Frankfurt - The sudden onset of spring in north-western Europe has sent the plant world into overdrive, triggering a wave of hay-fever from the cloud of pollen over the continent.

"It's very, very unusual," said Gerhard Lux of the state-funded DWD German Weather Service at its office in Offenbach near Frankfurt.

The development has surprised phenologists, the experts who track the impact of weather on seasonal plants.

Hanover, Germany - Attendance at the Hanover Fair, a key expo of factory and industrial equipment, rose this year to about 210,000 visitors, despite the gloomy outlook for the world economy, German fair officials said on event's fifth and last day.

South Korea was honoured among the 61 nations attending as "partner nation" this year, and that status is to be held in 2010 by Italy. This year, the 500 Italian manufacturers exhibiting formed the second-biggest national contingent after the 3,000 German firms.

Berlin - Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis is to visit Berlin next week for talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel, German government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm said Friday.

They are to discuss the world economic crisis.

Latvia has been resisting tough terms set out by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a 7.5-billion-euro (9.7-billion-dollar) bail-out package. The government has foreshadowed huge spending cuts as the embattled Baltic state struggles to meet IMF economic criteria.

Berlin  - German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier suggested in a parliamentary debate Friday that the United States should remove its arsenal of nuclear weapons from German soil.

"If we wish Europe to be made into a nuclear-free zone, that would also apply to the nuclear weapons still left in Germany," he told the Bundestag lower chamber in Berlin during a debate on disarmament.

Berlin - German business confidence edged up in April, a key survey to be released Friday is predicted to show, adding to hopes of a turnaround in Europe's biggest economy. In a major test of the economic mood in Europe, analysts expect the Munich-based Ifo economic research institute to say its forward looking business confidence index rose to 82.4 points this month from 82.1 in March.

Berlin  - German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier condemned Thursday two suicide bombings in Iraq which killed at least 87 people in separate attacks.

"I fiercely condemn these underhand attacks," Steinmeier said. "Our deepest sympathy goes to the families of the numerous victims, and we wish the many injured a speedy and complete recovery," the foreign minister added.