Brussels - European Union foreign ministers sidelined Lithuanian objections Monday and decided to re-start talks on a strategic treaty with Russia which it froze after Russia's August war with Georgia.
"It was a very solid discussion, all EU member states except one are in line to take up the (EU-Russia) partnership talks again," said French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, who chaired the talks as holder of the EU's rotating presidency.
Washington - President-elect Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, were greeted by President George W Bush and First Lady Laura Bush at the White House on Monday.
The two men shook hands, while their wives exchanged a quick hug, before posing for pictures outside the executive mansion.
Bush then guided Obama to the Oval Office for private talks that will likely include the faltering economy, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and terrorist threats.
New York - Struggling US insurer American International Group (AIG) Monday got another lift from the US government in the form of a 40-billion-dollar investment in preferred stock, once again underlining the key position held by the firm in the world economy.
AIG has already received loans totalling 143 billion dollars.
The White House said the new lifeline will allow AIG to restructure the current loans "in a way that will not hurt the overall economy."
Bucharest - Renault SA's Romanian plant will halt production for three weeks as the country's car market slows, a news agency reported Monday.
Employees at Dacia, which makes budget-priced compact cars mostly for export, will get 85 per cent of pay during the November 20-December 7 break, the Mediafax agency said.
From January through October, Dacia's production ran at 17 per cent above last year's level. But production recently was halted for four days because of slowing demand.
Vienna - The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) found uranium at an alleged secret Syrian nuclear reactor site that was bombed by Israel last year, a diplomat told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa in Vienna on Monday.
Another diplomat indicated that IAEA inspectors had found traces of the metal during their first visit to the al-Kibar site in the Syrian desert in June, which was bombed by Israeli warplanes in September 2007.
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.
Brussels - European Union foreign ministers sidelined Lithuanian objections Monday and decided to re-start talks on a strategic treaty with Russia which it froze after Russia's August war with Georgia.
Washington - President-elect Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, were greeted by President George W Bush and First Lady Laura Bush at the White House on Monday.
New York - Struggling US insurer American International Group (AIG) Monday got another lift from the US government in the form of a 40-billion-dollar investment in preferred stock, once again underlining the key position held by the firm in the world economy.
Bucharest - Renault SA's Romanian plant will halt production for three weeks as the country's car market slows, a news agency reported Monday.
Vienna - The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) found uranium at an alleged secret Syrian nuclear reactor site that was bombed by Israel last year, a diplomat told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa in Vienna on Monday.
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.
