Frankfurt - Central banks pumped more dollars into the banking market Wednesday, and the European Central Bank (ECB) said it would supply as much liquidity as was needed to stop the financial crisis.

As part of the central banks' joint infusion of dollars, which began earlier in Japan, the ECB stepped up its offer of overnight money from 30 billion dollars on Tuesday to 50 billion dollars Wednesday.

The British and Swiss central banks also dumped dollars into markets to relieve strains. Commercial banks have been reluctant to lend to one another money in the crisis.

Strasbourg - Despite assurances by European leaders that their finance systems were stable, Europe may still need a massive rescue plan similar to the 700-billion dollar measure being voted on by the US Congress, OECD head Angel Gurria said Wednesday.

Speaking as he presented the annual report to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on the outlook for the world economy, Gurria said, "We have already seen the first troubled European banks being rescued in the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.

London, Oct 1 : Europe’s human rights watchdog has expressed “considerable concern” about the prospect of terrorist suspects being held in police custody in the UK for up to 42 days.

The controversial law was passed by MPs in June, triggering the resignation of shadow Home Secretary David Davis.

The legislation must now go to a House of Lords vote scheduled for October 13, the Daily Express reported.

The report says that, even if it goes through, it should be obligatory to transfer terrorist suspects from police detention to prison if they are being held longer than 14 days.

Brussels - Inflation in the 15-member euro area fell to 3.6 per cent in
September, dropping for the second month in a row, according to
Eurostat's preliminary estimates Tuesday.

The European Statistical Institute does not offer a detailed breakdown
of the inflation figure in its flash estimates, which have been shown
to be reliable despite being based on early price information.

Euro area inflation had fallen to 3.8 per cent in August, thanks in part to an easing off of food and oil prices.

Strasbourg  - Ahead of a Council of Europe debate over the Russian-Georgia conflict, a dispute emerted Monday between factions over whether to restrict the Russian deputies' participation.

A number of leftist and liberal deputies argued for punitive action against Russian deputies, but pro-Russian sentiment also appeared to be materializing in the assembly.

A key issue in the dispute concerns the commitment expressed by both Russia and Georgia, when they gained membership in the 47-member body, to settle their conflicts by peaceful means.

Speaking against the Russians, Britain's Labour deputy Denis MacShane said that Russia had destroyed Georgia's territorial integrity.

Minsk/Moscow - No opposition member won a seat in Belarus parliamentary elections, the country's election commission said Monday.

The opposition had expressed fears earlier that the polls would be fixed by the Belarusian leadership.

According to the Russian Itar-Tass news agency, 100 of 110 districts were counted. Turnout was at 75.3 per cent to vote for the 263 candidates competing for the 110 seats in the Belarus parliament.