Berlin  - Daniel Barenboim, the Argentinian-born conductor, called Tuesday for a new "Marshall plan" under German leadership to rebuild the smashed infrastructure of the Gaza Strip.

The call came in remarks prepared for delivery at a Berlin prize-giving.

He said Germany should learn to "cope with its feelings of guilt" about the Holocaust in a new way, and offer in reparation "to help the Jewish people to come to terms with the Palestinians."

Washington  - US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier vowed Tuesday to strengthen the partnership between their two nations at a meeting in Washington.

Steinmeier called for a new "trans-Atlantic agenda," while Clinton praised Germany as one of the United States' closest partners.

They discussed Afghanistan, which has been a sticking point in relations as Germany has placed restrictions on how its troops there may be used in the broader NATO mission.

Berlin  - A major German car parts maker, Schaeffler, said Tuesday it was putting 20,000 workers on short time because of a dramatic fall-off in orders.

The company, which recently acquired German tyre maker Continental AG in a controversial takeover, said nearly two-thirds of its total workforce would be affected by the move.

The Schaeffler Group employees about 31,000 workers at 25 plants in Germany where the car industry has been particularly hard-hit by the global economic crisis.

Frankfurt  - Despite the crisis gripping the global economy, Germany's biggest airline Lufthansa AG said Tuesday that it had turned in a solid earnings performance in
2008.

The airline said that operating profit for the full year will come in at about 1.3 billion euros (1.67 billion dollars), as a result beating the group's 1.1-billion-euro target as energy costs tumbled during the second half of the year.

Berlin - The global car industry crisis has tightened its grip on Germany's key automakers with sales tumbling by 14 per cent in January, figures released Tuesday showed.

Published by Germany's Assocation of International Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (VDIK) and the country's carmakers' association (VDA) said car orders in Germany alone dropped by 13 per cent in January compared to the same month in 2008.

German car exports plunged 39 per cent to 222,700 vehicles, the VDA.