Brussels - Weeks after causing an uproar by describing Barack Obama as "suntanned," Silvio Berlusconi arrived in Brussels on Thursday sporting a watch featuring the president-elect's face.

"I shan't wear it, I just brought it to make my colleagues laugh," Berlusconi was quoted by the Italian media as saying.

The maverick premier had refused to apologize for his quip at a special EU summit on the global financial crisis in November, insisting instead that he had meant to pay Obama a compliment.

Paris - The EU Thursday called for cooperation between all "conflict parties" to investigate a shooting attack on unarmed peace observers near the city of Gori close to the breakaway republic of South Ossetia.

The EU presidency, currently held by France, strongly condemned the attack and said it expected cooperation from all sides.

Nobody was wounded in the attack on Wednesday, which was reported by Georgian media. The television channel Rustavi-2 showed images of an off-road vehicle belonging to the OSCE with several bullet holes in the side.

Brussels - The European Union is ready to look at a bid from Iceland to join the bloc, the EU's top enlargement official said in Brussels on Thursday.

The European Commission, the EU's executive, is "mentally prepared" for a membership proposal from Iceland early in 2009, and negotiations could be swift because the island state already has such close ties with Europe, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said.

Brussels - European Union leaders were Thursday expected to agree on keeping a rule allowing each member state to nominate a member of the European Commission in 2014, in a move designed to convince Ireland to approve the reforming Lisbon Treaty.

"The European Council agrees that provided the Lisbon Treaty enters into force, a decision will be taken, in accordance with the necessary legal procedures, to the effect that the commission shall continue to include one national of each member state," reads a draft statement seen by Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, due to be discussed by EU leaders at a summit in Brussels.

Brussels - The French presidency of the European Union on Thursday proposed a watered-down set of laws on fighting climate change in a bid to win EU backing at a crucial end-of-year summit.

In Brussels, EU leaders are set to debate a series of proposals from the bloc's executive, the European Commission, aimed at cutting emissions of greenhouse gases to
20 per cent below 1990 levels, in line with a pledge made by heads of state and government in March 2007.

Brussels, Dec. 11 : A delegation of Hindus have approached the European Parliament with a demand to give recognition to the community in its 27 member states.

A memorandum to this effect was presented to European Parliament (EP) President Hans-Gert Pottering on Wednesday.

American Indian community leader Rajan Zed met Pottering in his Brussels office and discussed issues related to the Hindu community, while advocating promotion of inter-faith dialogue.

He listed fifteen European Hindu issues, besides recognition.