London - The next generation of London's famous hop-on hop- off Routemaster double-decker buses could be based on a joint design by carmakers Aston Martin of James Bond fame and star architect Norman Foster, it was announced Friday.

The old driver-and-conductor Routemaster buses, which had been an iconic symbol of London since the 1950s, were phased out on the grounds of safety, pollution and accessibility by ex-Mayor Ken Livingstone at the end of 2005.

Many were sold to buyers abroad, from Alaska to Australia, where the old buses are used as hot dog stands, art galleries, shops or lavatories.

Rome - Centuries after their blood-sport was banned, duelling gladiators in full combat gear could soon be making a comeback in the most famous fight arena of them all - Rome's Colosseum.

"Rather than enshrine (historical sites) we need to make them more spectacular," says the Italian capital's archaeological superintendent Umberto Broccoli, whose brainchild the idea is.

More than 1,500 years since the last recorded gladiator bout in Rome, it is still possible to meet near the Colosseum, men - and some women too - clad in armour and brandishing replica swords and spears.

Brussels - The Belgian government held crisis talks Friday as Prime Minister Yves Leterme was said to be considering whether to step down over a judicial scandal involving the country's troubled Fortis bank.

"Leterme has brought up (the issue of) his resignations," Finance Minister Didier Reynders told the RTBF radio station.

"It's not easy," Reynders said about Leterme's position.

The premier has come under growing pressure to resign following accusations from the judiciary that his office tried to influence a court ruling on the sale of parts of Fortis to the French banking giant BNP Paribas.

Nyon, Switzerland - Werder Bremen will face seven-time European champions AC Milan in the UEFA Cup's round of 32 following the draw made in Nyon, Switzerland, on Friday.

Holders Zenit St Petersburg also face German opposition in the form of VfB Stuttgart while SV Hamburg have been pitted against Dutch side NEC Nijmegen and VfL Wolfsburg take on Paris St Germain.

Big-spending Manchester City will expect to progress at the expense of FC Copenhagen but Aston Villa face a challenging task against CSKA Moscow. Tottenham Hotspur will also need to be at their best if they want to overcome Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk.

Moscow - Russia will halt some strategic weapons programmes if the United States drops plans for a missile defence shield in Eastern Europe, a top Russian general said Friday.

Nikolai Solovtsov, commander of Russia's strategic missile forces, was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying Washington could save Russia from the necessity of investing in retaliatory measures.

"And an array of programmes, expensive programmes, would simply become unnecessary for us," Solovtsov said.

Budapest - Slovak President Ivan Gasparovic refused on Friday to sign a bill passed by parliament that would allow the use of Hungarian place names in text books, in a move that could reignite a long-running row between Slovakia and its Hungarian minority.

Current Slovak law allows only the use of the Slovak place names even in textbooks designed for the country's Hungarian-speaking minority.

The issue has caused considerable tension in recent months between Slovakia, the 10 per cent of its population that is ethnically Hungarian and, by extension, Hungary itself.