Berlin Police End Bus Hijacking

Berlin police stormed a bus that had been hijacked by a bank robber on Friday, freeing the last two hostages, one of whom was a police officer. The suspected hijacker was wounded in the assault. More than 20 hostages were originally held following the hijacking at around 9:40 a.m. Friday morning. One of two suspects who had robbed a Commerzbank branch directly in front of the bus stop jumped onto the bus. Before it could travel far, police cars and fire trucks blocked off the street, beginning the three hour standoff. It ended when police special units stormed the bus at 2:16 p.m.

Man Denies He Planned a Bombing

A man denied on the first day of his trial that he and his 23-year-old American girlfriend had planned to bomb the downtown area of Heidelberg and U.S. military installations in the southern German city shortly before the first anniversary of the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks in the United States. The 25-year-old man also denied that he hated the United States and admired terrorist leader Osma Bin Laden. Prosecutors are charging the man, who was not named, with planning the attacks and his girlfriend as an accessory. The couple was arrested by police on Sept. 5, 2002. A verdict is expected to be issued in the case early next month.

Powder Found to Be Harmless

Powder found leaking out of two letters at a German postal distribution center this week turned out to be harmless, officials said on Thursday. The discovery had fueled fears that someone may have been sending deadly anthrax through the postal system. As a result of these fears, postal authorities stopped the delivery of 90,000 pieces of mail on Tuesday.

Decision on Olympic City to Be Made

The German National Olympic Committee will decide on Saturday which of five cities will become the country's official bid city for the 2012 Summer Games. The five cities are: Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Leipzig and Stuttgart. The official bid then will be submitted to the International Olympic Committee, which will consider candidate cities around the world before selecting a final venue in 2005.

Student Confesses to Fatal Kidnapping

A 28-year-old law student admitted in court on Friday that he killed the 11-year-old son of a prominent Frankfurt banker during a kidnapping attempt last September. "It was supposed to a kidnapping that was not to end in death at any point," the defendant, Magnus Gäfgen, told the court. Gäfgen said he was in desperate need of money and viewed the kidnapping as the fastest way to get cash. He confessed shortly after being arrested. But the court threw out the confession because police had threatened to torture Gäfgen in their efforts to find boy, Jakob von Metzler (photo).