Rome - A consortium of private Italian investors on Friday made a binding offer to purchase the state's controlling stake in struggling airline Alitalia, according to a consortium statement cited in news reports.

The offer was presented to Alitalia's bankruptcy administrator, Augusto Fantozzi a few hours before a deadline at midnight local time (2300 GMT).

The bid came after talks between the Compagnia Aerea Italiana (Italian Air Company), or CAI, consortium, and unions representing Alitalia employees.

Wellington - The first nest of eggs laid by tuatara reptiles - living fossils who are descendants of the dinosaurs - has been found on the New Zealand mainland in more than 200 years, the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary reported on Saturday.

Staff found four ping-pong-ball-sized leathery white eggs while doing routine maintenance work near the 8.6 kilometre predator-proof fence around the 225-hectare sanctuary in suburban Wellington, manager Raewyn Empson said.

Brussels - European Union Development Commissioner Louis Michel called Friday for an international summit meeting to resolve the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

"Only a political solution that roots out the causes of the conflict can bring stability," he said after talks with Congo President Joseph Kabila and his Rwanda counterpart Paul Kagame.

Michel said the meeting should be held under UN auspices in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

New York - The second largest US oil company Chevron on Friday reported record third quarter profits as it benefited from high oil prices.

Profits nearly doubled to 7.9 billion dollars, the San Ramon, California-based firm said. Revenue rose 43 per cent to 78.9 billion dollars.

Chevron joins the other energy companies that have reported record profits this month. Rival ExxonMobil recorded the largest quarterly profit in US history at 14.8 billion dollars.

New York - Burger King, the world's second largest fast food chain, suffered weaker profits in the first quarter of the business year because of higher ingredient costs and the expense of opening additional franchises, the Miami-based firm reported Friday.

Profits at the close of September climbed by only 2 per cent from the same period last year to 50 million dollars. Revenues stood at 674 million dollars.

Burger King boss John Chidsey said he was hopeful that food prices as well as energy costs will drop in the near future and help restore higher profits.

Washington - On Martin Luther King Avenue, in the Anacostia neighbourhood of the nation's capital, the mood before Tuesday's US presidential elections is upbeat and confident.

National polls show the black neighbourhood's favourite, Democrat Barack Obama, 47, ahead over Republican John McCain, 72. And while African Americans there say an Obama presidency would be the ultimate "melting pot" image, they dismiss the suggestion there would be anger, or even riots, if somehow McCain were to win.