Brussels  - European Union industry ministers met in Brussels on Friday to find ways of supporting their troubled car industries amid calls for up to 10 billion euros
(13.2 billion dollars) in credit from the European Investment Bank (EIB).

EIB officials attending the talks said they planned to approve in March 3.2 billion euros in soft loans to help carmakers develop greener and more fuel-efficient cars. But they also expressed an openness to do more.

London  - A British Labour Party politician Friday likened the behaviour of Israeli troops in Gaza to that of the military of Nazi Germany and said Israel's actions were "barbaric and stupid."

Gerald Kaufman, a Jewish member of parliament (MP), whose parents fled Nazi-occupied Poland during World War II, said about the rising Palestinian death toll: "Four Jews against 1,000 Palestinians - that is Nazism."

Los Angeles  - The list of celebrities appearing in president-elect Barack Obama's inauguration festivities in Washington keeps getting longer.

The Presidential Inauguration Committee on Thursday announced a list of more than 20 performers such as Jack Johnson, Sheryl Crow, Marc Anthony and Maroon 5 who will appear at some of the 10 official balls on the evening after the noon-time swearing in.

Washington  - US President George W Bush said in his farewell address Thursday that there can be "little debate" that the tough or controversial decisions he's made during his presidency have kept the United States safe.

"There is legitimate debate about many of these decisions. But there can be little debate about the results," Bush says in excerpts released by the White House in advance of his speech. "America has gone more than seven years without another terrorist attack on our soil."

Washington - Democrats in the US House of Representatives Thursday introduced an 825-billion-dollar economic stimulus plan that president-elect Barack Obama hopes will help revive the struggling economy.

The bill would provide for 550 billion dollars in job-creating investments over two years and 275 billion dollars in tax relief, media reports said.

Obama had originally requested 775 billion dollars for his stimulus plan.

Washington  - Roland Burris was sworn in Thursday to succeed president-elect Barack Obama as the junior senator from Illinois, bringing an end to weeks of controversy over the appointment.

Vice President Dick Cheney administered the oath of office for Burris, the 71-year-old Democrat who had been initially turned back when Congress began its new session on January 6.

With his swearing-in, Burris became the only African-American in the Senate, as was Obama.