Prague - The Czech government of Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek Tuesday withdrew Czech-US missile defence treaties from Parliament's lower house in a move that prevents the chamber from striking them down.

"It does not mean that we would give up on the ratification process," Topolanek said at a briefing televised on the CT24 news channel, adding that the cabinet may re-submit the treaties to the house at any time.

Washington - The was widely expected to keep interest rates steady in the range of zero to 0.25 per cent when it releases its periodic decision on Wednesday.

The Federal Open Market Committee, which began meeting on Tuesday, is to announce its decision at 1815 GMT Wednesday.

The central bank has been working to revive borrowing and stabilize the financial system amid a serious ongoing recession in the United States, which has cascaded into foreign markets.

The bank could also expand its purchases of asset-backed securities and treasury bills with an ultimate goal of freeing up more credit lines.

Washington  - North Korea has informed the United States that it no longer wants to receive food shipments as tensions grow over the stalled nuclear negotiations and Pyongyang's plans to launch a rocket next month.

US State Department spokesman Robert Wood said Tuesday North Korea did not provide a reason for cutting off the aid, but added that Washington regrets the decision.

"This was a program intended to try to help get food to needy North Koreans," Wood said. "And we're obviously disappointed in that."

Los Angeles  - A woman who tried to assassinate police officers thirty years ago and hid for 24 years mostly as a suburban housewife was released from jail Tuesday after serving almost eight years of a 14-year sentence.

Sara Jane Olson, 62, was a member of the Symbionese Liberation Army, an urban guerrilla group in the US which is most notorious for the 1974 kidnapping of heiress Patty Hearst.

Washington - European Union officials said Tuesday there had been a noticeable shift in climate policy since President Barack Obama took office, but said they expected much more drastic action before the United States can regain its international credibility.

After meeting US climate envoy Todd Stern in Washington this week, the EU's key environment ministers said it would be up to US legislators to improve the country's bargaining position by the time the world's climate officials meet to discuss a new global deal in Copenhagen in December.

Washington - The auto industry and US government are working to avoid bankruptcy for General Motors (GM) and keep the US auto industry afloat, officials said Tuesday.

Steven Rattner, chief adviser to the Department of the Treasury's auto industry task force, said the Obama administration was "open minded" about giving more aid to GM and Chrysler, and planned to use "all the resources" of the US government to avoid bankruptcy.