Jerusalem - German public broadcaster ARD on Wednesday closed its office in the Gaza Strip in protest against the detention of one of its cameramen by Hamas five days earlier, while Israel's Foreign Press Association again called for his release.

Sawaf Abu Saif was arrested in a crackdown by the radical Islamic Palestinian movement on its rivals, including the moderate Fatah party of President Mahmoud Abbas.

Berlin - Germany Wednesday welcomed Russian moves to begin withdrawing troops from the breakaway Georgian province of Abkhazia.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Jens Ploetner said the move was an "urgently necessary contribution to reducing tension" in the region.

He expressed the hope that further substantive measures would be taken by both sides to reduce tension further.

Ploetner said Germany was closely involved in attempts to arrange high-level talks between the conflicting parties.

Passau, Germany - German officials said Wednesday they had dug up a neo-Nazi's grave to remove a swastika flag which was draped over the coffin.

The Nazi-style burial of Friedhelm Busse on Saturday at Passau, south-eastern Germany ended in violence at the cemetery and a mid-town rampage where neo-Nazis punched a Mongolian woman in the face.

Police detained a right-winger after he slipped the swastika flag out from under his jacket and placed it at the last moment on the casket of Busse, last leader of the Free German Labour Party which was outlawed in 1995.

The display of swastikas and advocating Nazi doctrines are crimes in Germany.

Berlin - European economic confidence recorded its biggest fall since the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States, a key survey released Wednesday said as concerns set in about the economic out

Frankfurt - Germany's Postbank AG reported Wednesday a 21 per cent drop in second-quarter earnings on the back of writedowns stemming from the global financial crisis.

Net income dropped to 119 million euros (186 million dollars) from 151 million euros a year ago after Postbank booked write downs totalling 143 million euros.

Postbank's parent, the German mail and logistics group Deutsche Post AG, is considering selling off the group later this year amid speculation that it could eventually form part of a new financial powerhouse in Germany.

Berlin - German chemicals and pharmaceuticals concern Bayer Wednesday raised its forecast for sales over 2008, following an unexpectedly strong second quarter in which the Crop Science division performed strongly.

"The successful first half of 2008 has strengthened our confidence for the full year," company chairman Werner Wenning said. "We now plan to increase group sales by more than 5 per cent on a currency- and portfolio-adjusted basis."

The company had previously set 5 per cent as the target.

"We are particularly pleased at the strong performance of Bayer Crop Science and are again raising our full-year guidance for this subgroup," Wenning said.