ROME, April 2, 2008 (AFP) - The Italian state will not make a requested 300-million-euro bridging loan to Alitalia unless the failing airline's unions reach agreement with Air France-KLM on the European giant's takeover bid, Economy Minister Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa said Tuesday.

DUESSELDORF, Germany, April 2, 2008 (AFP) - The German regional public bank WestLB posted on Wednesday a 2007 net loss of 1.6 billion euros (2.5 billion dollars) as a result of global financial turmoil and stock trading losses.

A month ago WestLB had said it expected a net loss of about one billion euros, following a gain of 799 million in 2006.

MOSCOW, April 2, 2008 (AFP) - Russia's parliament on Wednesday adopted a law limiting access for foreign investors to key sectors of the economy including the oil and gas industries, in a third and final reading.

PHNOM PENH, April 2, 2008 (AFP) - Cambodia and Qatar have established direct flights aimed at promoting tourism between the Middle East and the tiny Southeast Asian nation, officials said Wednesday.

MIAMI, April 1, 2008 (AFP) - Federal agents Tuesday in Florida arrested a Jamaican man acting suspiciously as he boarded a flight to Montego Bay, Jamaica, and found apparent bomb-making materials in his baggage, local media reported, quoting police.

LONDON, April 2, 2008 (AFP) - British Airways confirmed Wednesday that it was sending thousands of bags to Milan to better cope with a massive backlog of luggage caused by turmoil at its newly-opened terminal at London Heathrow.

MADRID, April 1, 2008 (AFP) - Spanish low-cost airlines Vueling and Clickair are to weigh a possible merger of equals, Vueling announced Tuesday.

'Vueling and Clickair have agreed to begin a negotiating process to study the possible integration of the two companies,' Vueling said in a statement to the Spanish market authority, CNMV.

SAN FRANCISCO, April 1, 2008 (AFP) - Microsoft said Tuesday it will soon release a version of its Internet Explorer web browser tailored to put surfing the web with mobile telephones on par with using desktop computers.

STRASBOURG, April 1, 2008 (AFP) - Three teenagers have been accused of holding up a train for nearly 50 minutes by placing a garden dwarf on a high-speed rail track in France, police sources said.

A train from Paris to the eastern city of Strasbourg had to stop near Saverne in the lower Rhine region at around 2230, after running over a ballast and a garden dwarf on the tracks.

ROME, April 1, 2008 (AFP) - Air France-KLM is ready to reduce the number of job cuts at Italian flag carrier Alitalia from the 2,100 it initially wanted in an effort to get its takeover offer accepted, local reports said Tuesday.

The Ansa and RadioCor news agencies, citing union sources, said that by changing some of its planned aircraft, Air France-KLM could keep more staff.