Berlin  - NATO's quick reaction force (QRF) in northern Afghanistan, currently about 200 men, is to be tripled in size, according to two German news magazines on Saturday.

One task of the combat unit, which is currently all-German, is to protect thousands of peacekeepers deployed to the country. Back in Germany, the peacekeeping mission is politically unpopular.

One of the Saturday reports suggested non-German soldiers would have to be transferred to the QRF to expand it.

Amman  - The Jordanian government Saturday condemned what it called a series of "aggressions" on Palestinian civilians by Jewish settlers in the West Bank city of Hebron, and urged the Israeli authorities to stop such "provocative" acts.

Dhaka  - Bangladesh's interim government Saturday launched its tourism brand name "Rupomoy Bangladesh" (Beautiful Bangladesh) in a bid to attract tourists from home and abroad.

Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed inaugurated the country's branding slogan and logo - a rising sun over blue sea - at a ceremony organised by the civil aviation and tourism ministry.

Fakhruddin highlighted the need for an investment-friendly climate to achieve the country's branding aims to attract tourists and foreign investments.

Hamburg  - Calls mounted in Germany Saturday for the government to come to the aid of industry as the nation battens down for what may be its worst downturn for 15 years.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has rejected calls for the federal government to increase borrowing and give Germans more to spend. One proposal this week had called for Germans to be given 500-euro (630-dollar) vouchers to spend on slow-selling products.

Amman  - Jordanian Foreign Minister Salah Bashir conferred Saturday with his visiting Paraguayan counterpart Alejandro Hamed Franco on latest developments in the Middle East and means of boosting bilateral ties.

"Bashir expressed Jordan's keenness on building ties of cooperation with Paraguay either on bilateral basis or within the regional framework of the Mercosur states in various spheres, particularly in the economic field," a foreign ministry statement said.