Hamburg, Germany - In these dire economic times, when tourists are down to their last shirt and hotels go bankrupt at the drop of a hat, only the most innovative and ingenious hotels can hope to get by on the bare essentials. The new Rosengarten Hotel (Rose Garden) in the quaint Black Forest region of Germany is bucking the downturn by booking buck-naked guests.

Berlin - German Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek- Zeul condemned Monday the murder of Afghan-German provincial legislator and women's rights activist Sitara Achikzai in the Afghan province of Kandahar. "This brave woman wanted to help the people in Afghanistan and applied herself with her full engagement for the rights of women," the minister said.

Achikzai, who was aged in her 50s, was shot dead Sunday afternoon by Taliban fighters riding on motorbikes outside her home in Kandahar city.

Vilseck, Germany - The final trial of a group of US servicemen who were accused of murdering four blindfolded Iraqi men and dumping their bodies in a Baghdad canal began Monday in Germany. Master Sergeant John Hatley, 40, the highest-ranked of five accused, has been charged with premeditated murder by the military court in Vilseck, Germany, where their unit is based.

Eislingen, Germany - More than 20 weapons were stolen from the shooting club of 18-year-old who was arrested in connection with the murder of four members of his family, police said Monday. Long and short range weapons with large and small calibres were stolen from the marksman's club last October, police said. The corresponding ammunition was also missing.

The youth and his friend, aged 19, are being treated as prime suspects in Friday's shootings, in which the father, mother and two sisters of the teenager were found dead with gunshot wounds in the family apartment.

There were no traces of break-in or ransacking in the flat.

Hamburg - Rafael Nadal remained comfortably top of an unchanged men's tennis rankings issued on Monday by the ATP. Spain's Nadal leads with 14,470 points, far ahead of former number one Roger Federer of Switzerland (11,020), Serbia's Novak Djokovic (9,010) and Scotland's Andy Murray.

Berlin - The fate of five Germans held by pirates off the coast of Somalia remained unclear Monday, hours after the captain of a US-operated cargo ship was freed from Somali hostage takers in a dramatic US Navy rescue operation. Germany's Foreign Ministry was intensively trying to resolve the hijacking of the Hansa Stavanger freight ship, a spokeswoman said on Monday. She could not give further details of negotiations taking place.