Posts Tagged ‘Germany’
Written by admin on 09 December 2012
Berlin, Dec 9 (IANS) German football club Hannover have extended their contract with coach Mirko Slomka until 2016, the club said in an official statement.
After long speculations, Slomka and Hannover finally agreed to extend the expiring contract until 2016, reports Xinhua.
“I understand this contract extension by three more years, as a great confidence into my work. I combine my signature with the conviction and confidence to continue the successful development of Hannover,” Slomka said on his homepage Saturday.
Mirko Slomka joined Hannover in February 2010. Since then he was able to qualify twice for the UEFA Europa League with Hannover.
In the current Europa League, Hannover remained unbeaten to progress into the round of 32. Hannover sit in 12th position in the Bundesliga standings.
Tags: Berlin, Germany
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Written by admin on 09 December 2012
Berlin, Dec 9 (IANS) Electronic cigarettes, viewed as a healthy alternative to conventional smoking, may not be all that safe, says a latest study from Germany.
Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Wood Research WKI, in Braunschweig, conducted a study to find out whether e-cigarettes polluted the surrounding air. The results of the study pointed to discharged solid particles remaining in the surrounding air for a considerable time.
Compared to conventional cigarettes, which constantly emit smoke as the tobacco burns, the electronic equivalent only releases volatile substances when it is turned on.
But that is not the only difference between the two stimulants, as the WKI researchers observed.
“In the e-cigarette, vaporised substances create an aerosol of ultrafine particles which become even finer when inhaled into the lungs. These tiny nanodroplets disperse over time,” said Dr Tobias Schripp, scientist at Fraunhofer WKI and study co-author.
“Conversely, the combustion process discharges solid particles that can remain in the surrounding air for a considerable time,” said Schripp.
An e-cigarette comprises battery, atomizer, heating coil and a reservoir for the liquids used for producing vapour.
The mechanism is activated either by pressing a button or by suction. Liquids come with or without nicotine, and also contain aromas and flavours like amaretto, almond, vanilla or apple.
These liquids are heated up in the atomizer and vaporized at between 65 and 120 degrees Celsius. Propylene glycol is the most usual solvent; it produces the atomized mist that resembles smoke, according to a Fraunhofer statement.
An estimated two million people in Germany have already turned to the vapour cigarette.
Tags: Berlin, Germany
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Written by admin on 09 December 2012
Berlin, Dec 9 (IANS) At least seven people, including children, were killed Saturday after two small planes collided mid-air near Frankfurt city of Germany, Xinhua reported.
The planes crashed at about 4.15 p.m., reported German N-TV, adding that the dead included three or four children.
While cause of the accident and other details were yet to be ascertained, one of the pilots was missing till last report in the evening.
Tags: Berlin, Germany
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Written by admin on 08 December 2012
Berlin, Dec 8 (IANS) Artjoms Rudnevs brace was enough to inflict Hoffenheim their fifth loss in a row and the tenth of the season in the German Bundesliga.
Hoffenheim caretaker Frank Kramer was unable to return with the team to winning ways as Rudnevs two strikes ensured Hamburg’s sixth place in the standings with the 2-0 victory, reports Xinhua.
Hoffenheim staged a dominant start with a couple of chances in the opening period but as the match progressed Hamburg took control and opened the scoring in the 27th minute.
Rudnevs caught Hoffenheim goalkeeper Koen Casteels flatfooted when he headed over him into the left corner.
The hosts nearly added another goal to their tally but the crossbar denied Tolgay Arslans powerful long-range effort.
Nevertheless, Hoffenheim were unable to respond to Hamburg. Rudnevs punished Hoffenheim’s lack of aggressive play in the 74th minute.
The Latvian utilised a failed clearance attempt by Sebastian Rudy to volley home from 11 metres.
Tags: Berlin, Germany
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Written by admin on 07 December 2012
Berlin, Dec 7 (IANS) German Bundesliga side Stuttgart lost 0-1 at home to Norwegian club Molde, but they qualified for the next round as rivals Copenhagen shared points with Bucharest in the final group matches of the UEFA Europa League.
Stuttgart staged a disappointing performance at Mercedes Benz Arena Thursday as Davy Claude Angan shocked the hosts with the winner before the break, reports Xinhua.
