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Geneva (dpa) - The ex-mistress of one of France's wealthiest men was sentenced Thursday to eight and a half years in jail for his murder. She could have faced up to 20 years in prison.

Cecile B., as she is known in the Swiss media, was found guilty of shooting Edouard Stern, who worked in Geneva as a banker, four times while they were engaged in a sado-masochistic sex game.

Stern's body was found in March 2005, in his posh apartment in the Swiss city, dressed in a full-body, flesh-coloured latex outfit, with gunshots to his head and upper body.

Berlin  - In a conscience vote Thursday, Germany's parliament adopted a law which makes living wills binding, forcing doctors to halt treatment of seriously ill, unconscious patients if they wish.

The moral issue had divided German legislators for six years, with some concerned that it might mark a step to euthanasia, which was widespread under the Nazis.

Sarajevo - Mustafa Mujezinovic from the largest Muslim Party of Democratic Action (SDA) was named Thursday as the new Prime Minister of Muslim-Croat Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina, local media reports said.

Quito  - A diesel leak from a tourist ship polluted a 100-metre stretch along a beach in the island of Santa Cruz in Ecuador's Pacific archipelago of the Galapagos, officials said.

Members of the crew of the Evolution ship were cooperating with environmental protection authorities to clean up the fuel spill, officials said Wednesday.

Washington  - A Continental airlines pilot died at the controls of a plane en route from Brussels to Newark, New Jersey on Thursday, according to media reports.

CNN quoted a statement from Continental that the 61-year-old captain of the flight died of natural causes while piloting the plane carrying 247 passengers.

Pretoria, South Africa - Five-time world champions Brazil cruised to a 3-0 victory over the United States to all but qualify for the semi-finals of the Confederations Cup on Thursday.

Felipe Melo in the seventh minute, Robinho in the 20th and Maicon in the 62nd gave Brazil a second successive win in Group B, which will be enough for a place in the last four if Italy defeat Egypt later in the day.