A scrap of bone found in a cave in Siberia has shed light on the genetic odyssey of an enigmatic group of humans called the Denisovans, scientists reported on Thursday.

The existence of the Denisovans only emerged in 2010, through a piece of finger bone and two molars unearthed at the Denisova Cave in southern Siberia's Altai Mountains and dated to around 80,000 years ago.

Germany's men's Olympic hockey team is facing a bill for damages of 500,000 euros (U.S. $626,516) after the party they held on a cruise ship to celebrate their London 2012 gold medals got out of hand.

After their 2-1 win over Holland saw them retain the Olympic title they won in Bejing, the Germans let off steam on the MS Deutschland in London's West India Quay on August 11 in a party organized by a Berlin-based events firm.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel met China's premier Thursday on her second visit to Beijing in seven months, as Europe's debt crisis begins to drag on the two global economic powers.

With the nearly three-year-old Eurozone debt crisis showing signs of spreading to China, the world's second largest economy, Beijing views Germany as a key player in tackling the problem.

Preventing the European Central Bank from buying bonds issued by countries like Italy and Spain could drive up inflation in Germany, 0 warned Wednesday in an interview.

Monti's comments published in the Italian daily Il Sole 24 Ore a few hours before he was due in Berlin argued for resuming a revamped ECB bond-purchasing program that has been opposed by the influential German central bank.

Syrian opposition activists gathered in Berlin said Tuesday that it was too soon to form a transition post-Assad government after France said it would recognize a new provisional administration.

The opposition figures, meeting in the German capital to present a political roadmap after a possible ouster of President Bashar Assad, said it was premature to try to set up a new state.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel this week makes her second trip of the year to China, with the Eurozone debt crisis taking center stage as it begins to drag on the two global economic powers.

Merkel was due to take nine ministers with her and a high-powered business delegation for the visit Thursday and Friday to Beijing and Tianjin which includes talks with Premier Wen Jiabao and a joint cabinet meeting.

Germany's president commemorated on Sunday the 20th anniversary of the country's worst post-war racist violence, saying Germans were "duty-bound" remember it and learn from it.

President Joachim Gauck said the riots, which saw a mob of racist extremists mount a five-day siege of a hostel for asylum-seekers was "unfortunately still a stigma today" for the northern city of Rostock.

British and German spies are involved in covert operations to help Syrian rebels in their increasingly bloody fight to topple the regime of President Bashar Assad, press reports said Sunday.

German and British spies were passing on information about Syrian troop movements to the rebels who took up arms against Assad's regime over a year ago in the face of its brutal crackdown on protests, they said.

A far-right group displayed a caricature of the Prophet Mohammed outside a Berlin mosque Saturday amid a heavy police presence, while far-leftists and anti-Nazis staged a counter-demonstration.

The protest by some 50 militants of the Pro Deutschland group aimed at Islamist extremists went ahead after a court allowed them to brandish copies of cartoons whose original appearance in Denmark sparked violent reactions across the globe.

Germany's top court ruled Friday that the military may conduct combat operations within the country's borders in case of a terror attack of "catastrophic proportions", ending a post-war taboo.

The Federal Constitutional Court said the Bundeswehr armed forces could deploy under strict conditions in case of an assault in Germany with the potential for scores of casualties.