Russia & the EU

Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev and top EU officials have announced the start of talks on a new strategic partnership agreement. The start of negotiations has been long delayed, amid strained ties under Mr Medvedev's predecessor, Vladimir Putin. But, at a meeting with EU officials in the Siberian city of Khanty-Mansiysk, Mr Medvedev said he was looking for a "new impulse" to relations with the EU. The talks will formally begin on 4 July in Brussels, he said. They will primarily focus on trade - Russia is the EU's third biggest trading partner and half of all Russian exports go to the EU. Mr Putin stayed away from the summit. He also harshly criticised US plans to site missile defence facilities in Europe, and warned the EU against relying on others to ensure security in Europe. Indeed, Russia proposed a new treaty covering security across the European continent - a suggestion it said was warmly welcomed. Russia's previous gas rows with its former Soviet neighbours - especially Ukraine - have made Europe nervous, our correspondent says. Among the other subjects covered by the summit were financial market stability, the rise of sovereign wealth funds, climate change and the current food crisis. There was a potential new stumbling block raised on the eve of the summit, when Finland - a major Russian trading partner - announced it was considering retaliation for Russian moves to increase export duties on raw timber. The country said Russia's measures - which it says are designed to bolster the country's paper- processing industry - would cost up to 16,000 jobs in Finland

Opec shuns calls to produce more

Opec president Chakib Khelil has said the cartel of oil producing nations is pumping enough output, and that high prices are down to other factors. He put the current price rises down to other factors outside Opec control, such as US pressure on Iran and the weak US dollar. Mr Khelil was speaking after talks with European Union nations. His comments sent oil prices above $138 a barrel during Tuesday trade, before prices dropped back in later trade. New York's main oil futures contract - light sweet crude for August delivery - rose as high as $138.75 before dropping back to $137 at the end of the normal trading session. In London, Brent crude was up 55 cents at $136.46 a barrel. "As far as fundamentals are concerned I think we have equilibrium between supply and demand," he added. "I think the market is probably waiting to see how the dollar is going to evolve in July, how the geopolitical situation is going to evolve with the threats made on Iran," he said. He also blamed high prices on the US sub-prime crisis "and the ensuing impact of the dollar devaluation", and accused also traders of turning to commodity markets, such as oil, when they could not find good returns in areas such as in currency exchange. Fishermen, truck drivers and consumers across Europe and Asia have been protesting against the increase in petrol and diesel costs as oil prices have jumped by about 40% since the beginning of the year

Can French flair beat EU blues?

France takes over the EU's rotating presidency on 1 July, with the Irish No to the Lisbon Treaty overshadowing an ambitious French agenda. One senior official in the European Commission says a blame game for the No vote has already begun, with French President Nicolas Sarkozy criticising both Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and the UK's European Commissioner Peter Mandelson. "France is throwing mud at the European Commission and managing to annoy a lot of people," the official said. A French political observer agrees that "the general climate between France and the EU is not so positive now," but adds: "the presidency priorities are fixed - energy, the environment, migration, agricultural policy and security and defence, so the Irish No does not change those". Like many others, Richard Howitt, a British Labour MEP, argues that the top priority is to get agreement on an EU climate change package that goes beyond the Kyoto Protocol commitments. "We will only get a global agreement post-Kyoto if Europe leads the way - not just talking, but acting," he says. But Professor Christian Lequesne of Sciences Po University in Paris says drafting such a package will be tricky, as energy priorities "are not the same across the member states". Pawel Swieboda, director of the DemosEuropa think-tank in Warsaw, says an early agreement on energy "is unlikely, as the differences of position are still enormous". "The new member states feel particularly unfairly treated because they tend to rely on coal and will have to carry the burden of adjustment." France wants to get agreement on a European migration pact, focused on illegal immigration and asylum, by October. A French political observer anticipates positive results here: "It's in Sarkozy's domestic interests and he wants to show Europe can protect itself". But Kris Pollet of Amnesty International's EU office doubts there will be much new. "The EU has already adopted comprehensive principles for its migration policy. The main potential worry is that the migration pact will re-emphasise a very restrictive approach - such as forced returns," he said.

Germany remembers Berlin airlift

Germany has been commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Berlin airlift, when the Western allies kept the city supplied despite a Soviet blockade. Veterans of the airlift, many of whom are in their 80s and 90s, attended ceremonies in Berlin and Frankfurt. The American and British-led airlift lasted for more than a year, and involved planes delivering everything from coal to sweets. It was one of the biggest humanitarian air relief missions in history. "I find the courage with which this operation was carried out truly admirable," said German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung. A small group of veteran airmen visited the Allied Museum and Tempelhof airport, which served as the hub of the Berlin airlift, to pay tribute to the pilots who lost their lives during the operation. We were operating with our former enemies for one common goal: freedom. In June 1948, when the Soviets cut off access to West Berlin, to try to starve the city into submission, allied aircraft launched a dramatic rescue mission from the skies. Berlin's German History Museum is showing contemporary photos. At the height of the airlift, one allied plane landed at Tempelhof every 90 seconds, delivering food, coal and other supplies to the residents of West Berlin. Even bags of chocolates and raisins were dropped from parachutes into the arms of children. The aircraft were later dubbed the "candy bombers". Over 15 months, more than two million tons of supplies were delivered. Veterans said it helped build bridges between Germany and the US, which had been wartime enemies a generation earlier. In the end, in May 1949, the Soviets called off the blockade, but the relief flights continued for another few months.

Bill Gates steps down

The chairman of Microsoft and one of the world's richest men, Bill Gates, is stepping down from his job running the world's largest software company. Mr Gates, who made his fortune through developing software for the personal computer, plans to devote his time to charity work. As a teenager Bill Gates had a vision of a personal computer on every desk in every home. He says he caught sight of the future and based his career on what he saw. The son of a successful lawyer from Seattle, Mr Gates programmed his first computer at the age of 13. During his two years at Harvard University, he spent much of his time finessing his programming skills as well as enjoying the occasional all-night poker session.