Auto maker, MINI, which is a part of the BMW group, is planning to showcase its latest addition to its line up, the MINI Coupe, at the upcoming Frankfurt Auto Show 2011.

The MINI Coupe is designed keeping in mind the driver's enjoyable experience. It is a two seat sports car with an extremely rigid body, bespoke suspension set up and aerodynamic components like an extending rear spoiler.

Frankfurt, Feb 23 - A pilots' union has suspended till March 8 a strike that has badly disrupted Lufthansa flights, telling a labour court Monday it would resume talks with the German airline.

The union, the Cockpit Association, had ordered more than 4,000 pilots off the job from Monday to Thursday in the biggest strike ever to hit the airways in Germany, but has now aborted the strike after only one day.

Frankfurt, Feb 22 - Pilots went on strike Monday at Lufthansa, knocking out 3,200 flights according to the company's skeleton timetable.

The four-day work stoppage will be the biggest stoppage labour disruption in the German airline's history.

In preparation, Lufthansa was trying to reschedule passengers onto jets flown by non-union staff and offering refunds to passengers who must cancel trips.

There was a rush in recent days to book with other airlines or rebook travel within Europe by rail instead.

Frankfurt, Jan 8 - Men who plead, or even whine, leave Heike Wingenfeld cold. A door supervisor at Sansibar City, a swank club, disco and bar in Frankfurt's bank district, she is a merciless enforcer of her boss's admission requirements, which could be summed up in the word "trendy".

Wingenfeld, 45, has been in the business for 21 years and claims the distinction of being Frankfurt's first female doorman.

Frankfurt, Dec 21 :Former tennis bad boy Boris Becker expressed his amazement Monday at how Tiger Woods managed to hide his numerous affairs for so long from his wife and other insiders.

Three-time Wimbledon champion Becker, 42, experienced a marriage-breaking moment of his own a decade ago when he fathered a baby girl in a fit of passion with a Russian model in an upstairs corner of a London restaurant in 1999.

Frankfurt, Dec 3 :The European Central Bank (ECB) predicted Thursday a bigger pickup in the euro zone economy next year than expected, but left interest rates unchanged at the current record low.

ECB economists expect the euro zone to score gross domestic product growth next year of 0.8 percent, a big jump from the forecast of only 0.2 percent which they issued three months ago.

But the decision to hold interest rates where they have been since May made clear that the recovery was still fragile.

Frankfurt - When food spoils it's often because it hasn't been properly refrigerated or it has not been cooked long enough.
A German personal hygiene and detergent industry association in Frankfurt recommends cooking meat thoroughly to kill possible pathogens before eating it. The association has put together a few other tips for avoiding the spread and proliferation of bacteria in the kitchen.

Frankfurt  - They go by a variety of names, including multimedia receiver, network media player, or streaming client. What they share is a mission: acting as a data bridge to bring data like photos on USB sticks or films stored on PCs onto the home television. Some are also capable of accessing the internet as well.

At present this type of device is still considered a niche product, says Roland Stehle from Germany's Society for Entertainment

and Communications Electronics (gfu). "There is a trend toward these devices, though," Stehle says. One new entrant to the battle is Sony's SMP-U10 media box. It is intended to transport photos, films, and music from the PC to the living room, the manufacturer claims.

Frankfurt - The German Bundesliga Tuesday kept the door closed on wealthy investors effectively buying up a club.

In a vote at the German Football League's general assembly, the 36 first and second division clubs voted down a move to scrap a rule which prevents majority holdings by potential investors.

Hanover president Martin Kind had called for the Bundesliga to open itself to outside investment, saying it would allow smaller clubs to be more competitive against wealthier rivals.

Frankfurt - A North Korean junior national team on Monday visited the headquarters of the German Football Federation (DFB) and the nation's Olympic Committee
(DOSB).

The visits to the Frankfurt offices was part of a two-week visit to Germany of the under-16 team of the communist nation.

"The visit to Germany of the North Korean footballers is a sports-political first. We are happy that both sides do their share towards international understanding," said DOSB president Thomas Bach.

Frankfurt - Europe's biggest insurer, Allianz SE, surged by about 5 per cent Monday after the group reported a bigger-than- forecast jump in third-quarter profit.

