Berlin - A leading German economist who came under fire for comparing attacks on business executives to anti-Semitism apologized for his remarks Monday.

Economist Hans-Werner Sinn sent a letter to the Central Council of Jews in Germany, saying he retracted his controversial statement.

"In every crisis, people look for scapegoats," Sinn said in an interview with the Berlin newspaper Tagesspiegel. "In the Great Crash of 1929, in Germany it was the Jews. Today it's executives."

Sinn, who heads the Munich-based IFO economic research institute, was roundly criticized by political parties and the Jewish community.

Baghdad - The Iraqi government on Monday said that it is talking to US officials over the American raid on the remote Syrian border village of Al-Sukariya and that it hoped the incident would not spoil Iraq's ties with Damascus.

Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh at the same time reiterated an unsourced US statement that the raid targeted a haven for a militant group which used to carry out execute deadly attacks inside Iraq.

Paris - Roger Federer confirmed on Monday that he will play in this week's Paris Masters, a day after winning his hometown title in Basle for the third straight year.

Brussels  - The European Commission wants to ban smoking in bars and restaurants across the European Union, officials in Brussels said Monday.

However, discussions on a smoking ban in all of the member states' workplaces are still at the preliminary stage, meaning any new rules are unlikely to be implemented before 2010.

Leverkusen, Germany - Bayer Leverkusen have renewed the contract of veteran midfielder Bernd Schneider by one year until 2010, the Bundesliga club said on Monday.

London  - Michael Schumacher believes Lewis Hamilton could one day beat his record of seven Formula One world titles.

"I would say, absolutely, yes," the former Ferrari driver told the BBC in an interview to be broadcast later Monday.

"Nobody thought, even me, that I could beat (Juan Manuel) Fangio. Then I did. Records are there to be beaten."