Berlin - Germany condemned Wednesday the sentencing of 14 activists in Myanmar to lengthy prison terms, calling the verdict "politically motivated."

A foreign ministry spokesman said the reason given by the court in handing down the verdict was "totally unacceptable" as were the "very long" prison sentences of 65 years.

The spokesman said the military rulers of Myanmar were sending "the wrong signals" and called for the release of all political prisoners in the country.

Abuja - Nigeria Communication Satellite Limited on Wednesday denied allegations that Africa's first communication satellite was missing in orbit.

Ahmed Rufai, Managing Director of the company, a public-private partnership, said that the satellite was powered down after technical problems were identified on Sunday night.

"We, in collaboration with our Chinese counterparts, identified some problems on Sunday and had to switch off the satellite to enable us to carry out fault analysis of the situation," he said, adding that the satellite was fully insured.

Seoul - North Korea threatened Wednesday to close its borders with South Korea starting December 1, accusing Seoul of pursuing a confrontational policy against its neighbour.

North Korea would "strictly restrict and cut off all the overland passages" at the inter-Korean border, said a statement distributed by the country's official Korean Central News Agency.

Madrid  - The Spanish government is preparing to toughen the country's anti-terrorism laws as the hunt for former ETA prisoner Ignacio de Juana Chaos in Ireland continued Wednesday.

Dusseldorf, Germany - A Lebanese student, who faces a verdict next week from a German court on terrorist bombing charges, was backed in his innocence plea Wednesday by his fellow conspirator.

Youssef al-Hajj Dib, 24, has insisted at the trial in Dusseldorf, Germany that the July 31, 2006 deposition of bombs on two German trains was a hoax by the two men, with no intent to kill.

Federal prosecutors have demanded life in prison for al-Hajj Dib, saying the bombs only did not explode because the gas in them had been wrongly mixed. Police said the detonators fired and the devices fully functioned in every other way.

Rumors are ripe that actress Amrita Arora is serious about her relationship with Hyderabadi businessman, Shakeel Ladak. So much so that it is being said the wedding bells are expected to ring in March 2009.

The news making rounds in the industry circles is that Amrita and Shakeel are planning a church wedding in Goa. They are also busy looking for banquet halls for a grand reception in Mumbai.

Amrita, whose earlier affair with Pakistani cricketer Usman Afzal ran out after a few years of courtship, has neither confirmed nor denied the wedding rumors.