Geneva - The humanitarian situation in north-eastern Sri Lanka has become "extremely grim," a senior United Nations official in the Asian country said Wednesday.

Gordon Wiess, the spokesman for the UN's operations in Sri Lanka warned that some 70,000 to 200,000 were trapped in a tiny enclave between a lagoon and the sea front, desperate for food, shelter and drinking water.

He said it was "unacceptable" that civilians were cut off from aid.

Zurich - Adecco, the largest staffing company globally, said Wednesday it suffered a 22 million euro loss in the final quarter of last year and that its profits for 2008 fell 33 per cent to 495 million euros.

Moreover, the Swiss company's revenues for the entire year fell by 5 per cent to 20 billion euros.

"Looking into the near future, management currently sees no signs of improvement," the company said in a statement.

Geneva - Honda's new Insight Hybrid is making its European debut at the Geneva Motor Show with the combination of a 1.3-litre i-VTEC combustion engine an electric motor.

A key element is the Eco Assist system with the upper instrument cluster featuring a colour changing ambient light that illuminates green when driving ecologically, blue/green when the car is being driven acceptably and blue when driven less economically.

Honda lists consumption at 4.4 litres per 100 kilometres with a carbon dioxide emission figure of 101 grams per kilometre.

Lausanne, Switzerland  - The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Tuesday announced that Briton Mark Adams has been appointed Director of Communications.

The 45-year-old, who is joining the Olympic body from the World Economic Forum in Geneva, Switzerland, where he was Managing Director and Head of Media and Communications, will be taking over his new position at the end of May.

In a statement the IOC said that the former journalist worked for several television stations before joining the World Economic Forum.

Berne - The Swiss economy shrank in the fourth quarter of 2008 by 0.3 per cent compared with the previous quarter, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs said Tuesday.

Revised figures for last year's third quarter showed the economy had contracted slightly - by 0.06 per cent - an official said, putting Switzerland officially into a mild recession.

The decline in real gross domestic product was 0.6 per cent when compared to the last quarter of 2007.

Basle, Switzerland  - At exactly 4 am (0300 GMT) Monday, with many thousands crowding the streets of the old part of Basle city, the power company killed the lights and a cannon burst was sounded, just as the first percussionists beat their drums, kicking off the ancient Fastnacht festival.