced.

Originally developed for the harsh Swedish winter roads, the manufacturer says the system is also ideally suited for wet roads and tarmac covered by autumn leaves.

The XWD system distributes engine torque between the front and rear axles, to achieve optimum handling and grip in all driving conditions. On the open road, it helps the driver keep the car stable while cornering.

Unlike conventional all-wheel-drive systems, the XWD eliminates the need to detect wheel slip before rear drive is activated, the car maker says.

Stockholm - Rwanda has formally requested the extradition of a Rwandan national from Sweden a month after he was detained on suspicion of crimes against humanity in Rwanda, a Swedish Justice Ministry official said Monday.

Sylvere Ahorugeze is suspected of committing crimes against humanity during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and was allegedly involved in killing some 25 people from the same family.

Stockholm - Lack of access to sanitation remains a major impediment to global development while claiming hundreds of lives daily, experts agreed Monday as the annual World Water Week opened Monday.

Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander one of the dignataries at the meeting, that said despite progress to build latrines and improve sanitation around the world "there is still a long way to go" and underlined the need to break taboos about sanitation.

Asia and Latin America had experienced "remarkable progress" in terms of better sanitation, he said in his opening remarks.