Berlin - European industrial production plunged by an annual 18.4 per cent in February, according to data released Thursday, amid dwindling inflationary pressures and signs that the global recession has tightened its grip on the region's economy.

The European Union's statistics office, Eurostat, said the sharp fall in industrial production in the 16-member eurozone followed a 2.3 per cent drop in February compared with January.

However, the month-on-month February fall was less than the 2.7 per cent drop predicted by economists.

Berlin  - In the 20th anniversary year since the fall of the Berlin Wall, visitors still flock to the once divided city.

The Checkpoint Charlie museum in the city centre marks the spot where Russian and American tanks angrily squared up to one another in the crisis summer days of 1961.

In the middle of the road, a white hut marks the site of the old American control point. Two men in mock uniforms stand at the ready to satisfy tourists' requests for photographs.

Berlin - The German government hoped Wednesday for a swift decision on the fate of alleged Nazi war criminal John Demjanjuk, hours after a last-minute US court ruling temporarily blocked his deportation to Germany.

A spokesman for the German justice ministry said Wednesday they were prepared for an imminent decision, although they had "no updated information" over the internal US deportation process, which he said Germany was not involved in.

Berlin  - Europe's biggest economy, Germany will shrink by 4.9 per cent this year, one of the nation's leading economic research groups predicted Wednesday.

Dragging down German economic growth will be a 12.9 per cent slump in exports, the Berlin-based DIW economic think tank said. Exports are a key pillar of growth in Germany, which is the world's leading export nation.

Berlin - A rare vintage car, dating back to the early days of the automobile, has been discovered in eastern Europe and has returned to Berlin where it was built almost a century ago. The G2, which is being offered for sale by Car Classics Berlin, was built in 1913 by PROTOS, a subsidiary of Siemens, and is probably only one of three such cars still around.

"The history of this car is simply amazing. It survived two world wars and has since hardly been driven," says automobile historian Burkhard Steins from Car Classics Berlin.