Munich-based Allianz said net earnings rose to 1.323 billion euros (1.96 billion dollars) from a 2.02 billion-euro loss in the third quarter last year, when the group hived off its loss-making Dresdner Bank offshoot to Frankfurt-based Commerzbank.

Frankfurt  - Dell has released two new laptops from the nascent ULV class. The 13z and 15z are members of the Inspiron series and cost 550 and 580 dollars respectively. ULV stands for Ultra Low Voltage and refers to processors designed to work at lower voltages and use less power.

In the case of the new Dell laptops, that translates into respective battery lives of 11 hours (13z with a 13.3 inch monitor) and 10 hours (15z with 15.6 inch monitor).

Frankfurt  - Joachim Loew will not nominate goalkeeper Robert Enke into Germany's squad for two upcoming friendly internationals after Rene Adler cancelled his appearance.

Loew said on Saturday that a return from illness into the squad comes too early for Enke and that Tim Wiese and Manuel Neuer will be the men between the posts for the games with Chile on November 14 in Cologne and Ivory Coast November 18 in Gelsenkirchen.

Adler withdrew on Friday night stating an eye infection. However, the Bayer Leverkusen man would have only been a reserve player as Werder Bremen's Wiese is due to play against Chile and Schalke's Neuer against Ivory Coast.

Frankfurt, Germany  - The European chief of General Motors (GM), Carl-Peter Forster, may switch to Indian car manufacturer Tata, German media reported Saturday.

Forster, 55, is quitting GM after strongly criticizing the Detroit-based car giant's surprise U-turn in deciding not to sell European subsidiary Opel.

Tata is reportedly eyeing up the GM manager to take charge of its global sales division. A decision was due shortly, sources told German Focus news magazine.

The role would involve launching Tata's budget Nano car in Europe, due in 2011.

Frankfurt  - Tango dancing could help patch up troubled relationships, according to the German Society for Sports Medicine and Prevention (DGSP).

It cited a study done at Frankfurt University in which levels of the stress hormone cortisol and the sex hormone testosterone were measured in the saliva of 22 couples both before and after doing the sensual dance. The couples were also given questionnaires and asked to describe their feelings.

Frankfurt  - General Motors is willing to return a German government loan of 1.5 billion euros (2.2 billion dollars) which helped GM's European unit Opel to avert bankruptcy in May, an Opel spokeswoman said in Frankfurt Wednesday.

German government officials had earlier angrily demanded a refund after GM's board in Detroit Tuesday cancelled an elaborate plan to spin off carmaker Opel under new ownership.

Frankfurt  - Timed to coincide with the release of Windows 7, MSI is marketing a new all-in-one-PC working with Microsoft's new operating system. Like with the Mac desktop computers, the hardware on the MSI Wind Top AE2200 is stored inside the display. It also includes high-end components like a quad core processor, Blu-ray drive and a touch-sensitive 22-inch screen. The computer is available starting for 1,200 dollars. (dpa)

Frankfurt - Fraport, the company which runs Frankfurt International Airport in Germany, has won a tender to expand and run Russia's fourth-largest airport, in St Petersburg, as part of a consortium.

The public-private-partnership contract was signed Friday in St Petersburg, Fraport said.

Municipal authorities have granted a 30-year concession to run Pulkovo Airport by Northern Capital Gateway, a consortium of Fraport (35.5 per cent), VTB Bank (57.5 per cent) and the Copelouzos construction group of Greece (7 per cent).

Frankfurt - Germany's Lufthansa said Thursday it had weathered the economic crisis better than many other airlines despite posting a net loss of 32 million euros (47 million dollars) for the first nine months of this year.

"Today we benefit from the fact that we were on a solid foundation with attractive products and that we were quick to recognize the turbulence ahead and tighten our safety belts," chief executive Wolfgang Mayrhuber said.

Frankfurt - Germany's Lufthansa said Thursday it had weathered the economic crisis better than many other airlines despite posting a net loss of 32 million euros (47 million dollars) for the first nine months of this year.

"Today we benefit from the fact that we were on a solid foundation with attractive products and that we were quick to recognize the turbulence ahead and tighten our safety belts," chief executive Wolfgang Mayrhuber said.