Isuzu Motors said Thursday it would cut 1,400 jobs and slash domestic production by 10 percent, the latest in a slew of layoffs by Japanese automakers to cope with the financial crisis.

`With the way things are, we had no choice but to make adjustments,` said a spokeswoman for Japan`s second-biggest truckmaker.

Toyota Motor Corp. will shut down production at all of its US and Canadian plants for two days next month due to sluggish sales, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.

Production at all 11 factories including assembly, transmission and engine plants will stop on December 22 and 23, although employees will still go to work, spokeswoman Kayo Doi said.

Toyota Motor Corp. will shut down production at all of its US and Canadian plants for two days next month due to sluggish sales, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.

Production at all 11 factories including assembly, transmission and engine plants will stop on December 22 and 23, although employees will still go to work, spokeswoman Kayo Doi said.

BERLIN, Oct 20, 2007 (AFP) - Some 35,000 additional jobs are threatened in German Telecommunication giant Deutsche Telekom, on top of the tens of thousands already being lost, according to the weekly Der Spiegel.

The report to be published next week cites 'internal calculations' within the company, which employed some 249,000 people at the end of 2006, 89,000 of them outside Germany.

Der Spiegel said Deutsche Telekom boss Rene Obermann refused to comment on the figure, while stressing 'the need to adapt and restructure' the group he has headed for the past year.

TOKYO, Oct 15, 2007 (AFP) - Japan's Nomura Holdings Inc. announced Monday its exit from the US market for mortgage-backed securities after suffering large losses because of the subprime loan crisis.

Nomura Holdings Inc., Japan's biggest securities firm, said it would slash 400 jobs, or 30 percent of the workforce, at its US operations due to the US mortgage woes, which wreaked havoc on global markets in August.

LONDON, Oct 3, 2007 (AFP) - Cadbury Schweppes, the world's biggest confectionary maker, announced Wednesday it planned to slash 700 jobs at plants in Britain by 2010 and move some production to Poland to cut costs.

'In order to continue to grow and remain competitive in the future we need to operate more effectively and reduce costs,' Cadbury said in a statement.

Cadbury, famous for its Dairy Milk and Flake chocolate bars, said in a statement that all 500 posts would go at its Keynsham factory in Bristol, western England.

LONDON, Oct 3, 2007 (AFP) - Cadbury Schweppes, the world's biggest confectionary maker, announced Wednesday it planned to slash 700 jobs at plants in Britain and move some production to Poland to cut costs.

'In order to continue to grow and remain competitive in the future we need to operate more effectively and reduce costs,' Cadbury said in a statement.

Cadbury, famous for its Dairy Milk and Flake chocolate bars, said in a statement that all 500 posts would go at its Keynsham factory in Bristol, western England.

TOKYO, Sept 25, 2007 (AFP) - Struggling Japanese electronics maker JVC announced Tuesday it aims to slash 1,150 jobs or almost one-fifth of its workforce through early retirements in an effort to reinvigorate its business.

The downsizing is 'an indispensable measure to return to the black in 2007, to strengthen management base in 2008, and achieve a long-term growth strategy by 2009,' Victor Co. of Japan (JVC) said in a statement.

WASHINGTON, Sept 14, 2007 (AFP) - President George W. Bush on Thursday unveiled plans to pull some 21,000 US troops from Iraq by mid-2008, but rejected a full withdrawal as dooming a US ally 'fighting for its survival.'

'We must help Iraq defeat those who threaten its future and also threaten ours,' Bush said in a prime-time televised address to defend his unpopular strategy amid broad US public support for a complete pull-out.

JOHANNESBURG, Sept 10, 2007 (AFP) - South African Airways (SAA) said Monday it could eliminate more than 2,000 jobs as part of a restructuring programme aimed at cutting costs.

The government-owned airline plans to save a total of 638 million rand (88 million dollars, 64 million euros) in operating costs under the programme, which calls for 'grounding the fleet of Boeing 747-400 aircraft, reviewing the route network and re-negotiating supplier contracts,' the national carrier said in a newspaper advertisement.

BERLIN, Aug 14, 2007 (AFP) - German Telecommunication giant Deutsche Telekom is to cut 2,000 out of 6,500 jobs at its headquarters in Bonn in the next few years, German newspaper Berliner Zeitung reports in its Wednesday edition.

A company spokesman quoted by the newspaper refused to comment on the number of job cuts, but said that 'efforts to increase efficiency' would extend to the company's headquarters.

Deutsche Telekom is Europe's biggest Telecommunication group, employing 249,000 people in 50 countries at the end of 2006.

BERLIN, Aug 14, 2007 (AFP) - German Telecommunication giant Deutsche Telekom is to cut 2,000 out of 6,500 jobs at its headquarters in Bonn in the next few years, German newspaper Berliner Zeitung reports in its Wednesday edition.

A company spokesman quoted by the newspaper refused to comment on the number of job cuts, but said that 'efforts to increase efficiency' would extend to the company's headquarters.

Deutsche Telekom is Europe's biggest Telecommunication group, employing 249,000 people in 50 countries at the end of 2006.

LONDON, Aug 8, 2007 (AFP) - British insurer Royal and Sun Alliance said Wednesday it planned to eliminate 700 jobs as it looked to further cut costs by mid-2008.

The news comes as the Royal and Sun said that Britain's heaviest flooding for 60 years earlier this summer has cost the group 120 million pounds (177 million euros, 243 million dollars).

Royal and Sun Alliance chief executive Andy Haste said the group was 'working with unions' over the planned job losses, which will number 500 in Britain.

NEW YORK, July 31, 2007 (AFP) - US health and consumer products maker Johnson & Johnson plans to slash at least 3,600 jobs worldwide as part of an overhault to trim costs and focus on fast-growing segments of the industry.

The program aims to save a total of 1.3 billion to 1.6 billion dollars in annual operating costs by 2008. The company will take a charge of 550 million to 750 million dollars to pay for the restructuring.

LONDON, July 26, 2007 (AFP) - The Anglo-Swedish pharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca said Thursday that it would cut 7,600 jobs by 2010, more than double an original estimate, as it posted a fall in second-quarter net profit.

AstraZeneca intends to cut about 12 percent of its global workforce over the next two and a half years as part of a major restructuring programme which will now cost 1.6 billion dollars (1.2 billion euros), more than triple an initial forecast of 500 million dollars.