Berlin - Germany is to re-introduce billions of euros in income-tax relief after the nation's highest court ruled Tuesday that Chancellor Angela Merkel's government had unconstitutionally altered a tax exemption.

The Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe ruled that tax relief on the cost of travelling from home to work and back must be applied equally to all taxpayers.

In a major and unpopular budget-cutting move, the government had limited the exemption since the start of 2007 to people travelling to worksites 20 kilometres or more from home.

Berlin  - German exports fell in October, the nation's statistics office said Tuesday, as slowing global growth undercut foreign orders for Europe's biggest economy.

Adjusted for working days and seasonal factors, exports dropped by 0.5 per cent month on month in October after rising by 0.8 per cent in September.

However, the fall in October was less than expected with analysts having predicted that signs the world economy was rapidly losing momentum would result in German exports slumping by more than 1 per cent. Year on year, exports rose 1.4 per cent in October.

Berlin  - German investor confidence is to fall this month, a key indicator released Tuesday is forecast to say, as concerns set in about the outlook for Europe's biggest economy.

Drawn up by the Mannheim-based Centre for European Economic Research, the ZEW index is forecast by analysts to drop to minus 54.3 in December after posting a surprise jump to minus 53.5 November.

Berlin  - Graphic scenes of young people in drunken incidents form the backbone of a campaign launched in Germany to raise awareness of the negative consequences of heavy drinking.

They include a young man covered in vomit after a night out, a club- goer who has soiled his trousers after excessive alcohol consumption and a teenage football fan beaten up in a drunken brawl.

The images decorate 1.5 million beermats and are also available for viewing as video spots on websites frequented by young people.

The campaign, bearing the slogan: Don't drink too much - Stay Gold, was initiated by police after statistics showed an alarming rise in binge drinking.

Berlin - The marathons at the 2009 world athletics championships will pass Germany's parliament, the Reichstag, with the start and finish as planned at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate, organizers said on Monday.

It will be the first time in world championship history that the marathon races don't end in the stadium used for the other competition.

The walks will also start and finish at the Brandenburg Gate, with a two-kilometres course for walkers to be set up on the Unter den Linden avenue.

Berlin - German industrial production dropped sharply in October, data released Monday showed, adding to signs that the downturn in Europe's biggest economy was gaining momentum.

The Economics and Technology Ministry said output in the nation slumped month on month by a seasonally adjusted 2.1 per cent as a fast contracting global economy hits German industry.

Analysts had expected a more modest fall in October of about 2 per cent.

Helping to lead the October fall in output was a 3.1-per-cent drop in the production of capital goods such as plant and machinery.