Berlin, Jan 27 : The results of a recently conducted study by scientists have indicated that climate change can lead to enhanced grass productivity.

The study, by researchers at the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research (UFZ), the University of Bayreuth and the Helmholtz Center in Munich, Germany, has found that more frequent freeze-thaw cycles in winter can increase biomass production.

For their experiment at the Ecological-Botanical Garden of the University of Bayreuth, the researchers installed underground heating on their plots, thereby enabling five additional thawing periods to take place in the winter of 2005/2006.

Dhaka - Bangladesh and Germany were expected to focus on investment, trade and development cooperation at secretary-level talks slated for Wednesday, officials said.

The state secretary for the Foreign Ministry of Germany, Reinhard Silberberg, was scheduled to arrive in Dhaka Tuesday to meet with his Bangladeshi counterpart Touhid Hossain.

Berlin - Business confidence in Europe edged down again in January, economists expect a key survey to be released Tuesday to say, as the economic gloom deepens in boardrooms across Europe's biggest economy.

A major test of the economic mood in the Europe, the closely- watched Ifo business confidence index is forecast to have marked the start of the new year by slipping to 81.5 points this month.

Berlin - Germany gave the green light on Monday to a controversial plan with India to drop six tons of iron dust into the Antarctic Ocean.

The experiment is the biggest trial ever of iron fertilization, a technology which could stop global warming at very little cost.

Following complaints by environmentalists, Germany's Science Ministry ordered the plan suspended while it conducted an urgent review.

"After careful a study of expert reports, I am convinced there are no scientific or legal objections to the German-Indian marine research project," Science Minister Annette Schavan said Monday.

Berlin - Germany's population of Turkish descent is poorly integrated compared to other immigrant groups, according to a study published Monday.

The research, conducted by the Berlin-Institute for Population and Development, is based on information collected in 2005 which, for the first time, took into account the ethnic origins of German passport holders.

Numbering 2.8 million people, Germany's Turkish population is one of the country's largest immigrant groups, second only to the ethnic Germans who returned from eastern Europe after the fall of communism.

Berlin  - A new organisation promoting the development and use of renewable energies was launched Monday in the former German capital, Bonn.

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) will advise industrialised and developing nations on ways of reducing their dependency on oil, coal and gas.

Speaking at the opening event, German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel said the potential for renewable energies is huge, and needs more help to achieve a global breakthrough.