Are, Sweden  - Lindsey Vonn of the United States clinched a second straight overall World Cup title in alpine skiing in style on Wednesday by winning a downhill ahead of German title rival Maria Riesch.

Vonn, 24, clocked 1 minute 42.49 seconds on the 2,638-metres Olympia course at the World Cup finals.

Riesch had 1:42.89 and Austrian veteran Renate Goetschl was third on the podium in 1:43.75 minutes.

Vonn has 1,688 points and, with a victory worth 100 points, can not be caught by Riesch (1,299) in the final three season races. She also dominated the downhill World Cup with a final tally of 502 points from Austrian Andrea Fischbacher (326).

Stockholm - Higher taxes on vehicles and fuel are in store for Swedish motorists, transport companies and industry as part of efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the government said Tuesday.

Finance Minister Anders Borg, Environment Minister Andreas Carlgren and Enterprise Minister Maud Olofsson said in a joint statement that the measures would take the current financial slump into account.

Are, Sweden - Lindsey Vonn should crown another superb alpine ski season by capturing the women's World Cup title for a second straight year in the season-enders from Wednesday.

However the battle for the men's overall title is wide open, with five skiers still realistically in with a chance of the crown.

Eight of the 12 crystal globes are still up for grabs in four days of racing in the Swedish resort of Are, hosts of the 2007 world championships.

Stockholm  - Pop stars, ponies, Pavarotti, ice hockey players and the late pope have all been guests at the Ericsson Globe, a Stockholm landmark building that has just turned 20.

From afar, the white building resembles a giant golf ball. Special flood lighting can, however, change the outer colour.

Since the official opening in February 1989, the arena has been the venue for the world ice hockey championships in 1989 and 1995, the 2000 Eurovision Song Contest and the late Pope John Paul II celebrated mass there in June 1989.

Stockholm - China has "completely sealed off Tibet," which could be compared to a "giant prison," an envoy of the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, said in Sweden on Monday.

However the spirit of the Tibetan people was "unbroken," Kelsang Gyaltsen told reporters, although they had experienced the "harshest wave of repression since the days of the Cultural Revolution."

Stockholm - Sweden on Monday urged better "quality control" of multilateral aid channeled through the United Nations and other agencies.

Despite being a generous international donor of aid, the centre- right government in Stockholm warned that tighter controls were needed - and even hinted of possible funding cuts if improvement were not made.