Berlin - A German union seeking pay rises for Berlin airport staff vowed to disrupt operations at two capital-city airports, with workers to walk off the job for three and a half hours on Tuesday.

Officials said Monday that in the period to be affected, after 6 am Tuesday, 50 takeoffs and 30 landings were timetabled at Tegel Airport and 20 takeoffs and nine landings were scheduled at Schoenefeld Airport.

Berlin  - The European Union's (EU) major economies are hoping to enlist the support of all 27 EU member states as they gear up for a battle to crackdown on tax havens.

The move follows the agreement at the weekend of the EU's seven leading economies to launch action to clamp down on tax havens as part of a push to overhaul the global financial system in the wake of the world economic crisis.

Berlin - Frank-Walter Steinmeier who heads up the German Social Democrats' ticket for this year's national election moved Monday to promote restoring economic confidence as a key campaign issue as Europe's biggest economy faces up to a dramatic slump.

In an interview with the London Financial Times, Steinmeier, who is also vice-chancellor and foreign minister, said: "To recover from this will require more than crisis management ... It will take many years of work to restore people's confidence in this economic system and its rules."

Berlin/Marburg - A little prick of a needle provides a lot of protection. Vaccines have greatly reduced outbreaks of dangerous diseases worldwide, but experts warn that an increasing number of children today are inadequately immunized.

The Standing Commission on Vaccination (STIKO) at the Berlin-based Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the German federal institution responsible for disease control and prevention, recommends that children be inoculated against 12 diseases - including tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough) and polio during the first 24 months of their lives.

On February 15, 2000, the Federal Court of Justice, Germany's highest court in civil and criminal cases, ruled the 12 vaccinations to be the country's medical standard.

Ber

Berlin  - German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Saturday for unified international rules for the financial markets, on the eve of a meeting with the heads of Europe's leading economies.

There could no longer be "blank spots" where regulations don't apply in the wake of the financial meltdown, Merkel said in her weekly video podcast.