Berlin  - German legislators banned secret paternity tests Friday, setting a fine of up to 5,000 euros (6,500 dollars) for men who swab a baby's saliva and send it for DNA testing without telling the mother.

The new offence is part of a new statute on genetic tests which has been 10 years in the making because many of the ethical issues are so controversial.

The legislation adopted by the Bundestag lower chamber of parliament also bans testing of embryos to discover their sex or physical characteristics. The legislation does permit prenatal testing for medical purposes.

Berlin - A Berlin court convicted Udo Voigt, the leader of the far-right National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD), on sedition charges Friday and handed him a suspended seven-month prison sentence.

The court ruled that he was responsible for a racist NPD calendar, which called for Germany's national football team to be made up of whites only and insulted a black player on the team.

Berlin - About 1,500 German-based Tamils demonstrated Friday near the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin for a halt in the fighting in Sri Lanka, where civilians are caught in the cross-fire during a government offensive against Tamil rebels.

A spokeswoman said, "We are demonstrating again to press for the German government to do more to help Tamils in Sri Lanka."

The Brandenburg Gate is a central-city landmark which is much visited by tourists.

Berlin - Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis is to visit Berlin next week for talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel, German government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm said Friday.

They are to discuss the world economic crisis.

Latvia has been resisting tough terms set out by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a 7.5-billion-euro (9.7-billion-dollar) bail-out package. The government has foreshadowed huge spending cuts as the embattled Baltic state struggles to meet IMF economic criteria.

Berlin  - German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier suggested in a parliamentary debate Friday that the United States should remove its arsenal of nuclear weapons from German soil.

"If we wish Europe to be made into a nuclear-free zone, that would also apply to the nuclear weapons still left in Germany," he told the Bundestag lower chamber in Berlin during a debate on disarmament.

Berlin - German business confidence edged up in April, a key survey to be released Friday is predicted to show, adding to hopes of a turnaround in Europe's biggest economy. In a major test of the economic mood in Europe, analysts expect the Munich-based Ifo economic research institute to say its forward looking business confidence index rose to 82.4 points this month from 82.1 in March.