Hamburg  - The Force India Formula One team announced Friday that it has brought to an early end its engine deal with Ferrari, opening the way for a possible switch to Mercedes for next season.

The team, which is controlled by Indian billionaire Vijay Mally and has Giancarlo Fisichella and Adrian Sutil as its drivers, had agreed a deal in 2007 to take Ferrari engines until the end of the 2009 season.

"Force India Formula One Team today announces it has ended its contract with Ferrari," the team said in a statement.

Brussels - A European Union summit called to discuss a set of guidelines for reforming the global financial system dragged on Friday, suggesting the bloc's 27 leaders were struggling to find an agreement.

The lunchtime talks in Brussels were still underway at 1450 GMT, nearly one hour after a scheduled final press conference from the French presidency of the EU had been due to take place.

EU leaders were discussing guidelines on how to reform the global financial system in the wake of the current turmoil on world markets.

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