Hanover, Germany  - A German airport went on alert Friday as a Brazilian-built jet airliner landed with smoke in its cockpit.

A spokeswoman for Hanover Airport said the landing occurred without incident. The crew and seven passengers of the Embraer 135 operated by British Midlands were not harmed in any way.

She said fire crews were sent out to wait by the runway after the pilot of the London-to-Hanover flight reported smoke on the flight deck.

Berlin - About 1,500 German-based Tamils demonstrated Friday near the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin for a halt in the fighting in Sri Lanka, where civilians are caught in the cross-fire during a government offensive against Tamil rebels.

A spokeswoman said, "We are demonstrating again to press for the German government to do more to help Tamils in Sri Lanka."

The Brandenburg Gate is a central-city landmark which is much visited by tourists.

Frankfurt - German labour leaders voiced outrage Friday at reports that Fiat, the Italian company seeking control of Chrysler, may have an alternative plan to acquire General Motors' Opel and Vauxhall brands in Europe.

Guenter Verheugen, a German who is the European Union's top industry official, scoffed at the plan, telling a German TV channel, "I wonder where this heavily indebted enterprise is going to get the funds to tackle two such operations at the same time."

Frankfurt - The sudden onset of spring in north-western Europe has sent the plant world into overdrive, triggering a wave of hay-fever from the cloud of pollen over the continent.

"It's very, very unusual," said Gerhard Lux of the state-funded DWD German Weather Service at its office in Offenbach near Frankfurt.

The development has surprised phenologists, the experts who track the impact of weather on seasonal plants.

Hanover, Germany - Attendance at the Hanover Fair, a key expo of factory and industrial equipment, rose this year to about 210,000 visitors, despite the gloomy outlook for the world economy, German fair officials said on event's fifth and last day.

South Korea was honoured among the 61 nations attending as "partner nation" this year, and that status is to be held in 2010 by Italy. This year, the 500 Italian manufacturers exhibiting formed the second-biggest national contingent after the 3,000 German firms.

Berlin - Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis is to visit Berlin next week for talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel, German government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm said Friday.

They are to discuss the world economic crisis.

Latvia has been resisting tough terms set out by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a 7.5-billion-euro (9.7-billion-dollar) bail-out package. The government has foreshadowed huge spending cuts as the embattled Baltic state struggles to meet IMF economic criteria.