New York  - A United Nations peacekeeping mission will assume responsibility on Sunday of providing security to refugees and war-displaced people in eastern Chad and northeastern Central African Republic, the UN said Friday.

The UN mission, with 5,200 military troops and known as MINURCAT, will take over European Union troops posted in the past year at the region between Chad and CAR where tens of thousands have taken refuge from fighting in Sudan's Darfur and Chad.

Brussels  - The European Union's executive body on Friday hosted high-level talks between representatives of General Motors (GM) and politicians from EU states where GM has subsidiaries, in a bid to defuse the growing crisis over GM's financial troubles.

"First of all, we expect an update from GM representatives on their current plans. Secondly, we want the chance to sit down and discuss the situation with the other (EU) countries involved," Germany's junior economics minister, Jochen Homann, told reporters as he arrived at the talks.

Brussels  - The European Union on Friday cleared the purchase of German construction firm MAN Ferrostaal by Abu Dhabi-based investment fund IPIC as long as MAN sells its share in a key manufacturer, officials in Brussels announced.

The EU's executive, the European Commission, cleared the purchase as long as MAN sold its share in the company Eurotecnica, which makes machines which produce melamine, a chemical used in the production of paper, and in the wood and automotive industries.

Prague  - The European Union plans to replace its peacekeepers in Bosnia-Herzegovina with a training mission, European Union's top diplomat Javier Solana said Thursday after an informal meeting of EU defence ministers.

"The decision to go into something different, a non-executive mission which means training... was taken," Solana said, adding that it remained open when the current mission would be replaced.

Prague  - The European Union does not plan to boost its counter-piracy mission off the Somali coast, designed to protect civilian ships passing through the Somali waters, EU defence officials said prior to their meeting on Thursday.

"I find that everything is going on well. It is sufficient," said British Secretary of State for Defence John Hutton.

The EU mission currently uses five frigates provided by Britain, France, Germany, Greece and Spain. Their chief task is to escort vessels from the World Food Programme through the waters off Somalia.