Stockholm - Swedish heavy-vehicle maker Volvo on Tuesday said it would introduce stop days in production after November truck deliveries slumped 21 per cent year-on-year.

Gothenburg-based Volvo said it delivered 19,326 trucks during the month.

In order to prevent a build-up of inventory, the group planned some 20 to 25 stop days in production in the first quarter of 2009.

The group said "customers continue to be very cautious and are in most cases waiting with their investment decisions" and in Europe the weak trend from the third quarter continued.

Stockholm/Copenhagen  - An earthquake believed to be the strongest in a century shook southern Sweden and parts of neighbouring Denmark early Tuesday, geological institutes said.

Stockholm - Swedish home appliance maker Electrolux on Monday said it was to cut some 3,000 jobs worldwide after a drop in sales and lowered its full-year outlook.

The group has noted a "sharp market decline" since mid-November with weak demand in Europe and North America.

Electrolux said that it had revised its outlook for full-year 2008.

Amman - Engineers working for the Iraqi Electricity Ministry will start receiving their training from Jordan's National Electricity Co (NEC), the company announced Sunday.

Under the agreement, the NEC agrees with the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) to train the Iraqi engineers, NEC Director General Ahmad Hiyasat said.

"The agreement, which goes into effect early in 2009, provides for training Iraqi cadres to set up a system for the maintenance of power stations, transport lines and transformation stations," Hiyasat said.

Stockholm - The 2008 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Martti Ahtisaari, Friday shared some of his experiences on successful peace mediation at a seminar in Stockholm.

The former Finnish president arrived from Oslo where on Wednesday he received the coveted award in recognition of three decades of mediation efforts on several continents.

In addition to his role in negotiating Namibia's independence from then-apartheid South Africa, Ahtisaari has also been involved in Northern Ireland, Kosovo and Indonesia.

Stockholm - The Swedish government said Friday it was concerned over the US Senate's failure to agree on a loan package for the troubled US car industry, which owns Swedish carmakers Volvo and Saab.

The news from Washington also impacted the Stockholm bourse that dropped some 3.5 per cent in early trading.

Speaking to Swedish televison news on the sidelines of a European Union summit in Brussels, Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said there was "more uncertainty" after the US decision.

Carmaker Volvo is owned by US auto giant Ford while Swedish-based Saab is owned by General Motors. Both US giants have posted huge losses and have said they were considering selling their Swedish subsidiaries.