The Local - Germany's news in English

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• Germany signs EUR 3 bln in deals with Kazakhstan Germany and Kazakhstan signed agreements Wednesday worth €3 billion ($4 billion) to cooperate on raw materials, industry and technology in Berlin.
• Drunken Munich U-Bahn train driver busted A drunken train driver for Munich's U-Bahn metro has been relieved of his duties after being busted driving with a blood alcohol level of 0.2 percent.
• Arctic cold wreaks quirky havoc across Germany The bitter cold is wreaking havoc across Germany in unexpected ways, with the subzero temps freezing an ice cream factory, forcing gravediggers to use jackhammers and driving penguins indoors. But Hamburg is having a party.
• Exports top EUR 1 trillion despite euro crisis German exports topped €1 trillion for the first time in 2011, but fell at year-end as the eurozone debt crisis hit demand for goods made in Germany, official data showed on Wednesday.
• Merkel helps boost conservatives' popularity Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives are flying high in a new opinion poll showing them garnering their best result since her beleaguered coalition took power in 2009. Germans are also more confident the euro crisis can be beat.
• GM threatens major job cuts at Opel German carmaker Opel was left to prepare for the worst on Tuesday as its US parent company General Motors announced "horrendous" fourth quarter losses and warned of factory closures at its ailing European unit.
• Action! Babelsberg film studio fêtes 100 years The world's oldest major film studio celebrates its 100th birthday this month with Hollywood stars and European players ready to toast Germany's mythic Studio Babelsberg outside Berlin. AFP's Deborah Cole reports.
• Minister calls for school 'Facebook lessons' Family Minister Kristina Schröder has called on Germany's high schools to teach the dangers of social networks on the internet.
• German papers win paparazzi case in Europe German media outlets did not infringe on celebrities' privacy rights when they printed sensitive photographs or stories, the European Court of Human Rights ruled Tuesday.
• Immunisations and anal pharmacists Motherhood in the Fatherland follows mum Sabine Devins as she navigates the cultural quirks of having a baby in Germany. In the latest instalment, she tackles immunisations and baby pharmaceuticals.
• Court caps Jewish ghetto pension claims Some 22,000 Jewish people confined to ghettos under the Nazis during World War II are entitled to smaller pension payments than they initially claimed, a German federal court ruled Tuesday.
• Lost ancient artefacts found after 50 years Nearly 50 ancient artefacts have been returned to the Bode Museum, Berlin, decades after being looted by Soviet soldiers. The find has sparked hope that more objects lost during the war will turn up.
• Frozen kraut jam leaves autobahn drivers sauer An accident involving two trucks, a car and a large quantity of sauerkraut caused a 10-kilometre traffic jam on the A5 motorway in the German state of Hesse on Tuesday morning after the German delicacy froze solid on the road.
• Sex helps 'keep you young' in old age Staying sexually active in old age keeps your brain ticking, according to a recent study in which 70 percent of those Germans over 75 said they were happy with their antics between the sheets.
• Syrian spy suspects arrested in Berlin German police arrested two men in Berlin Tuesday accused of spying on opponents of the Syrian regime in raids involving some 70 officers, federal prosecutors said.