World briefs

German authorities were able to pin a burglary committed in April on a suspected serial thief after he left a half-eaten slice of salami carrying a sliver of his DNA at a crime scene, police said yesterday.

The 37-year-old Romanian man is accused of breaking into a workshop office in the western city of Darmstadt, stealing cash and two locks and causing damage worth around €3,400, Suedhessen police spokesman Ferdinand Derigs said. "He didn't bring the salami with him - it was just lying around in the office," Mr Derigs said.

The man was already wanted in connection with 19 burglaries and had been taken into custody last month after a routine police road check, he added. Investigations are continuing.

Mediaeval Berlin under car park

A team of experts has unearthed an 800-year-old cellar under a central Berlin car park which they say dates the city back to the 12th century, earlier than previously thought.

The cellar, which dates from 1192, was found alongside the remains of a graveyard, church and school on a site which the archaeologists say formed the heart of mediaeval Berlin.

Museum experts had previously been able to date the mediaeval town where Berlin now stands back to 1237 using church records.

"We are unearthing a mediaeval town in the centre of a modern city. Usually modern cities are so built up which makes excavation difficult - so this is a very rare find," said lead archaeologist Claudia Melisch, running her hand along striped layers of mediaeval soil.

From boardrooms to bedrooms

Britain's "Frisky Fifties" have swapped the boardroom for the bedroom but one in 10 could be putting themselves at risk of infection by having sex without a contraceptive, a survey showed yesterday.

The survey of sexually active seniors in a youth-dominated culture revealed age is no barrier for those with more time on their hands - almost half of those polled were having sex at least once a week.

"These findings shatter the myth that once you hit 50 your sex life is over," said Emma Soames, editor of Saga Magazine which has tapped a rich new market in sprightly, affluent pensioners ready to live their retirement years to the full.

By the year 2025, people over 60 will outnumber the under 25s in Britain. Already the over 55s, prime benefactors from a property boom, own 80 per cent of the nation's disposable wealth.

Judges to bring own toilet paper

A supplier's anger over unpaid bills forced judges and lawyers at a courthouse in the Belgian city of Bruges to bring their own toilet paper to work.

"There have been unpaid bills since June... it is unacceptable," said Justice Ministry spokesman Leo de Bock. "Magistrates actually judge people who don't pay their bills."

He said steps would be taken to prevent a recurrence.

Sarkozy sues Ryanair over ad

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his friend Carla Bruni are suing Irish airline Ryanair over an advertisement featuring her daydreaming about a wedding, their lawyer said.

Thierry Herzog told reporters that Mr Sarkozy wanted a symbolic one euro in damages, while Ms Bruni, a former supermodel-turned-popstar, was seeking €500,000.

"A photo of Carla Bruni costs €500,000," Mr Herzog was quoted as telling Le Monde daily, explaining that her fame as a model meant she could command large sums for advertising.

The advert, which ran in Le Parisien newspaper on Monday, features a photo of the smiling pair in an advertisement for cut-price tickets. "With Ryanair, all my family can come to my wedding," says a thought bubble coming from Bruni's head.

Tiny camera in mouse's brain

Japanese researchers have implanted a small camera inside a mouse's brain to see how memory is formed, in an experiment they hope to some day apply to humans to treat illnesses such as Parkinson's disease.

The study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience Methods and Sensors and Actuators, used a camera 3mm long, 2.3mm wide and 2.4mm in depth, said Jun Ohta, professor at Nara Institute of Science and Technology in western Japan.

Working with researchers at Kinki University, Prof. Ohta implanted the special semiconductor camera inside the hippocampus of the mouse's brain, designing the devise so that a screen showed blue light whenever the camera captured memory being recorded by the brain.

The researchers injected the mouse with a substance that lights up whenever there is brain activity. The camera then captures that light and the visuals come up on a screen.

No drugs for off-duty police

The Dutch Interior Minister wants police officials to stop using soft drugs when they are off-duty as it tarnishes the image of the force. The use of some soft drugs is tolerated in the Netherlands and the sale of cannabis in small quantities for recreational use is permitted in government-regulated coffee shops.

"The minister does not want police officials to use soft drugs, such as cannabis, not even during their spare time. It does not fit with the presentation of the police to the public," a spokesman said yesterday.