Frankfurt - The Italian-owned bank HypoVereinsbank said Monday it had taken over a stake of about 10 per cent in German erotic company, Beate Uhse AG.

Rome  - Italy's top appeals court upheld Monday a sexual assault conviction by ruling that "jeans cannot be compared to any type of chastity belt."

The Court of Cassation contradicted its own controversial decision of almost a decade ago, when, in a similar case, it ruled that a woman wearing jeans could not claim to be raped.

Monday's ruling dealt with an appeal by a 37-year-old man convicted in 2005 of sexually molesting his girlfriend's teenage daughter by inserting his hands in her trousers.

The man claimed his alleged victim had consented to his sexual advances by unbuttoning her jeans to allow him to fondle her.

Islamabad  - Rescue teams supported by Pakistan's army on Sunday lost the sight of two Italian climbers stranded five days ago some 7,000 metres up a Himalayan peak as the bad weather continued to hamper the rescue mission.

"When the weather was clear this morning the both climbers could not be spotted at the site where they were seen yesterday," said Mohammed Akram, vice president of Alpine Club of Pakistan. Later on bad weather reduced the visibility to almost zero.

Simon Kehrer and Walter Nones were climbing a new route on Nanga Parbat, altitude 8,126 metres, when rain and storms opened up many crevasses, blocking their way back to the base camp.

Islamabad - Rescue teams supported by Pakistan's army launched an operation Saturday to rescue two Italian climbers stranded four days ago some 7,000 metres up a Himalayan peak.

Munich - A Munich court has agreed to try an 89-year-old former German officer for the 1944 Falzano massacre in Italy, two years after an Italian court sentenced him in absentia to life in jail, co

Munich - A Munich court has agreed to try an 89-year-old former German officer for the 1944 Falzano massacre in Italy, two years after an Italian court sentenced him in absentia to life in jail, co