Frankfurt  - Union leaders said Wednesday they reached agreement with employers on a pay deal for 3.6 million workers in Germany's engineering industry.

The breakthrough came during marathon talks lasting more than 24 hours and averted the threat of an all-out nationwide strike.

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.

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.

Kano, Nigeria - German President Horst Koehler began winding up a six-day visit to Nigeria on Wednesday, travelling to the Muslim north for a colourful reception by the emir of the state of Kano.

Koehler, whose visit was devoted both to German-African affairs and to bilateral ties between Germany and Nigeria, was treated to a durbar, a colourful display of traditional military horsemanship which is normally held only twice a year, for the Muslim festivals of Eid-el Fitr and Eid-el Kabir.

Frankfurt - Germany is to send Rose Kabuye, 47, a Rwandan presidential aide, to France after judges approved the extradition request Wednesday, a Frankfurt prosecution office spokeswoman said.

Kabuye, a former guerrilla leader and mayor of the Rwandan capital Kigali, was arrested when she landed at Frankfurt airport on Sunday.

Rwanda expelled the German ambassador to Kigali in protest and recalled its own ambassador from Berlin.

Munich - Germany's HVB banking group said Wednesday it posted a loss of 285 million euros (356 million dollars) in the third quarter as a result of the global financial market turmoil.

This compared to a profit of 83 million euros in the same quarter of the previous year for the Munich-based bank, which is the German offshoot of Italy's Unicredit.

A trading loss of 490 million euros coupled with increased outlays to boost credit risk provisions, were major factors in the bank's 2008 third quarter performance, the company said.

HBV shares slumped 8.2 per cent to 3.60 euros after the figures were released.