Berlin  - Japanese automakers produce the most environmentally friendly cars, a study released in Germany Wednesday concluded.

Drawn up by the Traffic Club Germany (VCD), the study said that Japanese carmakers were ahead of their international rivals at a time when concerns are growing about high fuel costs and global warming.

"When it comes to innovations favourable to the environment, the Japanese continue to be out in front," said VCD chief Hermann-Josef Vogt releasing the group9s findings.

Six Japanese car manufacturers were among the top ten in the VCD's latest auto environment list.

Georgia, Russia - Georgia's rebel region of Abkhazia will lodge a formal appeal with Moscow on Wednesday to be recognized as an independent state, the parliamentary speaker for the autonomous region told news agency Interfax.

Abkhazia will hold a special parliamentary session on Wednesday to consider an independence appeal to Russia for recognition by the breakaway region's president Sergei Bagapsh, Abkhaz parliament speaker Nugzar Ashuba said.

"We will request to recognize the independence of our republic," Ashuba was quoted by the agency as saying.

Nairobi  - The Red Cross on Wednesday asked for more money to help deal with a worsening humanitarian crisis in drought-hit Southern Ethiopia.

"Over the past two months the situation has worsened and living conditions have deteriorated," Lorenzo Violante, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) drought operations manager for Ethiopia, said in a statement.

"People have exhausted all their resources and are unable to feed themselves," he added.

Beijing - Ticket touts continued to operate with apparent impunity near Olympic venues on Wednesday, despite a police crackdown that rounded up at least 37 foreigners among nearly 300 suspects.

Touts were out as usual on streets near the Workers' Stadium and the Workers' Gymnasium, which are venues for Olympic football and boxing, respectively.

One tout wanted 1,000 yuan (146 dollars) for a 150-yuan ticket for Wednesday night's boxing session.

Dozens of touts, including American and British ones, lined the streets leading to the two venues before Tuesday night's football and boxing matches.

Tehran - Tehran said the reaction by the United States to Iran's launching of a satellite carrier was not surprising, official news agency IRNA reported Wednesday.

An unnamed US official was quoted Tuesday by the foreign press as saying that Sunday's launch of an Iranian test satellite into space was a failure - contrary to Iranian claims.

"We are not surprised by the US reaction as our scientific achievements have always been denied by the Americans," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Ghashghavi said.

London, Aug. 20 : Funds collected by the BBC’s Children in Need charity could have been used to recruit and train homegrown terrorists involved in the 7/7 terror attacks on London.

Children in Need''s chief Executive David Ramsden was quoted as telling Newsnight: I''m incredibly concerned that we did make an award to Leeds Community School over nine years ago.”

“Any allegation that any funding we’ve given to any project has been misused and not used to change the lives of disadvantaged children and young people makes me concerned and very sad.

“We take the trust that the public puts in BBC Children In Need and the fact that they provide us with their finding extremely seriously and I’m incredibly concerned.