India`s top business body insisted Sunday the economy was in strong shape to ride out the global financial storm but conceded corporate confidence was a big problem.

The feeling for companies is `like they have suddenly fallen off a cliff,` K.V. Kamath, president of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), said at the opening of the annual India World Economic Forum in New Delhi.

BEIJING, Oct 14, 2007 (AFP) - The Chinese Communist Party's five-yearly Congress that begins on Monday will last one week, a spokesman told reporters.

The meeting, which gathers 2,213 delegates representing the party's 73 million members, will finish on October 21, Congress spokesman Li Dongsheng told reporters on Sunday.

It was the first time an end date had been given for the Congress, a crucial event for the party, during which President Hu Jintao is expected to strengthen his grip on power.

WASHINGTON, Oct 9, 2007 (AFP) - The US Treasury confirmed Tuesday that the next meeting of G7 finance ministers would occur on October 19 in Washington ahead of weekend meetings of the World Bank and the IMF.

G7 finance ministers traditionally gather for economic talks just ahead of the autumn meetings of the Washington-based World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

The World Bank and IMF meetings are scheduled for the weekend of October 20-21.

The G7, or Group of Seven, consists of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.

ASMARA, Aug 31, 2007 (AFP) - Rebel Somali leaders have delayed a conference due to open in Asmara Saturday, claiming delegates have been blocked from leaving Somalia by Ethiopian and government forces.

The 10-day conference in Asmara -- aimed at unifying Somali opposition and ending Ethiopian occupation -- will now begin on September 6, organising committee member Jamac Mahaed Ghalib told AFP Friday.

JERUSALEM, Aug 26, 2007 (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas will meet on Tuesday in Jerusalem to discuss ongoing efforts to jumpstart peace talks, officials on both sides said Sunday.

The two leaders and their senior advisors will meet for talks on 'ways to promote the peace process and alleviate the living conditions of the Palestinians' ahead of an international peace conference in November, a senior Israeli government official told AFP.

A Palestinian official also confirmed the time and location of the meeting.

MANILA, Aug 24, 2007 (AFP) - The blueprint for an intergrated Southeast Asian economic community has been completed and must be implemented swiftly if if the 2015 deadline is to be met, ASEAN economic officials were told Friday.

A declaration by the ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), said they had 'endorsed the final text of the ASEAN economic community blueprint' and is ready for signing by ASEAN leaders when they meet in Singapore in November.

WASHINGTON, Aug 7, 2007 (AFP) - Federal Reserve policymakers met in Washington Tuesday morning to debate US interest rates and the health of the world's biggest economy.

A Fed spokesman said policymakers, led by Fed chairman Ben Bernanke, had convened at the central bank's headquarters and would announce their rate decision at 2:15 pm (1815 GMT).

Most economists expect the Fed to keep its short term fed funds interest rate pegged at 5.25 percent, where it has been for the past 13 months.

COOLUM, Australia, Aug 3, 2007 (AFP) - APEC finance ministers Friday said the world needs to 'go beyond' the Kyoto Protocol to adequately address climate change and warned a rise in protectionist sentiment could threaten growth and living standards.

The 21 finance ministers also called for action to address 'imbalances' in the global economy as they wrapped up a two-day Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in the north Australian town of Coolum.

COOLUM, Australia, Aug 3, 2007 (AFP) - APEC finance ministers Friday said that the world needed to 'go beyond' the Kyoto Protocol to adequately address climate change.

The call came in a communique issued by the ministers following an Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in the north Australian town of Coolum.

COOLUM, Australia, Aug 3, 2007 (AFP) - Asia Pacific finance ministers were expected to address the issue of climate change Friday in a statement at the end of a two-day meeting in Australia.

The 21 ministers at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Queensland's Coolum will issue a communique after wide-ranging discussions on climate change, energy security and recent sharemarket volatility.

GHAZNI, Afghanistan, Aug 2, 2007 (AFP) - A face-to-face meeting between a South Korean delegation and the Taliban is being planned in a new bid to end a deadlock over 21 hostages, an Afghan official and the rebels said Thursday.

South Korea is desperate to end the more than two-week ordeal of the 21 largely female captives, most of whom are said to be ill, with the rebels threatening to kill more after shooting two dead.

GHAZNI, Afghanistan, Aug 2, 2007 (AFP) - An Afghan governor said Thursday the Taliban had agreed to meet South Korean diplomats to discuss the fate of 21 hostages but a delegation member said no confirmation had yet been received.

The Islamic militants have threatened to kill more of the hostages unless the Kabul government agrees to free eight Taliban members from its jails.

Two male captives have already been been shot dead.