Brussels - The European Union's executive body on Thursday boosted its humanitarian aid to Zimbabwe by 10 million euros (14.7 million dollars), largely for health care, water and sanitation.

The aim of the boost, which comes on top of an earlier gift of 15 million euros in food aid, is to "tackle the suffering among the most vulnerable population groups affected by displacement, epidemics and violence," a statement from the European Commission said.

Since 2005, the EU has allocated more than 82 million euros in aid to Zimbabwe while keeping up a raft of sanctions against the regime of President Robert Mugabe.

Brussels - European Union officials on Thursday congratulated the new government in Japan, saying that they looked forward to working with Tokyo on major issues such as global warming.

"I am looking forward to working with you in order to deepen and strengthen EU-Japan relations and to continue our excellent cooperation in the G8 and multilateral fora," the head of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, wrote to Prime Minister Taro Aso.

"I consider Japan to be an important strategic partner for the EU with whom we share many basic values and interests," he wrote.

The EU's foreign-affairs commissioner, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, sent a congratulatory note to Japan's new foreign minister, Hirofumi Nakasone.

Brussels  - All new cars, buses and trucks sold in the European Union will have to be fitted with daytime lights as from 2011, the European Commission said Wednesday.

The decision follows studies showing that so-called Daytime Running Lights (DRL) can help improve road safety by increasing visibility.

DRLs are automatically switched on when the engine is started. Because they consume low amounts of energy - around 30 per cent less than normal driving lights - they are also considered to be environmentally friendly.

Brussels - Europe's financial system remains "solid" and does not need a US-style plan to buy up "toxic assets" with public money, European Union officials said Wednesday.

However, there is "no doubt" that the global financial crisis is hurting Europe's real economy, with the bloc's economic and monetary affairs commissioner, Joaquin Almunia, warning that "we expect growth in both the EU and the euro area to remain relatively weak next year."

Brussels - France intends to call an emergency summit of the world's leading economic powers before the end of the year to respond to the global financial crisis, French Europe Minister Jean-Pierre Jouyet confirmed Wednesday.

France, the current holder of the EU's rotating presidency, "wants to summon a meeting based on the Group of Eight (leading industrialized nations) before the end of the year, with one topic the regulation of financial markets," Jouyet told the European Parliament.

"We need new, common rules on an international level for a better control of financial markets," he said.

Brussels - The European Union is to send a mission to Syria and Jordan to investigate the plight of Iraqi refugees there in the first week of November, officials from the European Commission confirmed Wednesday.

The "high-level fact-finding mission" is set to travel in the first week of November and should consist of experts from the commission, EU member states and the UN, commission spokesman Michele Cercone said.

The mission is intended to study the problems facing refugees from Iraq, with the aim of deciding whether and how the EU could help those for whom it would be too dangerous to return home.