Moscow - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will outline his proposal for a new "Euro-Atlantic security architecture" at an EU-Russia summit in Nice on Friday, a top Kremlin aide said Wednesday.

Medvedev first revived the Perestroika idea of a new security system "from Vancouver to Vladivostok" in his first foreign policy address in June. Western diplomats say they are open to the idea, but that the concept remains vague.

Gaza- Israeli troops killed four Palestinians in a fire- fight in the southern Gaza Strip Wednesday, further battering an already shaky five-month-old truce.

Palestinian witnesses said the four were killed in a series of airstrikes as the Israelis during the fighting, and Hamas said they had belonged to its military wing.

The Israeli military said in a communique that troops stationed on the border fence between the Strip and Israel had identified several gunmen attempting to place explosive devices.

Berlin - German peacekeeping troops in remote parts of Afghanistan were supplied with 1 million litres of home-brand beer and wine last year, Berlin confirmed Wednesday.

An opposition politician, Elke Hoff, told the newspaper Bild: "It seems alcohol plays a worryingly big role in camp life."

But officials insisted the troops were not drunk. Each man was allowed under regulations to drink up to 1 litre of beer daily. The camps are largely supplied by air via camps in Tajikistan.

Moscow - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who has not ruled out another run in the Kremlin, backed a proposal on Wednesday to extend by two years the presidential term.

Putin, however, added it was too soon to say who would be the next candidate for the constitutionally-stretched office.

Legal experts say the changes would not benefit Putin's successor Dmitry Medvedev, though Russian lawmakers moved Wednesday to fast-track approval of his bill.

Cologne, Germany - Robert Mueller was on Wednesday picked as reserve goalkeeper for German first division ice hockey team Koelner Haie, after revealing earlier in the week that he is terminally ill.

Mueller is suffering from a fast-growing brain tumor which doctors failed twice, in November 2006 and August 2008, to fully remove.

He went public via his doctor this week with the announcement, with the doctor saying that 70 per cent of the patients die within one year after the diagnosis and only three per cent live another five years.

Rome/Brussels - A European Commission decision that an Italian state loan to Alitalia was "illegal," on Wednesday hit the ailing carrier as it was also attempting to deal with disruption caused by an ongoing wildcat strike.

Alitalia's bankruptcy commissioner, Augusto Fantozzi, said in an afternoon statement that the airline has mandated its lawyers to pursue legal action against striking employees.

These had caused "damages" to Alitalia's schedule and to that of its clients at airports Fiumicino in Rome and Linate in Milan, Fantozzi said.