Berlin - With the global economy in the grip of severe slowdown, a leading German banker warned Tuesday that parts of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) could face a major shakeout in their economies and banking systems.

"The economic crisis threatens to broaden out and engulf nations such as Ukraine," Juergen Fitschen, who called on the European Union (EU) and other key international groups to step up efforts to help shield more economically fragile parts of the CEE from the financial firestorm currently sweeping the world economy.

Berlin - German state television on Tuesday threatened to reduce its broadcasts from less popular Olympic sports in-between Games if the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) is snubbed for the television rights for the 2014 and 2016 Olympics.

The EBU, and through it the German networks ARD and ZDF, has broadcast the Olympics since 1956.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) recently dismissed an EBU offer for 2014 Winter and 2016 Summer Games, aiming to generate more income by selling the rights in each country which could involve private networks.

Berlin - As a language of scholarship, German is "on its deathbed," with most academics speaking at conferences and publishing their research in English, the German Culture Council warned Tuesday.

The days when the scholars of the world learned German so they could read the latest findings in science, engineering and the arts are long gone. In science today, only 1 per cent of the papers published are in German, the council said.

Many German academics prefer to publish in English.

Berlin, Jan 27 : The results of a recently conducted study by scientists have indicated that climate change can lead to enhanced grass productivity.

The study, by researchers at the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research (UFZ), the University of Bayreuth and the Helmholtz Center in Munich, Germany, has found that more frequent freeze-thaw cycles in winter can increase biomass production.

For their experiment at the Ecological-Botanical Garden of the University of Bayreuth, the researchers installed underground heating on their plots, thereby enabling five additional thawing periods to take place in the winter of 2005/2006.

Berlin  - Almost 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, an untouched corner of former East Germany has been discovered behind the door to a Leipzig home.

When architect Mark Aretz stepped into the fourth-floor apartment, it was like entering a time warp. The calendar on the wall dated back to August 1988 and the last remnants of the owner included a postcard dated April 11, 1989.

Berlin - Germany gave the green light on Monday to a controversial plan with India to drop six tons of iron dust into the Antarctic Ocean.

The experiment is the biggest trial ever of iron fertilization, a technology which could stop global warming at very little cost.

Following complaints by environmentalists, Germany's Science Ministry ordered the plan suspended while it conducted an urgent review.

"After careful a study of expert reports, I am convinced there are no scientific or legal objections to the German-Indian marine research project," Science Minister Annette Schavan said Monday.