Tehran - Iran and the European Union on Monday reiterated their willingness to resume talks on the dispute over Iran's controversial nuclear programmes, ISNA news agency reported.

Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeid Jalili and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana agreed in a phone contact to continue what Iran called "talks in a constructive atmosphere," ISNA reported.

According to Tehran media, the two had voiced the same willingness in a phone call last Monday.

Brussels - The European Union's executive body on Friday agreed to publish the list of objects which passengers are banned from carrying on board aircraft, ahead of an expected ruling from the European Court on the issue.

The European Commission has decided to publish the list, and it will appear in the EU's official journal "in a matter of days," officials in Brussels said.

The list ranges from firearms, harpoon guns and hand grenades to ice picks, skateboards and fishing rods.

Poisons, pepper sprays and all kinds of liquids in quantities of more than 100 millilitres are also on the list.

Brussels - The European Union on Friday allocated an extra 21 million euros (32.4 million dollars) in emergency aid to Somalia, Eritrea and Ethiopia, officials said.

"The challenges in the Horn of Africa are huge and multi- dimensional ... Humanitarian aid is an expression of Europe's solidarity with those who are the most vulnerable," EU Aid Commissioner Louis Michel said in a statement.

Friday's decision allocates 13 million euros in aid to Somalia, with shelter, health care and water among the key targets. The EU's executive, the European Commission, has already sent 14 million euros in food aid to the country this year, officials said.

Paris  - Top Greens politician in the European Parliament Daniel Cohn-Bendit Friday compared French President Nicolas Sarkozy's journey to the China Olympics to a handshake with dictator Adolf Hitler during the 1936 Olympics in then Nazi Germany.

He had hoped Sarkozy had refrained from travelling to the opening of the Olympic Games, Cohn-Bendit said in an interview with the French broadcaster France Inter, adding: "Was it right to shake Hitler's hand in Berlin in 1936?"

China was a totalitarian regime, said Cohn-Bendit, who is co- president of the Greens/European Free Alliance (EFA) Group in the European parliament.

Beirut - European Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering started an official one-day visit to Lebanon Thursday for talks on the Middle East peace process.

"European Parliament members are interested in knowing how Lebanese politicians view the development of the peace process in the Middle East," Poettering said upon arrival in Lebanon late Wednesday.

Poettering is scheduled to hold separate talks with Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Fouad Seniora and Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh.

He also is to meet Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir and the spiritual leaders of the Lebanese communities.

Tehran - Iran has presented its reply to an offer by world powers to resolve the dispute over its nuclear activities, Fars news agency reported Tuesday.

The reply was delivered to European Union officials by the Iranian ambassador to Brussels, Fars said without giving further details.

The offer by the five United Nations veto powers plus Germany is for far-reaching economic cooperation with Iran, including the field of civilian-sector nuclear power, in return for a pledge by Tehran to refrain from uranium enrichment activities.

On Monday, the United States warned that Iran would face new Security Council sanctions if it did not accept the offer of fresh talks and incentives.