Munich  - BMW engineers are working on a new car key with an integrated credit card chip for simple pay functions at the filling station or shopping centre, according to BMW researcher Hans-Joerg Voegel.

The chip is designed to communicate with a card reader and the customer only has to place his/her car key on the counter and leaving behind a signature.

But, according to Voegel, engineers are looking at incorporating other personal data such as favourite radio stations, a telephone directory or subscriptions to BMW's Online platform "Connected Drive."

Munich - A 46-year-old mother-of-three who is reputed to be Germany's richest woman and has drawn huge publicity in a "gigolo" case has given a rare glimpse of the pressure created by her wealth.

Susanne Klatten, who reported to police in January that a Swiss man romanced her then tried to extort millions of euros from her, has given only one interview about her ordeal. An indictment is expected within weeks.

Munich, Nov 22 : A team of French astronomers has used the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO’s) Very Large Telescope (VLT) to detect a planet-like object located very close to the star Beta Pictoris, and which apparently lies inside its disc.

With a projected distance from the star of only 8 times the Earth-Sun distance, this object is most likely the giant planet suspected from the peculiar shape of the disc and the previously observed infall of comets onto the star.

Munich  - The clock ticks without heeding the loss of youth and vivacity - causing unease especially among women.

"Young" is no longer a description for people who reach important milestones such as their 40th, 50th and 60th birthdays. While some people have difficulty accepting their age, a few things such as a a flirtation test or a new project can help.

Munich - Two former executives at the German multinational Siemens were given prison terms Wednesday for assisting in a 1.3- billion-euro (1.6-billion-dollar) worldwide web of bribery.

The men, 58 and 69, had admitted being accessories to misappropriation and corruption at the two-day trial in Munich. Kickbacks were paid in various nations including Russia, the court in Munich, Germany heard.

Munich - Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili is to make a stopover in Munich, Germany, Thursday to meet with Bavarian Premier Horst Seehofer, German officials reported on Tuesday.

The visit is part of a European tour includes a speech to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Valencia, Spain on Tuesday. Saakashvili has been seeking European support in his ongoing struggle with Russia.

The meeting in Munich would be his first visit to Germany as Georgian president.