Brussels - The European Union strongly condemns the Mumbai terrorist attacks that killed 101 people on Wednesday, officials in the bloc's Brussels headquarters said.

The European Commission, the EU's executive, "condemns in the strongest terms the heinous terrorist attacks this night in Mumbai which have cost the lives of many innocent people and injured others," a statement released overnight said.

Brussels  - The European Union on Wednesday called on member states to help the bloc avoid a deep recession by mobilizing 200 billion euros (260 billion dollars) in extra spending and tax cuts.

"Exceptional times call for exceptional measures," said the head of the EU's executive, European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso.

"Our plan will boost demand and thus save and create millions of jobs," he said.

According to the head of the EU executive, the bulk of the money - 170 billion euros - should come from national governments, with the remaining 30 billion being made available by the European Commission and the Luxembourg-based European Investment Bank (EIB).

Brussels - The European Union's executive was Wednesday set to unveil an economic recovery plan designed to help the 27-member bloc weather the recession.

Officials have said the plan could be worth up to 130 billion euros (170 billion dollars) - or about 1 per cent of the EU's gross domestic product (GDP) - in aid to poor households, as well as investments in infrastructure and in key sectors such as cars, construction and green technologies.

Brussels  - The European Union's executive was Wednesday set to unveil an economic recove

Prague  - Czech President Vaclav Klaus, one of the most prominent climate change doubters, is about to get a new platform: the European Union presidency.

Klaus has called man-made global warming a myth and questioned sanity of Al Gore, the former US vice president who received the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for turning a spotlight on climate change.

Most recently, Klaus expressed hopes the EU would give up its ambitious plan to spearhead the global struggle against climate change in the face of the global financial crisis.

From his vantage point in Prague's Hradcany castle, Klaus could be involved in negotiating a new set of EU climate laws while the Czech Republic chairs the EU in the first half of 2009.

Copenhagen  - The challenge of saving the world from global warming has not fallen to a revolutionary or a visionary, but a down-to-earth conservative politician and mother of two.

Connie Hedegaard, Denmark's climate and energy minister, will host next year's crucial UN climate change conference in Copenhagen, meant to find a successor to the Kyoto protocol on global emission levels.

In this exclusive interview with Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, the 48-year-old former journalist explains how to win over the sceptics and singles out a global price on carbon and a cap-and-trade system as the most efficient way of delivering greenhouse gas cuts.

dpa: Ms Hedegaard, why do we need a deal in Copenhagen?