Berlin - Germany's upper chamber of parliament Thursday approved a revised version of a bill on police powers that it rejected last month, clearing the way for it to become law.

The bill authorizes police to use computer viruses to hunt terrorists.

The upper house, the Bundesrat, approved the bill by a vote of 35- 34, a day after the lower house backed the new version, following mediation by a committee of both chambers of parliament.

The bill reforms the federal police and includes powers to break into personal computers during preventive inquiries into terrorism and other serious crime.

Berlin - Germany's lower house of parliament Thursday approved a revised version of a bill on police powers that was rejected by the upper house last month.

The bill authorizes police to use computer viruses to hunt terrorists.

Deputies from Chancellor Angela Merkel's grand coalition of conservatives and Social Democrats backed the new version a day after it was agreed on by a committee of both chambers of parliament.

The bill reforms the federal police and includes powers to break into personal computers during preventive inquiries into terrorism and other serious crime.

Berlin, Dec 18: Aussie actor Hugh Jackman, who is also known as `Mr. Sex', has revealed how he came to be the world's sexiest man and how he manages to keep fit.

Jackman, 40, also revealed that exercise and eating right is very important to maintain one's health and figure and that he follows a strict diet.

"I run 45 minutes every day to the gym, where I row, cycle and lift weights. You have to sweat every day," Bild. com quoted him as saying.

Berlin  - German business confidence is to set to fall for the seventh consecutive month in December, a key survey to be released Thursday is forecast to say, adding to signs that the downturn in Europe's biggest economy is gaining momentum.

With the global economic gloom threatening Germany's key export machine, analysts predict that the closely-watched Ifo business confidence index will mark the end of the year by slumping to 84 points.

Berlin - European inflation fell sharply to 2.1 per cent in November, data released Wednesday showed, adding to the pressure on the European Central Bank (ECB) to press on with its interest-rate cutting cycle well into the new year.

The decline in the 15-member eurozone's annual inflation last month from 3.2 per cent in October came as falling oil and commodity prices helped to ease cost pressures.

The German statistics office also released figures confirming that inflation in Europe's biggest economy dropped to 1.4 per cent in November compared with 2.4 per cent in October.

Berlin - Coordination on Middle East peace moves with the European Union and other states is vital, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said Tuesday on a visit to Berlin.

Cairo was still trying to persuade both Israel and Hamas authorities in Gaza to agree to a new truce when the existing one expires this Thursday. Some Palestinian militants oppose extending the truce.

"The region is going through a very, very critical phase," he said after talks with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. That was why coordination with the West had to be "very close."