Hundreds of flights were cancelled at eight German airports Tuesday, including at the nation's busiest travel hub Frankfurt, as security staff walked off the job in a deepening row over pay.

Almost 640 flights were cancelled in Germany Thursday as security staff went on strike at three airports, meaning disruption for around 100,000 passengers.

The famous Banksy artwork ‘Girl with Balloon’ - which became even more well-known after a shredding stunt during an auction in October - will go on display in the German city of Baden-Baden next month.

Young Qatari and German entrepreneurs, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and women in entrepreneurship stand to gain from the Joint Germany-Qatar Economic Commission meeting slated on February 19 in Berlin, German ambassador Hans-Udo Muzel has said.

Police detained a 50-year-old German man early on Tuesday on suspicion of ramming his car into a crowd of people in the northwestern German town of Bottrop, injuring four, in what authorities say may have been a xenophobic attack.

Police in the German city of Hamburg have destroyed 9 tons of drugs with a street value of more than half a billion euros, a customs spokesman said on Thursday.

German police said on Tuesday they had found a flag of the Islamic State (IS) militant group near the site of a suspected attack on a railway track in Berlin and that investigators were examining whether the perpetrators had any political motives.

More than 11,000 people are listed as missing in Germany, including some 7,000 who are under the age of 18, federal law enforcement officials said.

A car ploughed into a bus stop in the western German town of Recklinghausen on Thursday and the driver and nine other people had been injured, police said.

Germany toughened rules Wednesday for non-EU share purchases or acquisitions of companies that are part of its critical infrastructure, amid growing disquiet about takeovers by Chinese firms.

As in the case of the Germans, the National Day is an opportunity for Qataris to reflect on their national identity not only in hindsight but foremost in terms of the prospects for the future development of Qatar also, German ambassador Hans-Udo Muzel has said.

German prosecutors have launched an investigation into the suspect in the deadly gun attack at a Christmas market in eastern France, a spokesman for the service said Thursday.