Berlin  - A prominent centrist member of Germany's Social Democrats (SPD), whose outspoken comments have divided the party, sought Thursday to placate his critics while standing his ground on key issues.

Speaking to journalists in Bonn, Wolfgang Clement, 68, who served as Economics and Labour minister under former SPD chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, said he intended to remain in the party, despite an attempt to expel him.

"I am a Social Democrat, and I will remain a Social Democrat," Clement, who joined the party in 1970, said.

Berlin  - German production posted a modest rise in June with the Ministry of Economics and Technology on Thursday also revising upwards its output data for May.

The ministry said production in Europe's biggest economy edged up by a price-and-seasonally adjusted 0.2 per cent in June after falling by 1.8 per cent in May. The ministry had previously reported that production fell by 2.4 per cent in May.

Analysts had predicted a 0.8 per cent rise in production in June.

However, the June rise brought to an end a series of monthly falls in output.

Berlin - Despite growing global economic uncertainty and the strong euro, German exports rebounded in June to report a bigger- than-forecast 4.2-per-cent increase, data released Thursday showed.

The surprise increase in Germany's seasonally adjusted exports in June came after a sharp 3.4-per-cent fall in May as strong demand from the world's leading emerging economies helped to boost Europe's biggest economy's key export machine.

Economists had predicted that the data, which was released by Germany's statistics office, would show exports posting a more modest gain of about 1.8 per cent.

The June rise resulted in Germany's trade surplus widening to a record 19.7 billion euros. Export posted an annual 7.9-per-cent rise in June.

Berlin - The German pilot union Cockpit called Thursday for more than 700 pilots employed by Deutsche Lufthansa AG's subsidiary Cityline to observe a 36-hour strike in support of increased pay.

Cockpit said the strike, which began at midnight and was scheduled to end at noon Friday, was aimed at breaking a months-long deadlock in talks with the airline.

The union said the airports at Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg, Dusseldorf, Berlin and Leipzig would be hit.

Lufthansa said it would transfer passengers to trains and other flights.

Cityline operates about 400 flights daily to domestic and European destinations.

Berlin - Air conditioners in cars boost fuel consumption, but motorists can reduce this negative effect by using them more effectively, according to the German Energy Agency (dena).

For journeys lasting less than five minutes, it is better to leave the air conditioning switched off because energy consumption is highest during the start-up phase, the agency said.

Even during hot weather, it is not necessary to cool the car down a lot. A difference of five degrees Celsius between the indoor and outdoor temperature is sufficient, dena recommended.

Berlin  - A survey of tap water across Germany that found higher than recommended levels of uranium provoked calls from state Environment Ministries for a fixed legal limit Tuesday.

The German environmental organization Foodwatch uncovered levels of the toxic heavy metal exceeding 10 micrograms per litre in 150 of the 8,200 measurements it took across the 16 states.

Levels above 2 micrograms a litre were found in 950 measurements. Foodwatch noted that German law set this as the upper limit for uranium in water used to prepare baby food.