Berlin - Only a few of the eight trainees can stand up in the small, circular chamber as they listen to their instructor.

Michael Schillhaneck explains how the fantail turns the low room they are crammed into around its own axis towards the wind, while the windshaft and other levers assist in the movement.

The chamber is called the cap, and sits on top of an historic windmill in Berlin's southern suburb of Britz.

Berlin/Islamabad  - At least six Germans have been slightly injured in the massive bomb attack on the Marriot luxury hotel in Pakistan's capital Islamabad on Saturday, according to the German foreign ministry.

There was no indication that Germans were among the more than 50 people killed in the attack earlier in the day, a spokeswoman said, but added that this was based on only preliminary information.

"We have no complete picture yet and continue to be in close contact with the Pakistani authorities," she said.

Berlin - Chancellor Angela Merkel revived on Saturday Germany's campaign of a year ago for global regulation of financial markets to prevent another crash like the past week's.

In an interview with a Munich newspaper, the Muenchner Merkur, she criticized the US and British governments for obstructing Germany's efforts in the first half of 2007 to bring greater transparency to the markets.

Berlin  - German Chancellor Angela Merkel dug her heels in Friday in a dispute with the European Union and Porsche about state influence over Europe's biggest carmaker, Volkswagen.

Her spokesman said Germany would not repeal legislation that grants the state of Lower Saxony veto powers at VW.

Only the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, home of luxury carmaker Porsche, has spoken up in favour of the EU. But on Friday it quietly dropped a challenge in the Bundesrat upper chamber to the German legislation.

Berlin - Few cities in the world still have atmospheric gas lamps illuminating residential districts. One notable exception is Berlin with 44,000 gas-lit streets.

Many of the German capital's western districts are studded with gas lanterns, though less than 1,700 are found in the eastern half of the city, due to a refusal by post-war communist officials to renew war-wrecked lamps.

The Berliners are fond of their gas lanterns, claiming their gold-and-yellow pools of light create an atmosphere of night-time calmness and a pleasing, nostalgic ambience, much admired by tourists.

Berlin  - The German government's own bank, KfW, suspended two top executive officers from their duties Thursday after blunders that lost KfW 770 million dollars in the Lehman Brothers failure.

In the worst blunder, KfW deposited 350 million euros with Lehman on Monday, just hours before Lehmann declared itself insolvent, although the Lehman failure had been Sunday's top world news story.