Vienna - The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said Thursday there were encouraging signs that Moldova's opposition is getting ready to join the political process, after anti-government protests shook the country earlier in April.

Moldovan opposition politicians with dual citizenships from countries like Romania and Russia had previously protested a law requiring them to give up foreign passports before taking a seat in parliament.

Vienna - Western governments should help their banks operating in Eastern Europe to deal with the economic and financial crisis, the head of the Banking Association for Central and Eastern Europe, Istvan Lengyel. said Thursday.

The current problems with liquidity and non-performing loans had "cascaded" down from Western banks which control some 95 per cent of the region's banking system, Lengyel told reporters at a conference of Eastern European bankers in Vienna.

Vienna- The steep drop in the price of oil produced by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Count

Vienna  - Plants grow better and absorb more carbon dioxide under hazy skies, a team of European researchers said Wednesday, presenting a study in Vienna that may affect strategies against climate change.

It has been known for some time that man-made particles in the air slow down the heating of the atmosphere by reflecting the sun's heat.

But the new findings, published in this week's edition of Nature magazine, show that diffused light also reaches more of a plant's surface, leading to an increased absorption of carbon dioxide.

Vienna - A Vienna court on Wednesday jailed a former official convicted of illicitly granting over 900 visas in Belgrade, the latest in a series of scandals embroiling the Foreign Ministry.

The defendant, a former deputy consul, was found guilty of aiding illegal immigration and of abuse of office in 920 cases, including the families of professional Serbian footballers.

The 39-year-old official, who has not been named, was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison, pending a possible appeal, Austrian press agency APA reported.

Vienna