Berlin - A long-awaited decision on whether or not to reprise the former Hohenzollern royal palace on Berlin's Schlossplatz as the site of the new Humboldt Forum is expected to be made on Friday, November 28.

The royal palace was blown up in the post-World War II years by the communists.

Now the question is whether it should be rebuilt along the same lines as the original, or be followed by a more modern piece of architecture.

Brussels - The European Union has agreed to permanently re- settle up to 10,000 Iraqi refugees currently living in camps in Syria and Jordan into Europe, German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told journalists in Brussels on Thursday.

Germany will take in a quarter of the number, drawn from the most vulnerable parts of the refugee population, he said after a meeting with European Union counterparts in Brussels.

At the meeting, ministers debated a report from a group of EU experts who visited refugee camps in Syria and Jordan in early November, with an eye to assessing the refugees' needs.

Berlin - Suspected doping cases are being investigated in cycling and cross-country skiing, an anti-doping forum was told on Thursday.

The International Cycling Union (UCI) fears more doping cases as blood profiles of cyclists are evaluated, its president, Pat McQuaid, said.

Meanwhile the international ski federation FIS is examining five suspicious blood profiles by cross-country skiers, Swedish doping specialist Bengt Saltin said.

He said it was hoped to release the results of the evaluation within the next four weeks.

McQuaid said a few of the profiles in biological passports introduced by the UCI this year show "irregularities" which could point to the use of banned substances or methods.

Frankfurt - German airline Lufthansa cancelled two flights to the Indian city of Mumbai on Thursday and said a decision on Friday flights depended on the likely safety for its crew and passengers.

The flights had been set to depart from Frankfurt and Munich.

The German Foreign Ministry advised travellers in India Thursday to keep informed about the situation after the terrorist attacks in Mumbai and to avoid large crowds.

Berlin  - A 12-year-old German girl was in critical condition in a Berlin hospital Thursday after a bomb planted in her family's letter-box exploded, a hospital spokeswoman said.

The police murder squad declined comment on media reports that the attack Wednesday may have been part of a feud in the poor, multi-ethnic capital-city district of Neukoelln.

Newspapers said the schoolgirl's arm was almost shredded by the explosion as she was taking mail out of the box. Earlier in the day her father had found a bomb attached to his car, disarmed it and took it to police.

Berlin  - Thai Foreign Minister Sompong Amornwiwat was believed to have been stranded in Germany on Thursday after demonstrators invaded both of Bangkok's airports, forcing a cancellation of flights.

Flights from Europe to Bangkok by Thai Airways International and other airlines were cancelled as a result. Bangkok aviation authorities agreed on Thursday to open the U-Tapao Air Force Base as an alternative.

Sompong's presence in Germany could not be confirmed, since he was not visiting the country as an official guest.