Brussels  - The European Union is to spend 55 million euros (70 million dollars) over the next five years to make the internet safer for children, officials in Brussels said Tuesday.

Three quarters of children aged under 17 in the EU have access to the internet, and half of all 10-year-olds have a mobile phone, making it vital to protect them against online bullying and harassment.

Brussels - The European Union has signed an aviation agreement with Armenia allowing any European airline to fly to and from the Asian republic, officials in Brussels said Tuesday.

The deal, which caps three years of negotiations, replaces a set of bilateral arrangements agreed by Armenia with some of the EU's 27 member states.

Hamburg  - A German tour operator said Tuesday it was allowing passengers to disembark from one of its cruise ships before it sails through the Gulf of Aden out of fear of an attack by pirates.

Hapag-Lloyd said 246 German passengers and a large number of crew would leave the MS Columbus at a port in Yemen and fly to Dubai where they would spend three nights in a luxury hotel.

Geneva  - At least 134 children were separated from their parents during the recent outbreak of violence in North Kivu, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Tuesday.

So far, 15 children have been reunited with their families, in the one week since the international aid agency started a reunification programme.

The ICRC said it was working with the local Congolese Red Cross to register the children and find their families.

Vienna  - Austria's postal workers announced Tuesday they would hold a warning strike Wednesday to protest planned personnel cutbacks and post office closures.

To prepare the partly state-owned Oesterreichische Post AG for the end of the state monopoly on letter services in 2011, its management is reportedly planning to reduce the 25,800-strong workforce by 9,000 by 2015 and to close 77 per cent of post offices.

Sao Paulo - Off-form Brazilian superstar Ronaldo is set to play football again in 2009, with the Brazilian club Corinthians, his agent confirmed Tuesday.

"There is a verbal agreement which will, within the next two days, be reflected in a contract so that Ronaldo's presence can be confirmed as soon as possible. Corinthians is led by very serious, determined people, and we are very happy about that," agent Fernando Farah told the website GloboEsporte.