Berlin - German troops are to be based on French soil for the first time since World War II, a government spokesman confirmed Wednesday.

Details of how many troops are involved and where they will be stationed still have to be worked out, government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm said.

The troops form part of a 5,400-strong Franco-German brigade whose continued existence was called into doubt recently when French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced plans to reduce the size of the French army.

The news magazine Der Spiegel reported that 500 German troops would be based in the southern French town of Colmar, close to the German border.

New York  - Japan gifted Seiko clocks to each of the UN Security Council members to ensure punctuality at meetings, a demand that has eluded the organization responsible for peace and security around the world.

As Ambassador Yukio Takasu on Tuesday handed the clocks to his 14 colleagues on the council, he assured them that the aim was not to promote Japanese products. The popular Seiko watches and clocks are appreciated for their accuracy and the name Seiko means precision and success.

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Washington  - US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton reaffirmed the United States' "special relationship" with Britain after a meeting with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband on Tuesday.

Miliband became the first foreign official to meet Clinton since her confirmation last month as the top US diplomat. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier held separate talks with Clinton just hours later.

Bratislava  - The Slovak parliament Tuesday overruled a presidential veto on a law that allows use of Hungarian place names in textbooks for country's Hungarian minority.

The house overrode the veto in a 106-32 vote, while 12 lawmakers were absent. An absolute majority of 76 votes in the 150-seat house was required to throw out the veto issued by President Ivan Gasparovic in December.