Brussels - Russia was wrong to cut off all gas supplies to and through Ukraine regardless of who was in the right over the two countries' gas dispute, a top United States official said Wednesday.
"We want to have good relations with Russia, but they should be based on 21st-century principles, not principles of spheres of influence ... Is there no better way to handle a commercial dispute than cutting off gas and affecting third parties?" US Assistant Secretary of State for Europe Daniel Fried said in Brussels.
Washington - General Motors Corp has adequate funds from government loans to cover the worst-case scenario it described in December and won't need additional help unless the economy deteriorates further, it was reported Wednesday.
"The US Treasury's 13.4-billion-dollar bridge loan ... coupled with the separate transaction for GMAC, meets our liquidity needs under the scenarios outlined in our December plan to Congress," GM spokesman Greg Martin told Bloomberg financial news agency.
Dortmund, Germany - Germany's Milram cycling team Wednesday presented its new line-up vowing to make a fresh start for the 2009 season as the country's last major team in the sport.
"The focus is on us. It is an opportunity but also a great responsibility," team manager Gerry van Gerwen said.
Milram has chosen a young team with 17 of its 25 riders from Germany, led by two captains in Linus Gerdemann and Gerald Ciolek.
Moscow - Russia has rediscovered its image as a hungry bear as it blunders too far in the latest gas spat with Ukraine, forcing Europe from its benign disregard as temperatures plunge below zero.
The 2009 version of Russian export monopoly Gazprom's gas cuts is different from the 2006 standoff. Like so much else, it must be viewed through the prism of the global financial crisis and the critical blows this has dealt to the two warring parties.
Washington - US president-elect Barack Obama has created a new position for his administration assigned to monitor the federal budget to cut wasteful or inefficient spending.
Obama announced Wednesday that he had selected Nancy Killefer, a Treasury Department official during the Clinton years, to fill the post of Chief Performance Officer.
Washington - Democratic leaders in the US Senate have signalled they could be willing to accept the controversial appointment of Roland Burris to fill president-elect Barack Obama's vacated seat.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he will await the outcome of a legal case in Illinois. The Illinois Supreme Court is expected to decide in the coming days if Burris could take the seat without the required certification of the state's top election official.
Brussels - Russia was wrong to cut off all gas supplies to and through Ukraine regardless of who was in the right over the two countries' gas dispute, a top United States official said Wednesday.
Washington - General Motors Corp has adequate funds from government loans to cover the worst-case scenario it described in December and won't need additional help unless the economy deteriorates further, it was reported Wednesday.
Dortmund, Germany - Germany's Milram cycling team Wednesday presented its new line-up vowing to make a fresh start for the 2009 season as the country's last major team in the sport.
Moscow - Russia has rediscovered its image as a hungry bear as it blunders too far in the latest gas spat with Ukraine, forcing Europe from its benign disregard as temperatures plunge below zero.
Washington - US president-elect Barack Obama has created a new position for his administration assigned to monitor the federal budget to cut wasteful or inefficient spending.
Washington - Democratic leaders in the US Senate have signalled they could be willing to accept the controversial appointment of Roland Burris to fill president-elect Barack Obama's vacated seat.
