Geneva - Zimbabwe faces potential "catastrophic" results if humanitarian efforts against cholera are not provided soon, an official with the Red Cross said Tuesday, as the UN confirmed that at least 978 people have died of the disease since August.

The UN statistics are generally seen as the minimum number of deaths and it is assumed the actual toll is higher. Some 18,413 suspected cases of the disease have been reported.

The rainy season about to hit Zimbabwe will likely exacerbate the spreading of the disease, triggered in part by the deteriorated state of the country's sewage system, aid workers said.

Geneva - An Italian aid worker was shot and killed in the Democratic Republic Congo, the United Nations reported Tuesday, condemning the death.

The UN's refugee agency said it "deplores the cold blooded murder" of the Italian who was working with internally displaced people in the troubled North Kivu area.

In the incident Monday afternoon, near the village Rutshuru, armed men ambushed a vehicle carrying staff from the Voluntary Association for International Service, killing the one aid worker and wounding another.

Geneva - Mia Farrow issued an appeal Monday for the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo, focusing on the abuse suffered by women and children in what she has described as "a lawless place torn apart by violence."

The actress and goodwill ambassador for UNICEF said she wanted to "plea for protection and peace," and recounted stories of her recent visit to the North Kivu region in the troubled eastern DR Congo.

"People asked me to tell the world they need protection, need the violence to end," said Farrow at the UN's Geneva office.

Geneva  - Banks and financial institutions in Geneva have lost possibly some 5 billion Swiss francs (4.2 billion dollars) in their involvement with former Nasdaq chairman Bernard L Madoff who was arrested the day before in New York, a Swiss paper reported Saturday.

The Le Temps newspaper, without naming its sources, called the affair an "earthquake," and that a leading hedge fund, Union Bancaire Privée, had exposure of about 1 billion dollars.

The company declined to comment on the report.

A private bank, Benedict Hentsch, said on Friday it could lose up to 47 million dollars to the fraud, meaning about 5 per cent of the assets it manages.

There was also concern for private investors.

Davos, Switzerland - World Cup champion Virpi Kuitunen got her first cross-country skiing season victory on Saturday in a Finnish one-two ahead of season leader Aino Kaisa Saarinen.

Kuitunen, 32, won the women's 10-kilometre classic style race in Davos in 29 minutes 51.0 seconds. It was the 19th career win for the 2007 and 2008 World Cup champion.

Saarinen led early on but eventually trailed by 18.0 seconds in second place. Former World Cup winner Marit Bjoergen of Norway was third on the podium, 46.7 seconds behind the winner.

The consistent Saarinen tops the World Cup with 365 points from five races, where she made the podium four times with one win, two second places and one third-place finish.

Amas Bank (Switzerland) Ltd has acquired 40 per cent stake in PATCO Investments & Consultancy Services Private Ltd. for an undisclosed amount. PATERSON is a Chennai-based stock broking firm, while Amas Bank is a global banking entity of the trans-national Hinduja Group, founded in 1978 as a finance company and granted banking license in 1994. Amas Bank is headquartered in Geneva, having offices in Zurich, Lucerne, Basle, St. Margrethen, Dubai, London, Paris, New York and Mauritius.