Moscow  - Russia's lower house of parliament on Wednesday ratified friendship treaties with South Ossetia, over which Russia fought a war with Georgia, and Georgia's other breakaway region of Abkhazia.

The treaties provide for Moscow to base thousands of troops in the two separatist regions, which it recognized as independent states after the five-day war in August.

Lawmakers in the State Duma unanimously voted in favour of the accords formalizing diplomatic, business and military relations with the regions.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said Wednesday that Moscow planned to station 3,800 troops in each area to protect against a Georgian attack.

London - The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Wednesday suspended two top entertainers in a spiralling row over the broadcasting of lewd comments left on the answer phone of veteran Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs.

Programmes by Jonathan Ross, host of a popular Friday evening TV chat show, and Russell Brand, a comedian, will be taken off air until the BBC has completed its investigations into prank calls they made on the BBC 2 radio channel.

Berlin - Germany's cabinet agreed Wednesday to limit the country's future contribution to Operation Enduring Freedom, the US-led anti-terrorism campaign, to 800 personnel, the Defence Ministry said.

All the personnel are sailors and naval aviators posted to the Horn of Africa and the Mediterranean Sea.

The authorization, expected to be passed November 13 by the German parliament, will no longer extend to a contingent of German commandoes assigned to Afghanistan.

Brussels - The head of the European Commission on Wednesday urged member states to work together to protect jobs and industry rather than be tempted by "populist" and "protectionist" measures.

"The global financial crisis is not an excuse for protectionism: trade barriers ship out prosperity and open the gates instead to short-term economic populism," said Jose Manuel Barroso.

In other words: "yes to proactivism, but no to protectionism," the commission chief said.

While Barroso's words were directed indiscriminately at all world governments, the underlying message was set to resonate strongly in those European capitals that are facing mounting requests for support from their national industries.

Stockholm - The Swedish parliament Wednesday approved a stability plan including the establishment of a fund to help banks that run into problems in the future.

Financial Markets Minister Mats Odell said the "stability plan would take immediate effect."

The plan included safeguarding deposits and restoring confidence between the financial institutions.

The government would also take over preferential shares if a bank requested funds.

The government would double the state guarantee to 500,000 kronor (62,000 dollars) for deposits in Swedish-owned banks.