Berlin - Voting booths in Germany can no longer be equipped with electronic "vote computers", the German Constitutional Court ruled Tuesday.

At this year's general election due in September, voters can expect to use pen and paper, after the Karlsruhe-based court ruled that the machines contradict the public nature of elections.

The terminals, which electronically register a voter's choice,

have been used in German elections for 10 years, including the 2005 general election when 2 million people voted by button.

Berlin  - A former chief justice of Germany's federal constitutional court, Ernst Be

Berlin - After-tax profit at Volkswagen Group rose 14 per cent to 4.7 billion euros (5.9 billion dollars) last year before the automotive market turned sour, Europe's biggest carmaker said Monday from its Wolfsburg headquarters.

Volkswagen's main parent, Porsche Automobil Holding SE, meanwhile reported a dip in its own operating earnings from making sports cars, though its overall profits in the six months to January 31 were up, thanks to income from Volkswagen stock options.

Porsche Automobil owns 50.76 per cent of Volkswagen Group and aims to exercise options and raise that stake this year to 75 per cent.

Berlin - Germany's Defence Ministry affirmed Monday its requirement for a new turbo-prop Airbus military transport, the A400M, after a news report had suggested the contract might be cancelled.

The prototype A400M has never left the ground and the project is years behind schedule. Germany, France and 10 other nations have ordered the new plane, which resembles the US Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules, from the European maker, EADS.

Berlin - The president of the international gymnastics federation FIG Bruno Grandi has said that there were believable indications that China had cheated with the age of some of their gymnasts at the Beijing Olympics last year.

"There were strong indications, but I did not handle the investigation. I had to accept the official documents that I was shown at face-value, I am not a policeman or Interpol," he told the German gymnastics magazine Leon.

Berlin - German Economics Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg said Monday there was no decision in sight yet on state aid for German carmaker Opel, after a meeting with the heads of the ailing General Motors (GM) offshoot.

"No preliminary decision has been made," Guttenberg said.

GM's European head Carl-Peter Forster, Opel's Chief Executive Hans Demant and the head of the Opel workers' council Klaus Peter Franz had jointly presented the minister with Opel's proposed rescue strategy.