Berlin  - The president of Germany's Central Council of Jews, Charlotte Knobloch, accepted Friday an invitation to meet with the head of the German Bishops' Conference, Archbishop Robert Zollitsch.

The general secretary of the Jewish umbrella organization, Stephan Kramer, confirmed that a meeting would take place "in the not too distant future."

He added that the disagreements over the re-admission to the church of four bishops of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) were a matter between them and the Vatican, and did not affect their relationship to the German Bishops' Conference.

Berlin - The hard-driving chief executive of Germany's national railways company, Deutsche Bahn, issued a rare apology Friday, telling employees he was sorry that
corporate security investigators had been allowed to access payroll data.

Hartmut Mehdorn, 66, has run the railways system since 1999, paring costs and shrugging off crises including strikes and financial setbacks that would have crushed
someone less determined.

Critics sensed victory this week after a disclosure that the company's own anti-crime department may have flouted privacy rules.

Weimar, Germany  - The German city of Weimar commemorated its role Friday in the brief flowering of German democracy between the monarchy and the Nazis 90 years ago, with Foreign Minister Frank- Walter Steinmeier saying the Weimar Republic deserved more respect.

German legislators met on February 6, 1919 in Weimar, a quiet provincial city far from the riots and violence of Berlin, to found a republic, replacing the monarchy which had lost the First World War.

Munich - The world needs to take advantage of new diplomatic opportunities to try to put together a new security infrastructure, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Friday.

"The Cold War has been over for 20 years - which means it is high time that we start breaking out of that way of thinking, a way of thinking that sometimes accompanies us like a long shadow out of the past," he said, during opening speeches at the Munich Security Conference.

Berlin  - Playing love scenes is never easy, Oscar-nominated actress Kate Winslet told a Berlin Film Festival press conference Friday.

"It is not something one particularly enjoys," said the 33-year-old British actress, but she said "sometimes it is part of the job. I just get on with it."

Winslet was speaking following the screening at the Berlin Film Festival of The Reader in which she plays Hanna Schmitz, an older woman who has a passionate affair with a teenager, Michael Berg in Germany during the late 1950s.

Munich - Bayern Munich striker Miroslav Klose came through training unscathed Friday and is fit to face Borussia Dortmund in Sunday's Bundesliga clash.

However, there is still no place in the squad for Germany forward Lukas Podolski, who has already agreed a move back to Cologne at the end of the season.

Defending champions Bayern lie fourth in the table, three points behind surprise leaders Hoffenheim, after losing 1-0 to SV Hamburg last week in their first match after the winter break.