Steaua Bucharest finished top of the standings in group E followed by Stuttgart, Copenhagen and Molde.
Tags: Berlin, Germany
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Written by admin on 07 December 2012
Berlin, Dec 7 (IANS) Japan’s Genki Omae has signed for German football club Dusseldorf until June 2015, the Bundesliga side announced.
The 22-year-old has been playing for J-League side Shimizu S-Pulse since 2008, and scored 13 goals in 34 matches this season, reports Xinhua.
Dusseldorf, 13th in the Bundesliga, travel to Nuremberg Saturday before hosting Hanover the following weekend in the final match before the winter break.
Omae will join his new team in January.
Tags: Berlin, Germany
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Written by admin on 07 December 2012
Frankfurt (Germany), Dec 7 (IANS/EFE) European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi said here Thursday that his institution will lend euro zone banks all the liquidity they require until at least July 2013.
He made the statement at a press conference after a meeting of the bank’s Governing Council at ECB headquarters in Frankfurt.
The ECB chief also said those main refinancing operations, or MROs, will “remain in use for the euro system’s special-term refinancing operations with a maturity of one maintenance period, which will continue to be conducted for as long as needed, and at least until the end of the second quarter of 2013″.
The fixed rate in those operations will be the same as the MRO rate prevailing at the time, Draghi said.
The ECB Thursday left the euro zone’s benchmark interest rate at a record-low 0.75 percent and most economists expect that rate to remain unchanged throughout 2013.
“The rates in the three-month longer-term refinancing operations, to be allotted until June 2013, will be fixed at the average rate of the MROs over the life of the respective longer-term refinancing operation,” Draghi said.
Draghi defended two ECB offerings of three-year loans to banks, one at the end of 2011 and the other in February 2012, as necessary to avert a disaster in euro zone financial markets.
Those two operations provided many euro zone banks with sufficient liquidity to cover their needs for this year and purchase sovereign debt.
–IANS/EFE
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Tags: Frankfurt, Germany
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Written by admin on 05 December 2012
Berlin, Dec 5 (IANS) German champions Borussia Dortmund extended their good run in group D with a neat 1- 0 win over Manchester City at the last match of the group stage in UEFA Champions League football.
Dortmund were already qualified for the next round thus Juergen Klopp was able to present a second string stride whereas Manchester City needed a win to maintain their chances for the Europa League, Xinhua reported Tuesday.
The hosts needed some time to find their rhythm at outsold Signal Iduna Park whereas the “Citizen” controlled the ball in the opening period unable to convert their ball possession into a tangible reward.
Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko tested Dortmund’s goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller with a long-range effort in the 35th minute. Two minutes later Dortmund Marco Reus nearly opened the scoring but Joe Hart was able to turn the ball around the post.
Promising goal scoring opportunities were a rare occurrence at both sides of the pitch. With beginning of the second half Dortmund turned up to as Ivan Perisic and Kevin Grokreutz approached Manchester City’s penalty area dangerously.
In the 57th minute, Julian Schieber broke the deadlock to score the winner following a sharp cross into the penalty area by Jakub Blaszczykowski.
The hosts almost doubled their tally through Schieber, who squandered his brace with a weak lob. Nonetheless, Borussia Dortmund continued their unbeaten run in Champions League whereas Manchester City remained winless in the group stage.
Dortmund finished on the group stage followed by Real Madrid, Ajax Amsterdam and Manchester City.
“I did not expect that we would finish this group with 14 points,” Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp said.
Tags: Berlin, Germany
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Written by admin on 04 December 2012
Berlin, Dec 4 (IANS) German Chancellor Angela Merkel was re-elected leader of the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) Tuesday with strong support, displaying her overwhelming popularity and party unity that would help her to win next year’s general elections, Xinhua reported.
Merkel, 58, won the support of 97.9 percent of party delegates at the party congress in Hanover.
She said the current German government was “the most successful since German reunification” in 1990, since Germany is outperforming other eurozone member states as the economic powerhouse of the common currency bloc in the depth of debt crisis.
She called for stability ahead of next year’s federal elections when she would compete for her third term.
