Tripoli  - US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice met with her Libyan counterpart on Friday after she arrived here on a landmark visit to discuss ways to boost cooperation between the two countries.

Rice and Libyan Foreign Minister Abdul Rahman Shulqum expressed satisfaction over improving bilateral relations. They discussed economic cooperation between the two countries, especially in the oil sector.

Avignon, France  - European Union foreign ministers should hold four informal meetings per year instead of two, the ministers agreed at such a meeting in the sun-drenched mediaeval French town of Avignon on Friday.

"We have decided that there will be two (informal meetings) per presidency and per half year, and the next one will be held in Paris," French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, who chaired the talks in the French town of Avignon, said.

Washington, Sept. 5: U. S. President George W. Bush is reportedly ready to punish Russia for its invasion of Georgia by canceling a once-celebrated deal for civilian nuclear cooperation between the two countries.

According to The Telegraph, the White House is planning to undertake this largely symbolic move, and it is expected that action could come quickly, within days at the most.

However, officials see no need to wait until Vice President Dick Cheney returns next Wednesday from an overseas trip to three former Soviet republics.

Los Angeles  - The prime time speech of Republican vice presidential pick, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, at the party's national convention on Wednesday night was watched by more than 37 million viewers on US television, according to tracking firm Nielsen Media Research.

The ratings almost matched the record-setting 38.79 million viewers who tuned in last week to watch Barack Obama accept the Democratic presidential nomination.

Washington  - Russia's invasion of Georgia has strengthened the need to bring the former Soviet Republic and other countries into the NATO alliance, the White House said Thursday.

"The desire to bring these new countries, these new democracies, and these countries that want to live in freedom and help defend each other, is even strengthened by the past month's activities," spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

New York  - United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Thursday that development aid would have to increase to 18 billion dollars a year if the world was to remain on track to achieving a set of anti-poverty goals by 2015.

Countries have committed to eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015, and Ban's comments came ahead of a high-level meeting on stepping up global efforts to reach the MDGs in New York on September 25.