Mannheim, Germany - Economic-stimulus projects in Germany are to begin with roading upgrades in early spring after decisions in January, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a speech Tuesday.

Merkel again rejected calls for tax cuts or handouts to consumers, insisting it was better to accelerate planned investment in German infrastructure to infuse the economy with new money.

Mannheim, Germany  - Wladimir Klitschko used his height and reach advantage to score a seventh-round technical knockout of former heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman.

The referee ended the bout as Klitschko had the smaller Rahman trapped in a corner, as the Ukrainian-born IBF and WBO heavyweight title holder delivered brutal combinations to the US fighter.

After completing his sixth title defence, Klitschko, 32, is now 52-3.

Mannheim, Germany - German construction giant Bilfinger Berger on Monday evening raised its profit projection for this year to 185 million euros (250 million dollars), citing the sale of a French subsidiary.

The company's previous profit projection had been 140 million euros.

Bilfinger Berger said its sale of the French engineering construction company Razel for 137 million euros was expected to produce a bookkeeping profit of 90 million euros.

Mannheim, Germany - German prosecutors said Thursday they will
apply for the extradition of Frederick Toben, 64, who was arrested this
week in London on an international warrant for Holocaust denial.

Toben, an Australian citizen of German extraction, was convicted on
the charge in Mannheim, Germany, in 1999, but an appeal court ordered a
retrial. He then left Germany while he was free on bail.

The prosecutor's office at Mannheim, which wages Germany's fight
against international cases of Holocaust denial, said it was waiting to
be officially informed of Toben's detention at Heathrow Airport.