SYDNEY - A SINGAPORE-OWNED energy delivery company is facing a class action suit over allegations that one of its power lines sparked last week's deadly Australian bush fires which broke out in the Kinglake area of Victoria state.

Residents there are launching legal proceedings against SP AusNet over a fallen power line which is believed to have started the blaze.

ROME: - Finance ministers from the world's richest nations pledged at a crisis meeting on Saturday to avoid protectionistic measures while stimulating their economies in the wake of the worst crisis since the 1930s.

The final joint statement issued by the Group of Seven nations strove to ease concerns that governments determined to protect jobs and ailing industries would abandon commitments to fair cross-border competition.