Geneva  - Daimler's luxury Maybach brand is launching an even more luxurious version at the Geneva Motor Show next month with a shoulder-line in contrasting colour and a more powerful 640 hp engine.

Wind noise has been reduced by modified exterior mirrors with a more "expressive" look.

The stylish elegance is accentuated by an exclusive Californian- beige, leather interior and the "Maybach Zeppelin" lettering found on the boot lid, front grille, the key and champagne glass. Only 100 of the limited edition Maybach 57 Zeppelin and Maybach 62 Zeppelin will be built at a price of 483,140 euros (623,758 dollars) and 563,108 euros respectively.

Geneva - Delegates from eight parties started the newest round of talks Tuesday on last year's conflict between Russia and Georgia, though negotiations have so far yielded little results.

The talks at the United Nations' Geneva office will focus on humanitarian and security issues, including a mechanism to prevent and resolve future armed incidents near or within the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

While the parties have agreed to the mechanism in principle, they were still debating the details of how it would function.

Geneva - The world's largest maker of fragrances and flavours, Givaudan, said Tuesday it consolidated its business operations in 2008 and turned a profit of 111 million Swiss francs (95 million dollars).

The company said in a statement that this was a rise of nearly 20 per cent over 2007, when it made 93 million francs.

Overall, though, sales for the Swiss company fell by 1.1 per cent when calculated in francs, reaching just over 4 billion.

The rise in the price of raw materials in early 2008 cut into the company's gross profit margin and it said the subsequent decrease in supply costs, which began towards the end of the year, would only be felt later in 2009.

Geneva - The United Nation's refugee agency (UNHCR) offered Tuesday to support the European Commission in its proposition for establishing a European Asylum Support Office.

The executive wing of the EU will publish a proposal for such an office on Wednesday, in an attempt to help develop a more standardized refugee policy among member states.

Asylum seekers from countries like Iraq, Somalia and Afghanistan are treated very differently by EU members, Ron Redmond, a UNHCR spokesman, said.

Switzerland - Elevator and escalator manufacturer Schindler announced Tuesday that it had a record year in 2008, making a net profit of 634 million Swiss francs (541 million dollars), more than double the previous year's figure.

The earnings - up from 278 million francs net profit in 2007 - cam on turnover of 14 billion francs, Schindler said.

The company said its main elevators and escalators business increased operating profit by 11.6 per cent to 895 million francs. The value of new orders rose by 2.6 per cent to 9.25 billion francs.

Geneva  - A Geneva-based semiconductor company said Monday it won a ruling by a US body ordering Credit Suisse to pay damages worth about 406 million dollars for unauthorized investments.

STMicroelectronics filed arbitration against the bank last winter, on the grounds that Credit Suisse bought auction rate securities, including collateralized debt obligations, "instead of the federally guaranteed student loan securities that had been specifically mandated by the company for purchase."