Berlin  - Nowhere in Europe do Christian, Jewish and Islamic- linked online matchmaking sites flourish as much as in Germany, where people are increasingly turning to the internet for romance.

"For most people the Web is as much a part of life as shopping," says Friedhelm Hensen, Jr., who launched his SingleChrist. de website in 2007.

Hensen's service, The Singles Site by Christians for Christians, reaches far more people than a regional newspaper's lonely hearts column ever does, say media experts.

In August this year, more than 2 million people clicked onto the site, looking for a partner. Hensen says he's delighted when he receives a wedding announcement from a couple who have met through SingleChrist. de.

Nuremberg, Germany - A former top Siemens executive and a former pro-business union leader were sentenced to jail Monday as part of a scandal over illicit payments totalling more than 30 million euros (38 million dollars).

A court in the Bavarian city of Nuremberg sentenced former Siemens management board member Johannes Feldmayer to a suspended two-year sentence, while Wilhelm Schelsky, the former head of the AUB Association of Independent Employees, received a four-and-year prison term.

Prosecutors had been seeking much tougher sentences for both men who had been on trial over illicit Siemens funds which had been paid to AUB between 2001 and 2006.

Paris - France and Germany agree that lowering the Value Added Tax (VAT) is not an effective response to the economic crisis, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Monday in Paris.

"When we lower the VAT, what does that bring? Only lower prices. We think other measures, such as emphasizing innovation and research, would be more effective for our economies," Sarkozy told journalists after a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Berlin - A German court cleared the way Monday for a leading member of the terrorist Red Army Faction (RAF) to be released from prison after serving a sentence of
26 years.

The High Court in Stuttgart, south-west Germany, ruled that Christian Klar, 56, no longer presented a danger to society and could go free in January 2009.

Last year German President Horst Koehler declined to grant clemency to Klar, on the grounds he had failed to show remorse.

Hamburg - European champions Manchester United and Italian title-holders Inter Milan are among some of the continent's leading teams hoping to ensure their passage to the Champions League knock-out stage in this week's penultimate group matches.

Nine-time European champions Real Madrid, meanwhile, badly need a win following two defeats to already-qualified Juventus, while England's remaining contingent of Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea are among other contenders looking to seal their progress.

Munich - Frustrated Germany forward Lukas Podolski has told his club Bayern Munich that he wants to leave the Bundesliga champions during the upcoming winter break, the Bild daily reported on Monday.

Bild said that Podolski, 23, made this move even though Munich manager Uli Hoeness on the weekend ruled out any departure during the January transfer window.

"I have told those responsible that I want to leave in winter," Podolski was quoted as telling Bild. "I have reached the decision that I want to leave the club in winter."