Budapest - The European Central Bank has agreed to lend Hungary up to 5 billion euros (6.8 billion dollars) to help ease credit conditions, the ECB said Thursday.

The accord will help Hungary's central bank provide extra euro liquidity in the East European nation, the Frankfurt-based ECB said in a joint statement with the Hungarian Central Bank.

Euro-denominated loans are a key source of finance in Hungary, which joined the European Union in 2004 but has not switched to the euro.

Hungary's currency, the forint, regained some of Wednesday's losses against the euro after the announcement.

Budapest- Hungary's minority socialist government has opted against a planned moderate tax reform in light of the global financial crisis.

A legislative proposal introduced last month was withdrawn Monday after a meeting of the Hungarian parliament's committee for rules and internal procedures.

The reform would have lightened the tax load on citizens and businesses by 150 billion forints (810.9 million dollars) starting in 2009. Experts had called the planned step insufficient to boost Hungarian businesses, which have long complained about their heavy tax burden.

Budapest - MOL plc, Hungary's expansion-minded oil and gas group, nearly doubled its stake in Croatian energy company INA to more than 47 per cent in a deal worth 1.2 billion dollars, MOL said Friday.

MOL said it expects anti-trust regulators to approve the purchase, which would give the Hungarian company a larger share of INA than the Croatian government's near-45-per-cent stake.

Budapest - A plane carrying four Hungarian soldiers on its way to the Afghan capital Kabul was forced to land in Iran, the Hungarian Defence Ministry said late Tuesday, clearing up confusion about the aircraft, which Iranian media had claimed was from the US.

The plane was forced to land for bureaucratic reasons, the ministry said.

Budapest (Hungary), Oct 7: Archaeologists have unearthed one of the earliest Roman villas in Budapest, Hungary.

According to a report in All Hungary News, the site is of special importance, as it fits well into the line of villas previously found in the area, providing more information on the location and extension of villa farms around Aquincum.

Ruins of the Roman building complex were discovered following several months of excavation work at a plot destined to become a hypermarket.

The Office of Cultural Heritage had ordered the excavation to be carried out, as a Roman wall was found under the neighboring plot at Becsi ut 260 in 2004.

Budapest  - An express train slammed into the back of a local train outside Budapest on Monday, killing a man and injuring 30 people, a news agency reported.