St Paul, Minnesota - Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, the handpicked running mate of presidential candidate John McCain, will introduce herself to US voters in a primetime address on Wednesday night.

Earlier in the evening, 2,380 national convention delegates will formally nominate Palin and McCain as the centre-right Republican Party's presidential ticket.

Damascus  - French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived in Syria Wednesday accompanied by Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner for a two- day visit.

The French politicians were welcomed by Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem and other officials at Damascus Airport.

The French president was to head immediately to the presidential palace for an official welcoming ceremony to be followed by bilateral talks with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad to discuss regional issues.

Brussels  - Serbia could become a candidate for European Union membership as early as 2009 following the capture of war-crimes indictee Radovan Karadzic, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said Wednesday.

"If everything goes according to plan, and all the conditions are met, it will be possible to give candidate status to Serbia in 2009," Barroso said after a meeting in Brussels with Serbian President Boris Tadic.

Nicosia  - Leaders on expressed their hope on Wednesday of clinching a deal at ending a decades-old conflict and reunite the eastern Mediterranean island following a new round of peace talks.

Greek Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias, representing southern Cyprus and Turkish Cypriot President Mehmet Ali Talat, representing the northern third of the island, met for two hours inside the UN- patrolled buffer zone that separates the two communities.

Brussels  - NATO is to go ahead with plans to help develop Georgia's military capabilities and will now have access to information concerning its airspace activity, the alliance's spokesman said Wednesday.

Both are long-standing projects within the context of Georgia's Partnership for Peace programme with NATO, James Appathurai stressed.

Brussels - The European Union's top foreign-policy official on Wednesday condemned the formation of a new government by coup leaders in Mauritania, saying that it was an illegitimate move.

EU High Representative Javier Solana "condemned the formation of a new government by the military junta" on Monday and said that the move "cannot be considered as legitimate," a statement released in Brussels said.