Abuja - The European Commission will spend 580 million euros (814 million dollars) on Nigeria's power sector in the next five years, European Union Commissioner for Energy Andris Piebalgs, said in Abuja on Wednesday.
Piebalgs said the EU was committing to the projects because 20 per cent of the oil and 80 per cent of the gas produced in Nigeria goes to European countries.
"Energy has become the key issue for Nigeria's development," he said.
Paris - The European aerospace concern EADS said Wednesday it was disappointed at the decision by the US Defence Department to cancel a 35-billion-dollar competition to build the next generation of Air Force tanker refuellers.
EADS had won the contract in partnership with US aviation concern Northrop-Grumman only to see it put on ice after a congressional oversight agency upheld a protest by rival bidder Boeing.
"We have a contract and we are striving for an appropriate fulfilment of this contract, EADS chief Louis Gallois said.
La Paz, Bolivia - The conflict between left-wing populist President Evo Morales and five of the opposition-dominated provinces of Bolivia escalated Wednesday.
Looters overpowered national police to invade major telephone and television facilities in the large Bolivian city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, a day after tax-collection offices were targeted, Bolivian television ATB reported.
Berlin - Lower Saxony may buy 5 per cent more of carmaker Volkswagen if the state fails to win its battle with the European Union over special voting rights at the company, Premier Christian Wulff said Wednesday.
The European Union resumed Tuesday its assault on Lower Saxony's claim to special veto rights through its 20.1-per-cent stake in the carmaker. German corporate law normally reserves such rights to a shareholder with 25 per cent or more of a company.
Seoul - What is Kim Jong Il's true state of health? North Korea's eccentric leader is the subject of speculation yet again. According to South Korean and American intelligence services, he is seriously ill and may have suffered a stroke.
North Korea has denied reports that Kim is ill; a high-ranking North Korean diplomat was quoted by the Japanese news agency Kyodo as saying they were part of a conspiracy.
Washington - The United States expressed concern Tuesday about the health of Myanmar democratic activist Aung San Suu Kyi, who reportedly began a hunger strike last month to protest years of detention.
"The regime's continued isolation and detention under house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi makes it impossible to confirm reports such as these," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
"The United States and the international community remain deeply concerned about her welfare."
Abuja - The European Commission will spend 580 million euros (814 million dollars) on Nigeria's power sector in the next five years, European Union Commissioner for Energy Andris Piebalgs, said in Abuja on Wednesday.
Paris - The European aerospace concern EADS said Wednesday it was disappointed at the decision by the US Defence Department to cancel a 35-billion-dollar competition to build the next generation of Air Force tanker refuellers.
La Paz, Bolivia - The conflict between left-wing populist President Evo Morales and five of the opposition-dominated provinces of Bolivia escalated Wednesday.
Berlin - Lower Saxony may buy 5 per cent more of carmaker Volkswagen if the state fails to win its battle with the European Union over special voting rights at the company, Premier Christian Wulff said Wednesday.
Seoul - What is Kim Jong Il's true state of health? North Korea's eccentric leader is the subject of speculation yet again. According to South Korean and American intelligence services, he is seriously ill and may have suffered a stroke.
Washington - The United States expressed concern Tuesday about the health of Myanmar democratic activist Aung San Suu Kyi, who reportedly began a hunger strike last month to protest years of detention.
