Hamburg - Tokio Hotel will not have its third album available till early next year, the German hit band's manager said Sunday, dashing hopes among teenage fans of a release this year.

The quartet, fronted by soft-faced 19-year-old singer Bill Kaulitz, has sent teen girls into a frenzy in Europe and is currently touring the United States.

The group won best new artist honours at the MTV Video Music Awards last month, and MTV Latin Awards this month.

Manager David Jost said, "There'll be no album release this year. It looks as if the third album will be out in March or April next year, probably simultaneously round the globe."

Manama, Bahrain - A new report about the state of the environment in the Arab world warns of fresh water scarcity, desertification, air quality and marine pollution among the top challenges facing the countries in the region.

The Arab Environment: Future Challenges report, released at the opening of the first Arab Forum for Environmental Development (AFED) in the Bahraini capital Manama on Sunday said that urgent action was needed to prevent such problems from intensifying.

The report, compiled by independent experts, estimated the cost of environmental degradation in the Arab region as a whole at 5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).

Hamburg (dpa) - Germany captain Michael Ballack has apologised for a recent critical statement on coach Joachim Loew but Loew said on Sunday that the case was not yet closed.

Yangon - The military junta in Myanmar has removed barricades from the house of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in the city of Yangon, witnesses reported Sunday.

Stuttgart - Daimler is to idle factories for five weeks because world sales of its Mercedes cars have slumped, a newspaper reported on Sunday, quoting a company spokesman.

The report came as Germany's other main premium car manufacturer, BMW, announced a four-day standstill at one of its car plants, in Leipzig, eastern Germany, amid signs that the world recession will be worse than so far feared.

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung said the Mercedes closure would begin in mid-December, but gave no precise date. It said stocktaking would take place on December 12 and plants would not re-open before an annual holiday break at Christmas. Plants re-open on January 12.