Rio de Janeiro - Away from football stadiums since he resigned as South Africa coach in April, Brazilian coach Carlos Alberto Parreira admitted Monday that he misses the thrill of the sport, but noted that he is no longer willing to work away from Rio de Janeiro, where his family lives.

Brussels - The European Union's decision to re-open talks on a strategic treaty with Russia even though its key demand has not been fulfilled may smack of diplomatic defeat, but it is a victory of pragmatism over principle, analysts said Monday.

"It's a question of how the EU could have more leverage in pressuring Russia to meet its interests. Suspending talks is unlikely to have an impact, dialogue is more likely 

Riga - The general slide in Baltic stock prices continued Monday with the Baltic Benchmark Index (BBI), which includes data from the three exchanges in Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius, closing 1.91 per cent down at 279.61.

The NASDAQ OMX Tallinn exchange in Estonia was down 2.83 per cent, the Vilnius exchange in Lithuania was down 1.29 per cent and the Riga exchange in Latvia unexpectedly managed to scrabble into positive territory with a 1.17 per cent rise.

The biggest loser of the day was Lithuanian agriculture giant Agrowill, down more than 12 per cent.

Washington - President-elect Barack Obama was on Monday to meet with the man whose role he will fill in January, as he and wife Michelle come to the White House for talks with President George W Bush and First Lady Laura Bush.

Bush was a much-reviled figure on the campaign trail, as Obama attacked the unpopular president's handling of the economy and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan while accusing Republican rival John McCain of seeking to continue those policies.

Los Angeles - Pressured by the lo

Moscow - Russia welcomed the EU's decision Monday to re-start partnership talks frozen over Russia's war with Georgia in August.

"We have long been ready to re-start talks," an official with the government headed by Vladimir Putin said on condition of anonymity as Russia has not officially been informed.

EU leaders suspended talks on a new accord that governs its relations with the EU in protest of Russia's occupation of Georgia.