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.

Islamabad - Severe aftershocks caused panic in Pakistan's south-west where a pre-dawn earthquake killed at least 160 people, media reports said Wednesday.

The strongest aftershock measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale hit the south-western Balochistan province at 5:32 pm (1132 GMT), according to the US Geological Survey.

The epicentre was the same as that of the morning quake, which had a magnitude of 6.4 - some 60 kilometres north-east of the provincial capital Quetta.

In towns in the area, terrified people ran towards open areas, stumbling upon each other and receiving minor injuries, the Urdu-language Geo news channel reported.

The jolts were felt for up to 15 seconds, Aaj TV television said.

Frankfurt - Lufthansa, which has announced an earnings setback, is to take controlling stakes in British airline BMI and German airline Eurowings, it said Wednesday in Frankfurt.

Earlier this week, Lufthansa emerged among the last two bidders for Austrian Airlines. Wolfgang Mayrhuber, Lufthansa chief executive, said the German airline could help the Austrian unit increase sales.

High fuel prices earlier this year and a looming recession have put heavy pressure on smaller, weaker airlines in recent weeks, speeding up consolidation in the aviation industry.

Berlin - Germany is to boost the ailing car industry by reducing its taxes on low-emission cars, a government spokesman said in Berlin on Wednesday.

Ulrich Wilhelm, spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel, said the vehicle-tax changes to be adopted in cabinet on Wednesday next week would be part of a programme to boost the flagging economy.

The disclosure follows days of debate in Berlin about whether to increase government spending, cut taxes or both to ease the effects of an approaching slump.

The car industry in both Europe and the United States has been appealing to governments to act to revive sales.

Wilhelm gave no details but said the package would be a "well-adjusted concept."

Colombo - Tamil rebels used a crude light aircraft to penetrate air-defence systems and drop two bombs on a power station in the capital, killing one employee, military officials in Sri Lanka said.

Despite warnings by the military and civilians that the low-flying aircraft was heading towards the capital, it managed to drop the bombs at the Kelanitissa power plant and escape, officials said.

In an apparent diversionary tactic, rebels bombed a military base in the coastal district of Mannar, 310 kilometres north of the capital, less than one hour before the attack.