Berlin - The German government approved a law Wednesday blocking access to child pornography on the internet.

If the law now gets parliamentary approval, German federal police will compile daily surveys of child pornography on the internet and pass them on to internet providers
-who will then block access to the sites.

The move brings Germany into line with similar initiatives in Britain, Italy and Scandinavia.

Berlin - Juergen Klinsmann has failed in his legal action against the Berlin daily taz newspaper following a photo mock-up showing him in a crucifixion scene for its Easter edition, the newspaper revealed Tuesday.

The Bayern Munich coach took his case before a Munich court after he was shown being crucified on the cross in the paper's edition on April 11. However, the court ruled against the 44-year-old former German international.

Berlin - Iranian human rights lawyer Shirin Ebadi confirmed Tuesday that she will defend an Iranian-American journalist sentenced to eight years in prison on charges of espionage.

Roxana Saberi, 31, was found guilty of spying for the United States by an Iranian revolutionary court last week, after she was arrested for failing to have authorized press credentials.

"There is no logical background for this sentence," Ebadi told the German Press Agency dpa.

Berlin - Germany stepped up its efforts Tuesday to create a so-called bad bank to help rid the nation's banks of troubled assets and rebuild confidence in the financial sector.

"We have taken a big step forward" said German Economics Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, following a meeting with finance industry leaders chaired by Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Berlin, April 21 : Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, Germany, Cornell University, USA, and the University of Cologne, Germany, have detected two of the most complex molecules yet discovered in interstellar space: ethyl formate and n-propyl cyanide.

Their computational models of interstellar chemistry also indicate that yet larger organic molecules may be present - including the so-far elusive amino acids, which are essential for life.