New York  - The United Nations urged the Sudanese government Thursday to review the death sentences of 30 African rebels in Darfur because the decisions may have failed to meet international standards.

Sudan's counter-terrorism court ruled that the rebels took part in the failed attacks against Khartoum in May and sentenced them to death. But the UN special envoy for Sudan Ashraf Qazi raised concerns that the rebels did not receive a fair trial.

New York  - Sprint Nextel, the third-largest US mobile phone company, on Wednesday reported losses in the second quarter as its number of customers continued to decline.

Quarterly losses were 344 million dollars, or 12 cents per share, after earnings of 19 million dollars, or 1 cent per share, in the year-earlier period, the Overland Park, Kansas-based firm said.

Revenue fell 11 per cent to 9.1 billion dollars.

New York  - New York next month will launch a citywide campaign to fight groping and sexual harassment in its crowded subway system, which has gone largely unreported and unpunished, news reports said Wednesday.

The city's transit system plans to distribute some 2,000 posters in September in the vast subway network that carry millions of commuters each day. New York City has a population of 8 million, but rush hour bring millions more people from suburbs in Connecticut and New Jersey to their offices in Manhattan.

New York  - US consumer pharma

New York  - A major shareholder in internet giant Yahoo Inc has requested a probe into the closely-watched re-election of chief executive Jerry Yang during last week's shareholders' meeting, US news reports said Tuesday.

The request follows speculation that Yang's share of the poll appeared higher than if votes had been cast as recommended prior to Friday's meeting, The Wall Street Journal reported in its Tuesday edition.

Yahoo however contended that independent shareholders had swayed the election in Yang's favour.

New York  - Wall Street stock indices dropped Monday, led by energy producers struck by another drop in the price of oil.

Crude oil futures fell 3.67 dollars to a 13-week low of 121.41 dollars per barrel in New York trading. Shares in Exxon Mobil Corp plunged to a 16-month low after the company reported record second- quarter profits last week.

Commodity prices fell to their lowest levels since March, sparking a sell-off in metals producers including Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.