Washington/Brussels  - The European Union on Wednesday applauded US President Barack Obama for warning against protectionist measures in the midst of a global economic crisis.

Obama, in interviews with US television networks Tuesday night, said he was worried about the US Congress sending signals that could trigger a trade war between the US, the EU and other countries.

Brussels - Europe has not yet done enough to protect its internet and communications systems from web-based attacks, the politician whose country fought the world's first-ever cyber war told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa on Wednesday.

"A lot has been done, but whether enough has been done or not, I hesitate: most probably not," Estonian Defence Minister Jaak Aaviksoo said in an exclusive interview with dpa.

Brussels - Italy confirmed its position as Europe's most gourmet nation on Tuesday as two more Italian products were awarded a place on the European Union's list of protected delicacies.

Radishes from the north-eastern town of Verona and saffron from the island of Sardinia became the latest additions to the register of almost 800 eponymous goodies which can only be named after a specific place if they were actually made there, after the European Commission approved their applications.

Brussels  - More energy from wind power came online in Europe in 2008 than from any other energy source, the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) reported Monday.

Of new energy-generating capacity that went online in that year, 43 per cent came from wind power, the group said. That meant an average of 20 wind turbines installed every working day of that year.

Brussels/San Francisco  - Academics and armchair explorers were as of Monday offered a unique insight into the world's seas through a new release of Google Earth, which now also features satellite imagery, photos and videos of the planet's oceans.

The 5.0 version of the popular downloadable software was launched in San Francisco. The project was also presented in a number of European cities, including Brussels, where the European Commission is contributing by providing its own marine data.

Brussels - European Union member states should stop hiding behind their bank secrecy rules and step up joint efforts to crack down on tax evaders, officials in Brussels said Monday.

The call came from Laszlo Kovacs, the EU commissioner in charge of taxation and customs, who wants national tax authorities to share more information about the savings held by EU citizens in different member states.