PARIS - THE US dollar can no longer claim to be the sole world currency, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Thursday before a weekend summit on the global financial crisis that has its roots in the United States.

'I leave for Washington tomorrow to explain that the dollar, which at the end of World War II was the only world currency, can no longer claim to be the sold world currency,' Mr Sarkozy said.

PARIS - LEADING industrialised nations appear to be in a 'protracted' downturn, with the US, Japanese and eurozone economies likely to shrink next year, the OECD said on Thursday.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development predicted a return to modest growth in 2010 but warned that the United States, the world's largest economy, would suffer a whopping 2.8 per cent contraction in fourth quarter 2008.

MACAU - UP TO 11,000 construction workers are to lose their jobs as US gaming giant Las Vegas Sands delays a huge development in gambling haven Macau, the head of Las Vegas Sands Asia said on Thursday.

Mr Stephen Weaver told a news conference that until the company could secure additional financing, it had taken the 'conservative' measure to suspend work on the project, leaving the 11,000 workers on the site facing dismissal.

WASHINGTON - THE number of newly laid-off individuals seeking unemployment benefits has jumped to a seven-year high, the government said on Thursday.

The Labor Department reported that jobless claims last week increased by 32,000 to a seasonally adjusted 516,000. That is the highest total since just after the Sept 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and second-highest since 1992.