MADRID, April 2, 2008 (AFP) - The number of jobless in Spain fell O.6 percent in March over the previous month, the government said on Wednesday, ending five months running of gains that stoked fears of an economic slowdown.

STOCKHOLM, April 2, 2008 (AFP) - Sweden's hugely successful sale of its crown jewel Absolut vodka has given the centre-right government's ambitious privatisation programme a shot in the arm, but shaky financial markets could thwart the remaining sales.

NAIROBI, April 2, 2008 (AFP) - African economies grew by 5.8 percent last year, powered by increasing commodity prices, but the growth is yet to be translated in social development, a report said Wednesday.

FRANKFURT, April 2, 2008 (AFP) - The International Monetary Fund has cut its 2008 global growth forecast to 3.7 percent from 4.1 percent previously, a press report said Wednesday.

The IMF's new estimate is to be unveiled next week, the Financial Times Deutschland reported, without saying where it got the information.

BEIJING, April 2, 2008 (AFP) - US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson began a two-day trip to Beijing Wednesday that was set to see him raise concerns over the Tibet crisis as well as trade issues during talks with China's leaders.

BANGKOK, April 2, 2008 (AFP) - Painstakingly tough negotiations on how to fight climate change are getting even harder as concerns mount that the global economy is heading into recession.

MANILA, April 2, 2008 (AFP) - China's economic growth is expected to slow to 10 percent this year as rising food prices drive inflation, the Asian Development Bank said in its annual outlook report released Wednesday.

WASHINGTON, April 1, 2008 (AFP) - The troubled US economy weighed down auto sales in March as skittish consumers cut back on purchases, especially of big luxury cars and trucks, sales reports showed Tuesday.

NAIROBI, April 1, 2008 (AFP) - Kenya's monthly inflation rate rose to 21.8 percent in March, up from the previous month's 19.1 percent owing to rising food prices, the government announced Tuesday.

'Month-to-month overall inflation rate increased from 19.1 percent in February 2008 to 21.8 percent in March 2008,' the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) said in a statement.

ROME, April 1, 2008 (AFP) - Italy's conservative leader Silvio Berlusconi said Tuesday that if elected in this month's elections he would bring back his old ally Giulio Tremonti as economy minister, the ANSA news agency reported.