Berlin  - Berlin Technical University has awarded a doctorate to an 88-year-old man whose studies were obstructed by the Nazis, the weekly newspaper Die Zeit reported Wednesday.

Dimitri Stein submitted his thesis on electrical engineering in 1943 but university authorities refused him an oral examination because he had Jewish ancestry.

His professor arranged him a hiding place and he survived the Second World War, emigrating to the United States where he worked as an academic and engineer and went into business.

Stein said he asked in the 1950s if could be examined but received a rude rejection. When he asked again in 2006, professors were ashamed and set to work to right the old wrong before it was too late.

Bonn, Germany  - A David-and-Goliath takeover offer for the German factories of General Motors sent the share price of the bidding company, SolarWorld, crashing 16 per cent lower Wednesday.

SolarWorld, which assembles and installs smaller electricity generating systems that rely on wind or the sun, asked GM to give it four factories, a German research centre, the Opel brand and 1 billion euros (1.25 billion dollars).

The Bonn-based company said it would inject an additional 1 billion euros of its own cash and loans to convert Opel into "Europe's first green automobile maker," designing cars with low- emission engines.

Wiesbaden, Germany - The regional parliament in the German state of Hesse dissolved itself on Wednesday, clearing the way for early general elections in January.

All five parties represented in the 110-member legislature voted in favour of the move.

The state has been ruled by a caretaker government headed by conservative Prime Minister Roland Koch since inconclusive elections in January 2008.

Munich - Two former executives at the German multinational Siemens were given prison terms Wednesday for assisting in a 1.3- billion-euro (1.6-billion-dollar) worldwide web of bribery.

The men, 58 and 69, had admitted being accessories to misappropriation and corruption at the two-day trial in Munich. Kickbacks were paid in various nations including Russia, the court in Munich, Germany heard.

Berlin - German football authorities Wednesday honoured goalkeeper legend Bernd Trautmann for his services to football at a ceremony ahead of an international between Germany and England.

Trautmann, 85, was awarded the German Football Federation pin with diamond - its highest award for a person outside the federation - for his "unique services" for German football.

Berlin - Berlin's Jewish community said Wednesday it is not interested in using the villa that once belonged to Nazi propaganda minister Josef Goebbels.

Authorities in the capital had approached the Jewish community to see if it wanted to host exhibitions at the woodland property on the outskirts of the city.

Its members inspected the site at Bogensee during the summer. After that there had been no further contact with city officials, said Maya Zehden, a spokeswoman for the Jewish community.