Brussels - Most of the money given by the European Union to member states is well spent, though problems remain when it comes to payments designed to boost employment, EU officials said Monday.
Officials in Brussels said the bloc's annual audit debunked the "myth" that EU spending is either mismanaged or riddled with fraud.
It found that more than 98 per cent of direct payments made in 2007 to farmers or on administrative expenditure was error free.
Other budget areas such as research grants and humanitarian aid also registered errors of less than 5 per cent.
However, spending in so-called structural funds - money designed to boost employment in the EU's poorest regions - remains a problem.
Bratislava - Attention, travellers to Slovakia: beware of drunken bears.
Bears will eat fruit that has fallen to the ground and fermented, and while the fruit's alcohol content is low, bears can eat such large amounts that they become tipsy, Slovakian forestry expert Miroslav Saniga said.
Befuddled bears have been known to approach humans, and they will attack if they feel provoked, Slovakia's TASR news agency quoted Saniga on Monday as saying.
Slovakia's biggest risk zone is the Velka Fatra mountains, which include a national park, in the centre of the East European nation, Saniga said.
Berlin - NATO's military operations in Afghanistan are a decisive test of the military alliance, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday in Berlin.
Addressing a conference of the German Atlantic Society, she said NATO's acceptance, success and worldwide standing depended on what it achieved in Afghanistan.
She added she had high expectations of the cross-border NATO summit to be held next April in Kehl, Germany and Strasbourg, France, marking the 60th anniversary of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Sacramento - California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger urged opponents of California voters' ban last week on gay marriage to keep fighting and indicated his hope that state courts would step in to overturn it.
The statements to CNN marked the clearest comments by the Republican leader of the largest state in the US. The former movie star also predicted that the 18,000 gay and lesbian couples who have already wed would not see their marriages nullified by the initiative.
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
Berlin - NATO's military operations in Afghanistan are a decisive test of the military alliance, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday in Berlin.
Sacramento - California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger urged opponents of California voters' ban last week on gay marriage to keep fighting and indicated his hope that state courts would step in to overturn it.
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.
