A woman charged with killing eight of her newborn babies has gone on trial in a case that has shocked Germany. The bodies were found buried in a fish tank and in flower pots and buckets in her parents' garden in a village near the Polish border. The woman, a jobless dental assistant known as Sabine H, 40, faces eight counts of manslaughter. She could be jailed for up to 15 years if convicted. A ninth baby also died, but too long ago to allow prosecution. It is thought the babies were born and died between 1988 and 1998.

At Thursday's hearing, the woman's lawyer said she would not give evidence at the trial. She previously told investigators she did not harm the babies, but let them die after giving birth alone. She told them she could only remember properly two of the births because, in the other cases, she got drunk when she went into labor. "We already had three children, and my husband didn't want any more children," she said, according to a transcript read out in court. She added that "I always hoped my husband would notice the pregnancies of his own accord". Her ex-husband, Oliver H, who is thought to have worked for the Stasi, the former East German secret police, is expected to give evidence later on Thursday. DNA tests have shown that the couple were the parents of all nine dead newborns. Together they have three living adult children, while the woman has a young daughter with another man. The bodies were discovered after a neighbor found human bones while clearing up Sabine H's parents' garage in Brieskow-Finkenheerd, in Brandenburg state in the former Eastern Germany.

The judge who presided over the failed Da Vinci Code plagiarism case at London's High Court hid his own secret code in his written judgment. Seemingly random italicized letters were included in the 71-page judgment given by  Justice Peter Smith, which apparently spell out a message. Justice Smith said he would confirm the code if someone broke it. "I can't discuss the judgment, but I don't see why a judgment should not be a matter of fun," he said. Italicized letters in the first few pages spell out "Smithy Code", while the following pages also contain marked out letters. Although he would not be drawn on his code and its meaning, Mr. Justice Smith said he would probably confirm it if someone cracked it, which was "not a difficult thing to do". In March, he presided over a High Court case brought by authors Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, who claimed Dan Brown plagiarized their own historical book for The Da Vinci Code. But Justice Smith ruled Mr Brown did not substantially copy Mr. Baigent and Mr. Leigh's work The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, saying it did not have a central theme in the way its authors suggested. The Da Vinci Code, which has sold more than 40 million copies worldwide, features a number of codes the heroes of the book must crack to solve the mystery. A much-anticipated movie version of the novel, starring Tom Hanks as historian Robert Langdon, is to be released on May, 19, 2006.