Vienna - Austrian telecommunications provider Telekom Austria AG said Wednesday its third-quarter net profits had dropped by 6.2 per cent to 163 million euros
(207 million dollars), mainly due to higher interest expenses after it acquired Velcom last year.

Operating income rose to 262 million euros, increasing by 1.5 per cent from the third quarter of 2007.

The takeover of Belarus mobile phone operator Velcom dampened profits, but also boosted Telekom Austria's revenues, which grew by 4 per cent to 1.33 billion euros.

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.