Dresden, Germany  - Japanese school-children won the most prizes at a competition for pupils who are learning to speak German in their homelands, the Goethe Institute said Saturday.

The visiting pupils, aged 16 to 19, formed groups of five to produce their own films or do self-authored stage shows in the German city of Dresden, comparing the cultures of their homelands with the German-speaking world.

The Olympics style event lasted 10 days and attracted 119 entrants from more than 40 nations where German is not normally spoken.

Berlin  - German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier phoned his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi Friday to call for restrictions on foreign journalists covering the Beijing Olympics to be lifted.

In particular, Steinmeier raised the issue of restrictions on internet access for journalists, asking Yang for clarification.

The German foreign minister urged the Chinese government to reconsider the measures, according to a statement from the Foreign Ministry in Berlin.

Yang had responded that China intended to hold the games in the spirit of the Olympic movement, the statement said.

Munich - Siemens announced Friday it was selling most of phone maker SHC to investment company Arques, ending its traditional link with phone production.

Siemens provided no financial details of the sale of 80.2 per cent of SHC (Siemens Home and Office Communications Devices), which is, like the parent company, based in Munich.

Apart from phones, SHC also makes accessories for rapid internet access and internet telephony and receivers for digital television.

Arques chief Michael Schumann said the investment company, which buys companies with the aim of restructuring them and selling them on, aimed to boost SHC's key brands.

Munich - Shares in the world's leading luxury carmaker BMW AG dropped nearly 10 per cent Friday after the German-based group said it was cutting its earnings forecast for the year in the face of a slowing world economy, increasing raw material costs and a weak outlook for US sales.

"We now expect that the pretax return on sales for the year to be at least 4 per cent," BMW chief Norbert Reithofer said releasing the carmaker's latest figures. BMW had previously expected its 2008 pretax profit to top its 2007 level.

Berlin - German retail sales fell sharply in June, data released Friday showed, adding to signs that consumers in Europe's biggest economy are curtailing spending in the face of rising inflation and growing economic uncertainties.

The nation's statistics office said seasonally adjusted retail sales fell by 1.4 per cent month on month in June and by 3.9 per cent compared to the same month last year.

Analysts had expected June German retail sales to drop by a more modest 0.5 per cent month on month and by 0.8 per cent on the year.

Berlin - A strike by ground and cabin staff at Lufthansa went into its fifth day Friday, with the German airline cutting 128 flights from its regular schedule, despite informal talks between the company and the services union Verdi.

Verdi officials were meeting to evaluate the results of informal talks with Lufthansa representatives on Thursday and to decide whether formal negotiations should be taken up again.