FRANKFURT, Sept 17, 2007 (AFP) - Key eurozone members are set to remind France it must cut its public deficit, a German press report said on Monday.

The eurozone countries, which were not identified, would send a written warning to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, pressing him to tighten the government's budget discipline, the Financial Times Deutschland said, without naming its sources.

The warning would take the form of a European Commission procedure, a so-called 'political counsel,' which the newspaper described as 'declaration of war.'

SYDNEY, Sept 5, 2007 (AFP) - The United States agreed to grant its ally Australia greater access to top-secret military technology Wednesday under a deal signed by US President George W. Bush.

Bush, who is in Australia for an Asia-Pacific summit, said the treaty would enhance military cooperation between the countries as they work towards common goals in Iraq and Afghanistan where both have troops.

FRANKFURT, Sept 4, 2007 (AFP) - Germany could balance its budget in 2008, two years ahead of schedule, putting the national accounts in the black for the first time since reunification in 1990, Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck said Tuesday.

The budget should be 'slightly in the black' in 2008 if economic growth remains solid, Steinbrueck told a German banking conference here, confirming comments made by a ministry spokesman last week.

Berlin had forecast a balanced budget for 2010 after narrowing the public deficit to 1.6 percent of gross domestic product in 2006.