Wiesbaden, Germany - Annual inflation in Germany stood at zero in October, preliminary results by the Federal Statistics Office showed Wednesday.

The October figure compared to a revised minus 0.3 per cent for September.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices climbed 0.1 per cent from September to October, mainly as a result of higher fuel prices, the statistics office said.

The statistics office calculated its figures based on data from six of Germany 16 federal states.(dpa)

Wiesbaden, Germany  - One or more mysterious snipers have been firing bullets into new cars on the backs of car transporters for the past year in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, German police said Friday.

From July 2008 to this month, police logged 225 cases in Germany alone. No one has been injured.

BKA federal police in Wiesbaden said there was no pattern to the attacks, it was unclear what calibre of weapon was being used, and detectives were unsure if they were hunting one person or a group.

Wiesbaden, Germany - The five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany met near Frankfurt on Wednesday to discuss Iran's controversial nuclear programme.

The purpose of the meeting, at which no resolution was expected, was to "consult on possible courses of action," a spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry said.

On Tuesday, Iran signalled its willingness to enter a new round of talks on its nuclear programme, following threats of further sanctions from the so-called 5+1 group of states.

Wiesbaden, Germany  - Immigration to Germany remained stable in 2008 in comparison with the previous year, with 682,000 people moving to the country, the National Office for Statistics announced on Thursday.

The biggest wave of immigration consisted of 119,000 people from Poland, followed by 47,000 Romanians. The figures were bolstered further by immigrants from Turkey, Hungary and Bulgaria.

The statistics include 108,000 German nationals taking up residence in German. They arrived predominantly from Poland, the US, Switzerland and Spain.(dpa)

Wiesbaden, Germany - Parties campaigning for smokers' rights, free internet downloads and anarchy are among the 52 parties and political groups who have applied to enter the German elections, according to the country's Election Commissioner Tuesday.

A decision on whether the political groups meet the criteria to contest the September 27 vote will now be made on Friday.

The parties were required to submit applications by the end of June, expect for those who are already represented in the lower house or Bundestag, or have at least five seats in a state assembly.

Among the smaller contenders are the Pirate Party, which wants free internet downloads, the anti-fascist Pogo Party and the Pensioners Party.

Wiesbaden, Germany  - The Rhine seems to take its time beside the Rheinsteig trail, meandering in sweeping arcs past gentle slopes and vineyards between Wiesbaden and Bonn. Now and then rugged cliffs narrow the course of its dark waters, which mirror the half-timbered houses on the shoreline in splashes of colour.

The river swerves as if to draw out its own enjoyment of the view. Near Boppard, it even doubles back in a long loop before heading north again. All this is spread out like a tablecloth before hikers on the Rheinsteig trail, much of which is in the Upper Middle Rhine Valley, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Wiesbaden, Germany  Everyone knows that smoking is unhealthy for you. Nonetheless, reports the German Centre for Addiction Questions, one in every four German adults continues to smoke.

Quitting is easier said than done. The problems are often underestimated, says Rainer Mathias Dunkel, a doctor of psychosomatic medicine and psychotherapy in Wiesbaden. The danger of relapse is very high.

Men aged 35 to 45 are the most likely to smoke. In general, people have their first puff at age 13. But the number of young smokers is on the decline.

"In 2001, about a third of all 12 to 17-year-olds smoked. In 2008, it was 15 per cent," says Marita Volker-Albert of the German Federal Centre for Health Questions in Cologne.

Wiesbaden, Germany - Former Polish president Lech Walesa told a roomful of German journalists Monday he had no regrets about his part in bringing down the communists 20 years ago.

"If I had to re-live it, I'd do the same things all over again," he said in the central German city of Wiesbaden as he described Poland's Round Table discussions between the Solidarity trade union and the communists which began in April 1989.

Wiesbaden, Germany  - It's sometimes possible to stop unexpected heart palpitations by drinking a cold, carbonated drink quickly.

The point is to build up pressure on the chest and belly and force a belch, says the BDI Professional Association of German Internists. That stimulates various pressure receptors and can help normalize the heartbeat.

Wiesbaden, Germany  - Germany's consumer price index for May 2009 is expected to show 0.0 per cent inflation compared to the same month last year, for the first time since 1987, according to preliminary figures released Wednesday.

The data are based on early results from six federal German states, Germany's Federal Statistical Office reported.

