Berlin

German soldiers wound five in Afghanistan

Kabul, AfghanistanBerlin - German troops in Afghanistan opened fire on a vehicle which failed to stop at a checkpoint, wounding five of the occupants, the defence ministry said Monday.

A spokesman said the incident occurred on Friday evening on a main road near the northern city of Kunduz.

The troops, serving with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), first fired warning shots at the minibus, the spokesman said.

When the driver continued to approach the checkpoint at high speed, the soldiers opened fire with sub-machine guns, hitting the vehicle's engine, the spokesman said.

Merkel to meet Brown as recession fears mount

Merkel urges better crisis management for financial sector Berlin- As fears of recession grow, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is to meet this week with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to discuss the financial markets crisis, her spokesman said Monday.

The two are to meet Thursday in London and speak to the media afterwards, spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm said. Merkel is also to pay a call at Buckingham Palace to visit Queen Elizabeth II.

Economist apologizes for remarks that offended Jews

Berlin - A leading German economist who came under fire for comparing attacks on business executives to anti-Semitism apologized for his remarks Monday.

Economist Hans-Werner Sinn sent a letter to the Central Council of Jews in Germany, saying he retracted his controversial statement.

"In every crisis, people look for scapegoats," Sinn said in an interview with the Berlin newspaper Tagesspiegel. "In the Great Crash of 1929, in Germany it was the Jews. Today it's executives."

Sinn, who heads the Munich-based IFO economic research institute, was roundly criticized by political parties and the Jewish community.

Financial crisis sends German business confidence tumbling

Berlin - German business confidence plunged to its lowest level in more than five years in October, a key survey released Monday said, as the world financial crisis triggered panic selling on globa

German soldiers wound two in Afghanistan

Berlin - German troops in Afghanistan opened fire on a vehicle which failed to stop at a checkpoint, seriously wounding two of the occupants, the defence ministry said Monday.

A spokesman said the incident occurred on Friday near the northern city of Kunduz.

The troops, serving with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), first fired warning shots at the minibus, the spokesman said.

When the driver continued to approach the checkpoint at high speed, the soldiers opened fire with sub-machine guns, hitting the vehicle's engine, the spokesman said.

Several persons were wounded, among them two men who suffered serious injuries that required treatment in a a nearby German field hospital, he added.

Financial crisis sends German business confidence tumbling

Berlin - German business confidence fell sharply in October, a key survey released Monday said, as the world financial crisis triggered panic selling on global stock markets and fears grew about a

Pages