BERLIN, Oct 6 (Reuters) – German industrial orders slid
unexpectedly in August on a drop in domestic demand, adding to
signs Europe’s largest economy can no longer be relied on as a
growth engine for its struggling neighbours.

A 3.2 percent drop in domestic orders drove a 1.4 percent
overall month-on-month drop, the Economy Ministry said on
Thursday, noting this was partly a result of the summer break.
Economists in a Reuters poll had forecast a 0.3 percent rise.

BERLIN/FRANKFURT, Oct 5 (Reuters) – German banks said on
Wednesday there was no need yet to reactivate the bank rescue
fund SoFFin, a move floated by the government amid growing
expectations the financial sector may have to bear a
larger-than-expected writedown on Greek debt.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble surprised the
sector on Tuesday evening by saying Berlin could reactivate
measures used at the height of the banking crisis in 2008, such
as SoFFin, to prevent another crisis [ID:nB4E7KG026].

BERLIN, Oct 4 (Reuters) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s
right-hand man publicly apologised for hurling expletives at a
respected ally who voted against the party line on the euro
zone bailout fund, highlighting tensions within her coalition.

Coalition infighting has damaged its popularity and weakened
Merkel’s authority at a time when pressure is building for
Berlin to offer decisive solutions to Europe’s debt crisis.

MUNICH (Reuters) – Got 48 hours to spare in Munich during Oktoberfest, the world’s largest fair?

Oktoberfest was first celebrated 201 years ago when Crown Prince Ludwig married Princess Therese and invited Munich’s citizens to join the party on the Theresienwiesen (“Wiesn”).

MUNICH, Sept 30 (Reuters) – Got 48 hours to spare in Munich
during Oktoberfest, the world’s largest fair?

Oktoberfest was first celebrated 201 years ago when Crown
Prince Ludwig married Princess Therese and invited Munich’s
citizens to join the party on the Theresienwiesen (“Wiesn”).

FREIBURG, Germany (Reuters) – Pope Benedict urged Catholics in his native Germany on Sunday to close ranks behind him rather than demand reforms or leave the Church, a staunchly conservative message that some who came to hear him found frustrating.

Addressing about 100,000 people during mass at a small airport near the southwestern city of Freiburg, he said the sometimes fractious Church needed to unite around him and the German bishops.

FREIBURG, Germany (Reuters) – Pope Benedict appealed for unity on Sunday from Catholics in his native Germany who have been leaving the Church in record numbers, but many who came to hear him said they were frustrated by his staunchly conservative message.

Delivering his last major address of a four-day trip at a mass for tens of thousands of people at a small airport near the southwestern city of Freiburg, the Pope called on Catholics to unite to behind his own leadership.

FREIBURG, Germany (Reuters) – Pope Benedict said on Saturday the Catholic Church could not accept gay marriage and urged young people to root out evil in society and shun a “lukewarm” faith that damages their Church.

The 84-year-old pope ended the third day in his homeland with a rally for more about 30,000 young people at a fairground outside the southern city of Freiburg, a Catholic area where he received the warmest welcome of his trip so far.

FREIBURG, Germany (Reuters) – Pope Benedict straddled his homeland’s religious and geographic divisions on Saturday, praising the faithful for enduring communism’s “acid rain” effect in former East Germany and then addressing cheering Catholic crowds in the west.

At a mass in the medieval main square during a subdued visit to Erfurt, where only about seven percent of people are Catholic, he praised eastern Germans who stayed loyal to the Church during oppressive years under Nazism and communism.

ERFURT, Germany (Reuters) – Pope Benedict held a surprise meeting on Friday with victims of clerical sexual abuse and expressed his deep regret for their suffering, saying the church was committed to the protection of children, the Vatican said.

The private meeting came on the second day of Benedict’s four-day trip to Germany, where record numbers of Catholics have officially left the faith in protest at clerical abuse, and where the Church faces some 600 requests for compensation.