Berlin - German premium-car rivals BMW and Daimler are mulling plans to combine more of their parts purchasing operations, including industrial buying in China and the United States, a news report said Wednesday.

Together, the two companies can exert heavy pressure on supplier companies to obtain lower prices for components.

In its Thursday issue, the newspaper Handelsblatt was to quote BMW chief purchasing officer Herbert Diess saying, "we are talking about bundling our purchasing activities in certain markets such as China and the United States."

Munic

Berlin - Scottish actress Tilda Swinton, 48, will head the jury at next year's edition of the Berlin Film Festival from February 5-15, organizers announced Wednesday.

"I'm pleased that the wonderful Tilda Swinton will be our jury president in 2009," said Dieter Kosslick, director of the Berlinale.

"Her commanding screen presence has made an indelible impression in contemporary, innovative filmmaking," he added.

Swinton has received numerous international awards for her work - most recently the 2008 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, for her role in the film Michael Clayton.

Berlin - German peacekeeping troops in remote parts of Afghanistan were supplied with 1 million litres of home-brand beer and wine last year, Berlin confirmed Wednesday.

An opposition politician, Elke Hoff, told the newspaper Bild: "It seems alcohol plays a worryingly big role in camp life."

But officials insisted the troops were not drunk. Each man was allowed under regulations to drink up to 1 litre of beer daily. The camps are largely supplied by air via camps in Tajikistan.

Cologne, Germany - Robert Mueller was on Wednesday picked as reserve goalkeeper for German first division ice hockey team Koelner Haie, after revealing earlier in the week that he is terminally ill.

Mueller is suffering from a fast-growing brain tumor which doctors failed twice, in November 2006 and August 2008, to fully remove.

He went public via his doctor this week with the announcement, with the doctor saying that 70 per cent of the patients die within one year after the diagnosis and only three per cent live another five years.

Hamburg - Germany coach Jochim Loew has criticised the attitude of some players and said the recent disputes with captain Michael Ballack and Torsten Frings were harmful for the team's image.

Loew told Wednesday's edition of the Sport-Bild weekly that professional players should accept being benched and not express their dissatisfaction in public.

"There is a growing tendency that players express their dissatisfaction as soon as they are benched. We would do good to talk about the quality of football instead of players' sensitivities," Loew said.