May's consumer price index dropped 1 per cent compared to April 2009, which in turn represented an increase of 0.7 per cent over April last year.

Wiesbaden, Germany - Sales by German industrial companies held steady from February to March, federal statisticians said Monday in Wiesbaden, surprising analysts who had expected a decline.

However, March sales were down 22 per cent year-on-year, the Federal Statistics Office said.

But month-on-month, turnover by process industries was up 1.5 per cent in real terms after calendar adjustment, the first gain in the figure since last August. Earlier German industrial output figures had also indicated output was steady from February to March. (dpa)

Wiesbaden, Germany - German breweries sold less beer than ever in the first quarter of 2009 as the recession and a smoking ban in bars took its toll, according to figures released Thursday.

The Federal Statistics Office said sales of the amber liquid were down 6.8 per cent from a year ago to 20.7 million hectolitres, the lowest amount since records were first kept in 1993.

Some 86.3 per cent of the beer produced in Germany is for domestic consumption. Exports to Germany's neighbours in the European Union slumped 12.5 per cent to 2.2 million hectolitres.

Wiesbaden, Germany  - Rocking a chair back and forth is good for a child's body and mental capacity, according to a study conducted in Germany.

The study found that the rocking motion can reduce pressure on the backbone that can have a negative impact on body posture, breathing and organ function.

The study also found that rocking a chair can also improve a child's concentration and attention span.

Wiesbaden, Germany  - Patients with kidney stones should follow a low-purine diet, according to Germany's Professional Association of Internists.

Such a diet can reduce the concentration of uric acid in the blood which is linked to the formation of kidney stones.

Foods containing low levels of purine include eggs, fruit, vegetables and dairy products. Sufferers can also reduce the levels

of uric acid in the blood by drinking a minimum of three litres of fluids a day such as mineral water, diluted fruit juices or tea.

Wiesbaden, Germany  - German trade with South Korea declined markedly last year, statisticians said Friday, just three days before South Korea opens a major trade promotion at the annual Hanover Fair.

The data showed German exports to South Korea off by 16 per cent in annual terms in the fourth quarter of 2008, while South Korea's exports in the other direction declined 6 per cent.

Wiesbaden - Key German manufacturing industry sales fell by a record 23.3 per cent year on year in February, figures released Tuesday showed. The nation's statistics office said the plunge came in the wake of a dramatic 27.5 per cent drop in foreign manufacturing turnover for Europe's biggest economy. Domestic sales slumped by 19.5 per cent over the previous year.

Leading the fall was the country's car industry with auto makers' turnover plummeting 39.6 per cent in February compared to the same month in 2008.

Wiesbaden, Germany  - Germany's inflation in March was confirmed Thursday to have been the lowest this decade.

The Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden confirmed earlier preliminary data showing the rise in retail prices had been just 0.5 per cent in annual terms, equivalent to that in July 1999.

The rate reflects the current economic slowdown, particularly the fallback in the world price of oil and some foodstuffs.

Month on month, the cost of living in Germany fell 0.1 per cent between February and March. (dpa)

Wiesbaden, Germany  - German exports continued their drastic decline in February, with a year-on-year drop of 23.1 per cent, as the global recession continued to take its toll on the German economy, data released Wednesday showed.

Exports reached a total of 64.8 billion euros (85.4 billion dollars), the National Office for Statistics said. Imports also fell by 16.4 per cent, to a total of 56.2 billion euros.

Seasonally adjusted exports fell by 0.7 per cent compared to the previous month, while imports dropped by 4.2 per cent.

Wiesbaden, Germany - Steel production in Germany dropped by half in the year up to March, the steepest decline since unification nearly 20 years ago, according to figures released Tuesday.

The Federal Statistics Office said German steelworks produced 2.1 million tons of raw steel and 1.28 million tons of pig iron last month, 49.8 per cent and 50.3 per cent below the levels of March 2008.

Compared to February, raw steel production was 17.5 per cent lower and pig iron production down by 14.2 per cent, the figures showed.

Wiesbaden, Germany - Germany experienced an unexpected drop in birth rates in 2008, while more people died than the previous year, according to figures released Tuesday.

The Office of National Statistics estimates that 675,000 babies were born last year, a drop of 1.1 per cent compared to the previous year's figure of 683,000.

Earlier estimates had anticipated a possible increase in birth rates over 2007.

In contrast, 844,000 people died in Germany in 2008, which is 2.4 per cent more than the previous year.