Frankfurt - The excitement surrounding the election of Barack Obama spread to Ge

London  - A light aircraft pilot, blinded by a stroke while flying, was guided to a safe landing by Royal Air Force (RAF) pilots giving instructions over the radio as they flew alongside him, the BBC reported Friday.

Jim O'Neill, 65, was flying his two-seater Cessna light aircraft at 4,572 metres en route from Scotland to Colchester, in south-east England, on October 31 when he suddenly went blind.

Abuja- Nigeria was awaiting the arrival Friday of German President Horst Koehler and his wife Eva Luise for the start of a six-day visit devoted to bilateral and African issues.

In Abuja, Koehler will be meeting with Nigerian President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua and taking part, through Sunday, in the fourth "Africa Forum" for a review of a number of policy issues.

Abuja is the fourth venue for the Africa Forum, after meetings in Bonn, Ghana, and the German town of Kloster Eberbach.

Baghdad  - Consecutive bomb blasts in a western-Baghdad residenti

Monte Carlo - The head of the international athletics federation Friday accused International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge of showing "a lack of respect" for athletics.

Lamine Diack, president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), said he was surprised at Rogge's criticism of Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt's celebrations after winning the 100 metres in world-record time at Beijing Olympics.

Prague/Vienna  - Contracts were signed Friday for the takeover of 92.4 per cent of the Prague stock exchange by the Vienna bourse, Vienna Bourse AG announced.

The bourses were mum on the price paid for the takeover, but Czech media estimated the value of the Prague exchange at between 200 and 400 million euros (257-514 million dollars).

"The Prague bourse is an important partner for us and strengthens the already existing Budapest-Ljubljana-Vienna bourse axis," said Michael Buhl, the chairman of Vienna Bourse AG.