Kabul - Two German soldiers were injured Wednesday in a bombing in northern Afghanistan, one critically, an Afghan official said.

A remote-controlled bomb was used to attack an armoured vehicle of the German army in the district of Chardara in Kunduz province, provincial Governor Engineer Mohammed Omar told Deutsche-Presse Agentur dpa.

He blamed Taliban militants and the al-Qaeda terrorist network for the attack.

Cologne, Germany - Volume production of the all-new Ford Fiesta has begun at the Cologne plant in Germany after the vehicle celebrated its world premiere at the Geneva Motor Show in March this year, the car maker has announced.

The new Fiesta, which features the kinetic design of the Mondeo, S-Max and Galaxy, will go on sale in Germany in October. Ford said it had invested around 455 million euros (670 million dollars) in modernizing the Cologne plant that will at full capacity produce 1,900 Fiesta per day in three shifts.

Ingolstadt, Germany - Audi has announced an upgrade of its luxury A6 class that will be unveiled at the Paris Motor Show prior to the complete makeover scheduled for 2011.

The most visible change to the front are the modified headlamps with LED daylight running lights, restyled single-frame grille, bumpers and air vents.

Slight modifications have also been made to the rear taillights of both the station wagon and sedan. Efficient engines have been added to the drive-train line-up, cutting fuel consumption by about 15 per cent across the whole model range.

Munich - As petrol prices soar, more and motorists are considering converting their cars to liquid petroleum gas (LPG).

But owners should check whether they actually clock up enough kilometres to make the high cost of the conversion worthwhile, said Germany's automobile association 
(ADAC).

A test of 50 popular car models showed that a motorist would on average have to travel 51,000 kilometres to make up for the

conversion cost of between 2,000 and 3,000 euros (2,940 to 4,410 dollars), the ADAC said.

Tallinn  - German Chancellor Angela Merkel sharply criticized the decision Tuesday by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to recognize the independence of the breakaway Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Speaking on a visit to the Estonian capital of Tallinn, Merkel said Medvedev's decision was "absolutely not acceptable."

Medvedev justified his decision to sign decrees recognizing the independence of the two regions on the grounds that they needed protection from Georgian aggression.