Beijing - World Bank President Robert Zoellick on Monday urged China to keep flexibility in its economic policies and avoid trade protectionism.

Zoellick said he discussed the importance of resisting protectionism with Chinese leaders and "had a sense that they are maintaining flexibility" in trying to stimulate and rebalance the domestic economy.

"The most important thing that China can do for global stability at this point is to keep its own economy growing well," he told reporters.

Frankfurt - The German economy faces a tough winter, the country's influential central bank said Monday, as economic confidence dwindles, consumers grow reluctant to spend and exports fall.

The Bundesbank said in its monthly bulletin there had been "a marked worsening" of the circumstances surrounding Europe's biggest economy with the report adding to the pressure on the European Central Bank to continue cutting interest rates.

Hamelin, Germany - Hamelin, the German city where a legendary Pied Piper once rid the town of both rodents and children, has beaten a modern-day rat infestation with poison, civic officials said Monday.

Rat numbers surged this summer in an area of overgrown former garden allotments close to the city centre.

In the medieval legend of the Pied Piper, a stranger playing music on a pipe mesmerized the rats to drown themselves in the river Weser in the year 1284.

New Delhi, Dec 15 : President Pratibha Patil today said that government should frame policies and programmes for ensuring welfare of handloom and handicraft artisans who have contributed in preserving and promoting India''s heritage.

After conferring National Awards for Master Craftpersons and Weavers and Shilp Guru Awards here, Patil said, "I would like to suggest that the government could bring in certain policies and programmes, which apart from addressing the developmental needs, should also address welfare concerns of artisans and weavers."

Rome - AC Milan midfielder Gennaro Gattuso underwent surgery in Antwerp,