Dusseldorf  - Four alleged members of the Islamic Jihad Union terrorist organisation went on trial in Germany on Wednesday, amidst tight security at the district court in Dusseldorf.

The men at the centre of Germany's biggest terrorism trial in recent years are accused of having planned massive car bomb attacks in cities across Germany.

Hamburg  - Bayer Leverkusen's progress into the German cup final on Tuesday night has extended the list of absentees for a national team stint to Asia in late May and early June.

Germany coach Joachim Loew will be without Leverkusen goalkeeper Rene Adler, midfielder Simon Rolfes and forwards Patrick Helmes and Stefan Kiessling for the games on May 29 in Shanghai against China and on June 2 against the United Arab Emirates in Dubai.

The German cup final is set for June 30 in Berlin.

Munich, April 22 : Scientists have announced the discovery of the lightest exoplanet found so far, which is only about twice the mass of our Earth.

The planet, "e", lies in the famous star system Gliese 581.

The finding is the outcome of more than four years of observations using the most successful low-mass-exoplanet hunter in the world, the HARPS spectrograph attached to the 3.6-metre ESO telescope at La Silla, Chile.

Manila - A German man convicted of raping a 5-year-old girl in his country has been arrested in the Philippines, a senior immigration official said Wednesday.

Immigration bureau chief Commissioner Marcelino Libanan said Holger Arvid Ingo Becker, 47, was arrested in his rented house in Cavite City, 25 kilometres south of Manila, earlier in the month.

Libanan said Becker, who is the subject of an international warrant, would be deported immediately back to Germany.

Stuttgart - Mercedes is giving its luxury S-Class a makeover with several technical improvements and a hybrid version of the S 400 that will be unveiled at the Shanghai Motor Show.

The car maker describes the S 400 as the first standard production hybrid drive fitted with a lithium-ion battery, making it the most economic petrol-engined luxury sedan.

Fuel consumption is listed at 7.9 litres per 100 kilometres which translates to carbon dioxide emissions of 186 grammes per kilometre.