Stockholm - Banking shares took a hit Monday on the Stockholm stock exchange as the Swedish central bank said it would offer a 1-billion-kronor (125 million dollars) loan to the Carnegie Investment Bank AB.

The group's shares plunged and were down some 60 per cent at midday. The Stockholm OMXS index was down over 5 per cent.

"The bank has suffered liquidity problems. Given the currently prevailing anxiety, the Riksbank has decided to grant liquidity assistance to Carnegie to reduce the risk of a serious disruption to the financial system," Riksbank governor Stefan Ingves said.

New York, Oct 27 : The sexy Sarah Palin look-alike porn movie star, Lisa Ann, has speculated that the original vice-presidential nominee’s sex quotient lies in her sexy underwear and bra.

In an interview to MarieClaire. com, the Pennsylvania-born brunette said that the Palin’s most likely wears a "really cool sexy panty with a nice matching bra."

The busty beauty, stars in the porn take on Palin, called "Who''s Nailin'' Paylin?"

London, Oct 27 : Wayne Rooney, England’s striker, wants to stay at Manchester United for the rest of his career.

Rooney, who turned 23 last week, said that he was a northern lad and would be happy to stay there for the rest of his career, the News of the World quoted him, as saying.

“As for moving abroad can you ever seem me playing for a foreign team? I love England and I love being close to my family,” said the England striker.

“I’ve said many times before how much I enjoy playing here and nothing will change that,” Rooney added.

Berlin - German troops in Afghanistan opened fire on a vehicle which failed to stop at a checkpoint, seriously wounding two of the occupants, the defence ministry said Monday.

A spokesman said the incident occurred on Friday near the northern city of Kunduz.

The troops, serving with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), first fired warning shots at the minibus, the spokesman said.

When the driver continued to approach the checkpoint at high speed, the soldiers opened fire with sub-machine guns, hitting the vehicle's engine, the spokesman said.

Several persons were wounded, among them two men who suffered serious injuries that required treatment in a a nearby German field hospital, he added.

Washington, Oct 27 : Vaccinating new mothers and other family members against influenza can protect newborns against the life-threatening virus, say researchers from Duke Children''s Hospital.

The researchers suggest that vaccinating new mothers and other family members against influenza before their newborns leave the hospital creates a "cocooning effect" that may protect infants from contracting the disease.

Beirut - Lebanon's Prime Minister Fouad Seniora denounced Monday the US helicopter-borne commando raid in Syria which allegedly targeted the al-Qaeda-linked insurgents streaming into Iraq.

According to Syria, eight people, including a married couple and their four children were killed in the raid on a building in the village of Al-Sukkariya, some eight kilometres from the country's border with Iraq.

"The raid by US helicopters on Syrian territory ... constitutes a violation of Syrian sovereignty and thus is a dangerous, unacceptable attack that we condemn," a statement from Seniora's office said.