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Berlin - The German government wants to significantly toughen its sanctions against Iran by convincing banking, insurance and energy companies to break ties to that country, reports weekly magazine Der Spiegel.

Cairo - Egypt’s criminal court postponed on Saturday a hearing in the murder charges against business tycoon and lawmaker Hisham Talaat Moustafa to mid-November to allow for further investigations into the case.

Belgrade/Frankfurt - The German air carrier XL Airways confirmed that one of its aircraft had to make an emergency landing Saturday in Belgrade.

Shanghai - Championship leader Lewis Hamilton will start Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix in pole position after outpacing the two Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa in Saturday’s qualifying session.

Berlin - Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) gathered Saturday to anoint Frank-Walter Steinmeier, 52, the German foreign minister, as its candidate to challenge Chancellor Angela Merkel in the general election next year.

Klagenfurt, Austria - One week after Austrian far-right leader Joerg Haider died in a car accident, his funeral, expected to be a grand official ceremony, was due to be held Saturday in the town of Klagenfurt.

Shanghai - Lewis Hamilton, the standings leader in the Formula One world championship race, gave up the top spot Saturday in the third and final practice session ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix to Nick Heidfeld after dominating a day earlier.

Madrid - Rafael Nadal saved two break points in the final game to earn a victory over Feliciano Lopez on Friday at the Madrid Masters, with the top seed advancing 6-4, 6-4 to join Roger Federer and Andy Murray in the semi-finals.

Washington - The successor to Windows Vista now has a name: Windows 7.