Munich  - The economic slump in the euro zone has worsened, economists from three nations said Tuesday in a new study.

"Despite the deployment of government stimulus packages, the economic outlook remains gloomy," said the joint report by the IFO Institute of Germany, Insee of France and the ISAE economic research institute of Italy.

The group said the decline had become steeper since the start of this year and the euro zone was now in a serious recession.

Berlin  - Germany's President Horst Koehler signed a controversial bill into law Tuesday enabling the state to seize control of troubled mortgage lender Hypo Real Estate (HRE).

The measure, described as a last resort to stabilize the German financial market, marks the first time in modern-day Germany that bank shareholders face possible expropriation.

The approval followed adoption by both chambers of the German federal parliament and comes after the government took an 8.7-per- cent stake in the shaky lender as a first step to gaining full control.

Dusseldorf - Builders doing preparatory work for a new urban rail line in Germany cut open a Jewish grave and the human remains in it were removed for safekeeping, a municipal spokesman in the western German city of Dusseldorf said Tuesday.

Strict Jewish practice forbids the exhumation of human remains. The cemetery in Dusseldorf was in use until 1789.

Rabbi Julian Chaim Soussan of Dusseldorf told the German Press Agency dpa, "In all likelihood this is a Jewish corpse."

Hamburg  - A decision by Germany's umbrella sports organization and Olympic Committee DOSB to allow five former East German athletics coaches to continue on their jobs despite doping confessions drew harsh reactions from victims and others on Tuesday.

The five coaches - Klaus Baarck, Gerhard Boettcher, Rainer Pottel, Maria Ritschel and Klaus Schneider - on Monday admitted in a statement issued by the DOSB to their involvement in the state-run doping system of the former communist state.

Berlin - The Kennedy Museum in Berlin is putting on an exhibition about US President Barack Obama, drawing parallels with his predecessor John F. Kennedy.

Around 50 exhibits are to be included in the exhibition, which carries the subtitle "On the tracks of the Kennedys?"

Many of the photos on display will be from the official White House photographer Pete Souza, who had accompanied Obama as a senator before his inauguration.

Stuttgart  - Sales of Mercedes-Benz and BMW cars tumbled in March as buyers around the world continued to avoid premium cars, data from the two German manufacturers showed Tuesday.

However, there were some signs of recovery.

Mercedes-Benz sales were down 18 per cent in year-on-year terms to 98,500 cars, carmaker Daimler said in Stuttgart. But it noted that this had been a less steep drop than than the 28 per cent it suffered in February or the slump of nearly one third in January.