Germany is keen to boost its already substantial investment in Brazil ahead of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Rio summer Olympics, the new president of the Brazil-Germany Chamber of Commerce said here Monday.

"There are many (German) companies, particularly small and medium-sized ones -- who see prospects for business in Brazil" despite the country's faltering economic growth (0.9 percent last year)," said Thomas Schmall, who has just been elected chamber president for a two-year term.

Britain and France pressed reluctant European Union partners to supply weapons to Syria's rebels at talks Friday between the bloc's foreign ministers that appeared headed for stalemate.

As unseasonal wintry weather delayed the start of a likely showdown over the contested Franco-British push, ministers headed into Dublin's historic castle split over the consequences of lifting a nearly two-year-old embargo to tip the balance on the ground in favor of the insurgents.

One person died Thursday as two helicopters collided over Berlin's iconic Olympic Stadium during a police security exercise for operations against football hooligans, authorities said.

The Berlin fire brigade said in a statement that at least one person was killed and "several injured" when the two aircraft collided at low altitude during a spring snowstorm.

Germany said Wednesday it was prepared to take in another 5,000 Syrian refugees in the coming months in response to deteriorating conditions in the war-ravaged country.

Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich said Berlin would grant asylum to 3,000 Syrians from June at the latest, followed by another 2,000 later this year in response to an "increasingly difficult" situation.

Germany, Europe's biggest economy, has gotten off to a somewhat shaky start to 2013, but that will not jeopardize its expected recovery later this year, the Bundesbank said on Monday.

"The hesitant start to 2013 has not placed a question-mark over the anticipated rebound in economic activity," the German central bank wrote in its March monthly report.

Germany said on Wednesday it had banned three Islamist Salafist groups which officials said aimed to sweep aside democracy and set up a system based on Sharia Islamic law.

The interior ministry said the bans, which come amid stepped-up observation of the Salafist community in Germany, took effect early Wednesday in the western states of Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia.

Corruption scandals have reached the Lebanese embassy in Berlin as a report emerged to the surface on Wednesday that a gang is luring the Lebanese community in Germany to obtain the Lebanese nationality in return for large sums of money.

A report published in al-Joumhouria newspaper on Wednesday pointed out that the forgery is led by an employee at the embassy, who is deluding mainly married couples of Lebanese origin, that he can process their personal papers in exchange for an amount of money.

German federal prosecutors on Tuesday pressed charges against a 35-year-old Turkish man suspected of recruiting for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) throughout Europe.

Prosecutors charged the man, identified only as Metin A., with "membership of a foreign terrorist organisation."

Known throughout the world for quality cars and industrial giants, Germany is now seeking to position itself for the coming revolution, "industry 4.0", powered by Internet.

"The Internet has become an integral part of industry," said Chancellor Angela Merkel as she inaugurated the CeBIT, the world's biggest high-tech fair here in the northern city of Hanover.

Germany's foreign minister warned on Thursday that delivering weapons to Syria's rebels could result in an arms race in the region and stressed the EU would send only "defensive" equipment.

In an interview with the Tagesspiegel daily, Guido Westerwelle said the situation in Syria was "shocking" and said Berlin would do everything it could contribute to a political solution "despite all the difficulties."