Paris - French-Dutch carrier Air France-KLM said on Thursday that it expects to register an operating loss of about 200 million euros (270 million dollars) for fiscal year
2008-2009 because of the effects of the economic crisis and variations in the cost of crude oil.

If confirmed, it would represent the first such negative result for the company since it was formed in 2003.

Air France-KLM is also pessimistic for 2009-2010, "which will begin in the context of an unprecedented crisis," the company said in a statement.

Athens/London - Pirates have hijacked two chemical tankers off the coast of Somalia over the past two days, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said in London on Thursday.

IMB spokesman Cyrus Mody said a Panama-flagged ship, was seized on Wednesday, while a second ship, which is registered in the Bahamas, was taken on Thursday.

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New York  - Khartoum's expulsion of major international humanitarian groups from Darfur has caused serious deficiencies in healthcare services and shelter for hundreds of thousands of people in the region, the top UN humanitarian coordinator said Thursday.

Prague  - Czech President Vaclav Klaus said Thursday he preferred to find a quick but lasting solution to the political crisis, rather than keep outgoing Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek in a caretaker role until the end of Prague's stint as president of the European Union.

"I will not allow a lack of a solution ... such as maintaining the current, provisional state ... until the end of our presidency," Klaus said after accepting Topolanek's cabinet resignations earlier in the day.

Washington  - President Barack Obama's administration, in a massive overhaul of the US financial regulatory system, is seeking the power to keep watch on all types of financial firms and to seize failing companies integral to the health of the system.

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner unveiled the plans in congressional testimony on Thursday, arguing that the current financial turmoil has proven the system is "too unstable and fragile" to be allowed to manage itself.