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Frankfurt  - Opel, the European subsidiary of General Motors, has opened its books to BAIC, a Chinese company which is trying to outbid the current front runner, a Frankfurt newspaper disclosed late Thursday.

Quoting GM sources, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said the Beijing Automotive Industry Corp. (BAIC) was preparing a detailed bid and had already offered more attractive conditions than Canadian-based Magna.

Taipei  - A Taiwan company said Thursday it will launch a regular cruise service with China next week, making it the first such cross-strait service in six decades.

Following Taiwan's dropping a ban on sea links with China, the Excalibur International Marine Corp said it would launch the Taichung-Xiamen cruise starting Monday in conjunction with three travel agencies.

Windhoek  - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will lead a large trade delegation next week on visits to four African countries, including the continent's biggest oil producers, Namibian media reports said Thursday.

They said Medvedev would arrive in the desert country on June 25, after visiting Egypt, Nigeria and Angola.

Brussels  - Ireland cannot accept anything less than a full treaty to convince its people that the European Union's Lisbon Treaty will not change their neutrality and family laws, the country's prime minister wrote ahead of an EU summit on Thursday.

Madrid  - Real Madrid president Florentino Perez claimed on Thursday that the signing of Spain striker David Villa from Valencia is "a question of time."

In an interview with television channel Canal Nou, Perez said that Valencia president Manuel Llorente "has it clear what he has to do. And me as well. Because of this, the operation is a question of time."

Brussels - The European Union needs to stand prepared to punish Bulgaria and Romania if reports this summer show failure to curb organized crime or implement judicial reforms, according to a Dutch government official.