London - Tottenham's dramatic improvement under Harry Redknapp continued Wednesday, as they beat Liverpool 4-2 to reach the quarter-finals of the Carling Cup.

New York - As the US Treasury Department said it will prop up consumer lending as part of the emergency financial bail-out, US stock indices plunged more than 4 per cent Wednesday, with the Standard & Poor's 500 index dropping to a near five-year low.

The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index also reached a five- year low.

US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's plans to shift some of the focus of the final half of the 700-billion-dollar rescue fund to credit card and loan companies reflected growing concern over drops in consumer spending, auto buying and student borrowing.

"This market, which is vital for lending and growth, has for all practical purposes ground to a halt," Paulson said.

Paris - Segolene Royal, the defeated Socialist Party candidate in last year's French presidential election, said Wednesday that she wanted to replace her former partner as party chief.

Asked if she would be a candidate for party leader, she told TF 1 television, "I will tell you frankly: it's true that I want to (head the party)."

The Socialist Party will elect a successor to the current party secretary Francois Hollande on November 20, following the party congress, which is due to begin Friday in the city of Reims.

New York - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday welcomed Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir's announcement of an immediate ceasefire in the troubled western region of Darfur.

Al-Bashir said the fighting should stop between the government's armed forces and warring factions and called for an effective monitoring mechanism to monitor the ceasefire. He also called for the disarming of militia forces.