Berlin, September 24 : A new study has suggested that diffusion may have caused Jupiter''s ''Red Spot Junior'', a giant anticyclone on the planet, to suddenly turn from white to red in a period of just a few months.

Officially known as ''Oval BA'', the anticyclone was formed in 2000 by the merger of smaller vortices called the White Ovals in a chain of collisions that started back in 1998.

The apparent reddening was first reported by amateur astronomers in early 2006, but it was not until April that professional astronomers were able to image the impressive alteration of the second largest storm in the Solar System after the Great Red Spot (GRS).

Berlin, September 24 : A new study has suggested that diffusion may have caused Jupiter''s ''Red Spot Junior'', a giant anticyclone on the planet, to suddenly turn from white to red in a period of just a few months.

Officially known as ''Oval BA'', the anticyclone was formed in 2000 by the merger of smaller vortices called the White Ovals in a chain of collisions that started back in 1998.

The apparent reddening was first reported by amateur astronomers in early 2006, but it was not until April that professional astronomers were able to image the impressive alteration of the second largest storm in the Solar System after the Great Red Spot (GRS).

Berlin - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday she would fight pressure from the European Union to curb state influence over Europe's biggest carmaker, Volkswagen.

"The federal government is on the side of VW," the chancellor told an assembly of 18,000 workers at the company's main plant in Wolfsburg in the state of Lower Saxony.

The government has drafted a reform of legislation on Volkswagen which it believes satisfies EU law while cementing veto powers asserted by Lower Saxony with just over 20 per cent of VW shares.

Berlin - Germany's powerful IG Metall union said Tuesday it would seek an 8 per cent wage increase for 3.6 million workers in the key engineering industry, its highest demand in 16 years.

IG Metall boss Berthold Huber told journalists in Frankfurt that the demand was justified in view of the robust state of the German economy and the uneven distribution of its benefits.

He based the demand, which is well above German consumer inflation of around 3.3 per cent on the year, on price increases, increased productivity and strong profits in the sector.

Berlin - Persistently high corruption in low-income countries amounts to an "ongoing humanitarian disaster," global watchdog Transparency International said Tuesday.

"In the poorest countries, corruption levels can mean the difference between life and death, when money for hospitals or clean water is in play," said the organization's chairperson, Huguette Labelle.

"The continuing high levels of corruption and poverty plaguing many of the world's societies amount to an ongoing humanitarian disaster and cannot be tolerated," she said in presenting the organization's annual corruption perceptions index in Berlin.

London, Sept 23: A German zookeeper who nourished celebrity polar bear cub Knut at a Berlin zoo after his mother rejected him at birth has been found dead at his home

Berlin Police said that when authorities arrived, Thomas Doerflein, 44, had already passed away.

They had no information on the reason behind the death, reports Timesonline.

Doerflein rose to fame in Germany and around the world last year for his role in raising Knut by hand after the polar bear was abandoned by his mother in 2006.