Bayern Munich bounced back from defeat to Borussia Dortmund a week ago with a 2-1 win at Bayer Leverkusen which cemented second place in the Bundesliga on Saturday.

A zoo in northern Germany has been temporarily closed after an emu died of bird flu.

Bayern Munich opened up a two-point advantage at the top of the Bundesliga today, with RB Leipzig in hot pursuit after a convincing win in Hamburg.

Bayern Munich strengthened their grip on a fourth straight Bundesliga title with a 3-0 win over Schalke which put the ball back in Borussia Dortmund's court in the two-team race for the title.

Darmstadt, Hoffenheim and Augsburg were the big winners in the Bundesliga today as they each pulled away from the bottom three with significant victories.

Authorities say emergency workers called to a alternative medicines conference in northern Germany found some 30 people staggering and suffering from cramps, apparently as a result of LSD-like poisoning.

A 94-year-old former SS sergeant who served at the Auschwitz death camp was convicted on 300,000 counts of accessory to murder and sentenced to four years in prison.

USA: Pope Francis is a doll. No, really. Organisers of the Pontiff’s September visit to Philadelphia this week launched an online store featuring Papal plush dolls and bobble heads.

WATCH OUT, BMW, a new German rival is on the scene: The sputtering, yet lovable Trabant is getting an electric makeover 25 years after the country’s reunification.

Several hundred cinemas in Germany are refusing to screen the new Avengers film in a dispute with Disney over rental fees.

Police in the German city of Braunschweig have cancelled a popular carnival street parade because of fears of an imminent Islamist terror attack.

Five people were killed and dozens injured in separate fireworks accidents across Europe as people celebrated the New Year, authorities have said.

IT may be the most expensive facelift in motoring history. Toyota budgeted a remarkable €85m for the revamp of the Yaris, which was launched across Europe this week — remarkable in that most motor companies prefer a quick wash-and-brush facelift.

Two people remain in a serious condition after an Irishman reporrtedly stabbed three people in a violent rampage in northern Germany, before he was himself killed while fleeing from police.

An Irishman has died after he stabbed three people in a violent spree in northern Germany.

In a week that saw the end of our international bailout and a return to the international markets, there was more good news yesterday with the announcement of a new energy research centre for Cork.

I HAVE two Annes — one that belongs to me, and one that belongs to the world”.

The savage coastal storm powered by hurricane-force gusts that hit Britain also struck western Europe, causing at least 15 deaths.

It could have been a cat-astrophe but luckily, it’s come to a purrfect end.

Germany’s finance minister admitted for the first time yesterday that Greece would need a third aid package, as a source in Athens said the sums involved in any new deal would be far smaller than previous rescues.

Hamburg today completed the signing of Rafael van der Vaart from Tottenham with the attacking midfielder returning to the club he represented between 2005 and 2008.

Record numbers are expected to flock to tomorrow’s opening day of the Virginia Show in Co Cavan.

The Famous Name roadshow rolled on at Leopardstown last night as the seven-year-old recorded his twelfth win on the Foxrock track when justifying 30/100 favouritism in the Group 3 Jockey Club Of Turkey Meld Stakes.

A top global agri-banker predicts that continued strong growth in world demand will absorb additional supply of EU dairy products after milk quotas are fully lifted in 2015.

LIKE all farmers, I employ the services of a veterinary practice.

A MAJOR expansion at the Liebherr (Ireland) Ltd plant in Killarney will help consolidate the company’s position in the area, according to the German-owned firm.

IT took over two months, but Horse Sport Ireland (HSI) yesterday identified the Sia Group as the consultancy that will undertake a review of Ireland’s poor performance at the European Show Jumping Championships in Madrid.

Riot police fired tear gas at anti-nuclear protesters in a Normandy field today as activists damaged a railway line and delayed the departure of a train carrying recycled uranium to Germany.

Contaminated Egyptian fenugreek seeds are probably the source of Europe's deadly Ecoli outbreaks, health experts warned today, predicting there could be more infections from seeds still in the food chain.

Another victim has died in Germany’s E.Coli outbreak, taking the total to at least 48.

Germany’s health minister said today that he is hopeful the worst of an E.coli outbreak blamed on bean sprouts is over – but warned that the death toll, currently 33, may still increase.

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Simon Coveney, has said that he understands from German authorities that the source of the E.coli outbreak is a beansprouts processing plant in northern Germany.

German health authorities investigating an outbreak of E.coli in Europe suspect cucumbers as being the possible cause of a new case.

A US outbreak of salmonella in 2008 led to a public warning against consuming raw tomatoes. It took three months for the authorities to declare peppers were the real threat.

BEFORE you fall for the scare about E coli in cucumbers and drive your local vegetable farmer out of business, just consider how insanely wrong the authorities were about so many other predicted apocalypses over the last decade.

A dispute erupted today over compensation payments to European farmers hit by tumbling sales during the deadly E. coli outbreak.

IN A surprising U-turn, German officials said initial tests published yesterday provided no evidence that sprouts from an organic farm in northern Germany were the cause of the country’s deadly E coli outbreak.

GERMAN agricultural authorities yesterday identified locally-grown beansprouts as the likely cause of an E coli outbreak that has killed 22 people and sickened over 2,200 others in Europe.

Hospitals in northern Germany are being overwhelmed as they struggle to provide enough beds and medical care for patients stricken by an outbreak of E.coli, the German health minister admitted today.

TWO senior medical specialists have warned that the mystery E coli bug, which has caused 18 deaths and spread to 11 European countries and the US, will almost certainly turn up in Ireland.

MORE than 1,800 people across the globe have been infected in a toxic E coli outbreak — believed to be the world’s deadliest.