Vienna - Austria-based construction group STRABAG SE reported Tuesday that its operating profit fell by 14 per cent in 2008, owing to currency devaluations and higher risks in Eastern Europe.

Construction output jumped by 28 per cent to 13.7 billion euros (18.5 billion dollars), while STRABAG's order backlog increased 23 per cent to 13.3 billion euros.

Vienna  - Europe's human rights agencies on Tuesday voiced concern about discrimination and violence against Roma, warning that members of the ethnic group were at an increased risk of becoming scapegoats in the current economic climate.

Vienna -

Vienna  - A blood centrifuge that was allegedly used to dope Austrian cyclist Bernhard Kohl has been possibly found in Budapest, Austrian police said Monday.

Investigations were ongoing to confirm whether the machine found Saturday by Hungarian police in a private home was the one operated by Kohl's former manager Stefan Matschiner, according to a police spokesperson in Vienna.

Vienna - A blood centrifuge that was allegedly used to dope Austrian cyclist Bernhard Kohl has been possibly found in Budapest, Austrian police said Monday.

Investigations were ongoing to confirm whether the machine found Saturday by Hungarian police in a private home was the one operated by Kohl's former manager Stefan Matschiner, according to a police spokesperson in Vienna.

Vienna  - Sports manager Stefan Matschiner has told Austrian investigators that he supplied cyclist Bernhard Kohl and other athletes with doping substances, the Austrian Press Agency APA reported late Friday.

Matschiner, who was taken into custody in Monday, reportedly told the authorities that he supplied the blood booster EPO, testosterone and Human Growth Hormone.

APA said that Matschiner's lawyer did not dismiss this information as false.