Stockholm - Former world heavyweight boxing champion Ingemar Johans

Stockholm  - The Swedish government Thursday moved to help Volvo Cars, the troubled Swedish subsidiary of US carmaker Ford.

The government said it has given the Swedish National Debt Office the task of negotiating the terms for a 5-billion-kronor (525 million dollars) credit guarantee to Volvo Cars and Ford.

Stockholm - A Swedish health agency Thursday said it was to study the possible link between exotic travel destinations and diseases covered by mandatory reporting rules, including diarrheal illnesses.

"With more knowledge we can work preventively to reduce the number of Swedish nationals infected by serious infectious diseases abroad," said Annika Linde, state epidemiologist with the Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control (SMI).

The agency said it aimed to conduct the survey in conjunction with the travel industry.

Stockholm - The Swedish cabinet Thursday said it was to ask parliament to approve the deployment of three vessels off Somalia to protect humanitarian aid shipments.

The mission to protect United Nations shipments operated by the World Food Programme (WFP) was launched in December.

In addition, it was aimed at tackling the surge in piracy in the Gulf of Aden.

"The Swedish participation is in response to a UN request to protect and secure WFP food shipments to Somalia," Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said.

Stockholm  - Swedish clothes retailing company Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) Thursday posted an 11-per-cent increase in pre-tax profits for the financial year 2008, and said it planned to continue expanding its business.

Pre-tax profits of 21.19 billion kronor (2.65 billion dollars) were posted on sales of 88.5 billion kronor, excluding value added tax (VAT), for the period December 2007 to November 2008.

Turnover, excluding VAT, was up 13 per cent on the corresponding business period December 2006 to November 2007.

For the fourth quarter 2008, pre-tax profit increased 14 per cent year on year to 7.1 billion kronor.

Fourth-quarter sales, excluding VAT, were up 15 per cent to 26.3 billion kronor, the group said.

Stockholm - Volvo Cars, the Swedish subsidiary of US carmaker Ford, has urged the Swedish government to introduce more incentives to help the flagging industry, reports said Wednesday.

Suggestions included reintroducing a premium for the demolition of old cars, extending a tax-break scheme for ecologically friendly cars and conducting a review of diesel fuel taxes.

"A demolition premium has a double benefit. Old cars that cause more harm to the environment than new cars disappear while the car industry gets a boost and more people keep their jobs," Volvo Cars chief executive Stephen Odell told financial daily Dagens Industri.