Nyon, Switzerland - UEFA announced Thursday that it has finalised the
financial calculations regarding payments to Europe's national football
federations for them to pass on to their clubs for their contribution
to Euro 2008.

The payments are part of the agreement signed between UEFA and the
European Club Association (ECA) in January of this year which allowed
for the distribution of 43.5 million euros (55.1 million dollars) of
Euro 2008 revenue to the national federations.

A total of 180 clubs are set to benefit from the scheme with the clubs
providing the greatest number players for the tournament in Austria and

Geneva - The United Arab Emirates came under close scrutiny Thursday, particularly on the treatment of migrant workers, during its periodic review before the United Nations' Human Rights Council.

Labour exporting countries in south Asia, as well as European states, questioned the UAE over what steps were being taken to improve the conditions of blue collar labourers.

Estimates say foreigners make up about 85 per cent of the Gulf state's population, and they account for about 99 per cent of the private sector workforce, according to Human Rights Watch, an advocacy group.

Zurich - Switzerland's second biggest bank Credit Suisse is stepping up its restructuring programme saying Thursday it was axing another 5300 jobs after reporting a
3 billion Swiss francs (2.5 billion dollars) net loss during in the first two months of the current quarter.

"Investment banking had a significant pretax loss, reflecting the adverse financial market conditions in the quarter and cost association with risk reduction," the Zurich-based bank said in a review of its fourth-quarter performance.

Lausanne, Switzerland - A hearing over a medal distribution dispute at the Olympic 200 metres final has been postponed until January 15, the Court of Arbitration for Sport said on Wednesday.

The appeal from Dutch Antilles runner Churandy Martina to reinstate him as silver medallist was originally to be heard on Friday.

Churandy had originally finished second in the Beijing race in August won by Usain Bolt of Jamaica, with American Wallace Spearmon placing third.

Recent research has shown that children born through caesarean section have 80 % more risk of developing childhood asthma as compared to children delivered naturally. Swiss researchers believe that that a natural birth could help to prime a child's immune system, making them more able to fight off illness whereas caesarean section possibly renders youngsters less able to combat common inflections, which scientists believe could act as a trigger for asthma.

Geneva - Security conditions in Iraq in the first half of 2008 improved greatly the United Nations said Tuesday, but "grave human rights violations" remained a serious issue.

In addition to large casualties in heavy fighting between militias and government forces, allegations that civilians were targeted by "all parties to the conflict" were still under investigation, the UN's mission to Iraq (UNAMI) said in its biannual report.