Abuja - German President Horst Koehler urged on Friday for "a new regulatory framework for the global economy," at the opening of the fourth Partnership for Africa forum being held in the Nigerian capital Abuja.

Koehler arrived on Friday with his wife Eva Luise for a six-day visit devoted to bilateral and African issues.

In his opening speech Koehler made specific reference to the shared challenges presented by the current global financial crisis.

Abuja - German President Horst Kohler is expected in Nigeria on Friday to participate in the German-sponsored fourth Africa Forum of the Partnership with Africa initiative.

The German embassy in Nigeria said Thursday that Kohler would also discuss bilateral issues with Nigeria's President Umaru Yar'Adua.

"Our political relations are on a solid basis and we are still working very hard to improve and to deepen these relations," Germany's ambassador to Nigeria, Joachim Schmillen, said.

Berlin - Germany has moved a step closer to ratifying the treaty that reshapes the European Union, with its President Horst Koehler saying through a spokesman Wednesday he has approved it but cannot sign it yet because of pending court cases.

Berlin and other major EU members have pushed ahead with their own ratification work, despite the Lisbon Treaty being stalled by Ireland, where a referendum last summer rejected it.

Koehler's Berlin office has its own legal team which reviews laws and treaties. His spokesman, Martin Kothe, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that Koehler had "passed the treaty after close study."

However he had not signed it, the act that would finalize German ratification.

Beijing - German President Horst Koehler left China Monday on board a commercial Air China flight because of technical problems with his German air force plane.

The Airbus Konrad Adenauer could not be repaired in time, forcing Koehler and his 50-member delegation to fly to Frankfurt with the commercial airline.

During his three-day visit to Beijing, Koehler attended the opening of the Paralympics, the Olympic games for athletes with disabilities.

The German president said he wanted to send a sign of encouragement for the integration of the physically disabled into society.

Berlin - German Preident Horst Koehler began a

Berlin  - German President Horst Koehler announced in Berlin Thursday he would run for a second and final five-year term next year, confirming widespread speculation.