Tags: Berlin, Germany
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Written by admin on 04 December 2012
Berlin, Dec 4 (IANS) German Bundesliga football side Hoffenheim fired coach Markus Babbel after a 1-4 rout by Werder Bremen.
Hoffenheim are struggling in 16th place on the table following nine defeats in their last 10 matches, reports Xinhua.
The 40-year-old former German international, who has previously coached Hertha Berlin and VfB Stuttgart, will be replaced temporarily by the German U-23 team coach Frank Kramer.
“The deteriorating situation on the sporting front and the negative atmosphere left me no choice,” said club manager Andreas Mueller Monday.
“We must push the reset button and start afresh,” added Mueller, who conceded it had been a difficult decision to take.
Mueller said that Babbel, whose overall record was seven wins, eight draws and 14 defeats, had worked hard, but that things simply hadn’t worked out.
Babbel had been in charge since February and his contract ran till June 30, 2014.
He is the second Bundesliga coach to lose his job this season, veteran Felix Magath having been sacked by VfL Wolfsburg in October.
Tags: Berlin, Germany
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Written by admin on 03 December 2012
Berlin, Dec 3 (IANS) Marko Arnautovic’s three strikes for Bremen were enough to inflict Hoffenheim the fourth consecutive loss while Wolfsburg and Hamburg shared points to close the 15th round of Bundesliga.
Hoffenheim were unable to break the negative approach as they got trashed 1-4 at Bremen Sunday, reports Xinhua.
Both sides needed a little bit of time to get into gear owing to freezing temperatures.
Nonetheless, Bremen were able open the scoring in the 21st minute as Sebastian Proedl met Kevin de Bruyne’s free-kick cross to head over Hoffenheim goalkeeper Koen Casteels.
Bremen went one better eight minutes later when they capitalised on a turnover by Daniel Williams to double the lead through Marko Arnautovic following a one-two with De Bruyne inside the box.
Five minutes into the second-half Hoffenheim reduced Bremen’s lead to 2-1 as Sejad Salihovic overcame Bremen’s goalkeeper Sebastian Mielitz from very close range.
It was a wakening call for Hoffenheim but all their efforts remained unrewarded as Marko Arnautovic wrapped up his hat-rick with a 20 metre free-kick goal in the 73rd minute and a solo run and goal into the top left corner in the 79th minute.
Thus, Werder Bremen climbed to eighth place while Hoffenheim sits at 16th, a relegation spot.
“This defeat is very bitter. We played a very weak first half. After Bremen’s third goal our team gave away,” Hoffenheim coach Markus Babbel said.
Elsewhere, Wolfsburg recovered from the opener by Hamburg’s Maximilian Beister in the 29th minute as Simon Kjaer levelled the scores in the 69th minute. The draw keeps Hamburg in ninth while Wolfsburg stay on 15th.
Tags: Berlin, Germany
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Written by admin on 02 December 2012
Berlin, Dec 2 (IANS) Rising levels of carbon dioxide are lowering the high grain yields of dwarf rice varieties, says a new research from Germany.
A dwarf variety called IR8, which has now disappeared almost completely from the market, succeeded in protecting humanity against global famine in the 1960s and was in the vanguard of Green Revolution.
Declining yields from IR8 prompted Bernd Muller-Rober from the Max Planck Institute and colleagues from the University of Potsdam to explore whether it was linked to rising levels of carbon dioxide (CO2), up by 25 percent since the 1960s.
Using the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana (generally known as thale cress), researchers were able to observe that a higher CO2 concentration results in freeing the capacity of dwarf plant to form gibberellic acid, according to a institute statement.
The CO2 appears to have the same growth-stimulating effect as that triggered by the gibberellic acid. Thus, in the experiment, the dwarf plants gradually lost their advantage and increasingly resembled the ordinary plants.
“Breeders now face the challenge of developing new plants that can continue to provide good yields under the altered climatic conditions,” said Jos Schippers, study co-author.
The cultivation of dwarf varieties is not only common in the case of rice, farmers also prefer short-stalked varieties of wheat; both cereals are the staple food consumed by a majority of the global population.
The researchers are now looking for the mechanism through which the gaseous carbon dioxide influences the growth of the plants.
Tags: Berlin, Germany
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