Berlin  - Germany is likely to stay away from a UN meeting against racism next week in Geneva amid western concerns that the event may take on anti-Semitic overtones, a senior official confirmed in Berlin Thursday.

To the dismay of UN human rights chief Navi Pillay, the United States, Australia and other western nations have objected to wording about Israel in a draft declaration and said they do not plan to send any envoys to the five-day meeting in Switzerland.

Berlin  - Gearbox and hydraulics suppliers in Germany still have work in hand thanks to a pipeline of past orders, their federation said Thursday, four days before the industry's principal fair opens in Hanover.

The sector, a key supplier to engineering companies and the car industry, saw orders plummet in the fourth quarter of last year as business customers scrambled to reduce output and costly stockpiles of parts.

Nuremberg, Germany  - Two water-colour paintings of scenery by Adolf Hitler are to be auctioned in Germany this month, a Nuremberg newspaper, the Abendzeitung, said Thursday.

The paintings, "Farmhouse" and "Farm Buildings by a Stream," were both signed, according to the online catalogue, which showed them in black and white. They dated from 1914. The auctioneer in Nuremberg, Herbert Weidler, could not be reached for comment.

Munich  - A German gas company, Bayerngas, confirmed Thursday that it would assist Iran's main oil company to develop filling stations that will supply cars with compressed natural gas (CNG).

Iran has the second-largest reserves of natural gas in the world and is keen to use the gas to power transport. Most conventional petrol-powered cars can be adapted to run on natural gas.

Munich  - Apple said Thursday it has extended the movie downloads service of iTunes to Germany, with about 500 titles from Paramount, Warner Bros., Disney, Sony Pictures and other US studios initially available.

Traditionally Apple delays new launches in its online services in Europe's biggest market well past the start date in the United States.

Berlin - European industrial production plunged by an annual 18.4 per cent in February, according to data released Thursday, amid dwindling inflationary pressures and signs that the global recession has tightened its grip on the region's economy.

The European Union's statistics office, Eurostat, said the sharp fall in industrial production in the 16-member eurozone followed a 2.3 per cent drop in February compared with January.

However, the month-on-month February fall was less than the 2.7 per cent drop predicted by economists.