Berlin's highest court ruled Monday that convicts cannot have Christmas trees in their cells out of concern that they may use them to smuggle in drugs.

The decision overturns a ruling by a lower court which allowed prisoners to decorate their cells with a tree of "no more than 50 centimeters (19.7 inches) in height."

A giant soccer ball will hover over the city of Berlin during next summer's World Cup games.

The spherical observation platform towards the top of Berlin's trademark television tower is to be decked out as a soccer ball, given that local authorities will grant permission to do so.

A German thief steals a car navigation system and auctions it online back to the owner.

The thief is now cooling his heels in jail. Police in Berlin say the 26-year-old owner spotted the device on an Internet in-auction site. He then quickly re-acquired the in-car navigation system that the thief stole from his car some two weeks prior.

A 31 year-old man has been arrested in Berlin, Germany after being busted while scratching large penis-shaped gouges into the paint of two cars.

The man has been under investigation for vandalizing around 330 vehicles in the region over the last few months that had also been marked with the same penis insignia.

A Berlin grandmother announces she will retire when she turns 64 next year from her 49 year position as a prostitute in the city's diplomatic quarter.

Renate Dolle told Germany's Bild newspaper, "I've got a lot of regular clients."