Frankfurt

FRANKFURT — Arid Uka, 21, grew up in a well-kept immigrant neighborhood in Frankfurt as the son of a relatively prosperous, not-all-that-religious family of ethnic Albanians from Kosovo — a group notable more for their pro-American outlook than for mosque attendance. But somewhere along the way, Uka turned very drastically from his upbringing. German officials said yesterday that the temporary letter sorter with the postal service has admitted targeting Americans when he opened fire with a handgun on a busload of 15 US airmen at Frankfurt’s airport on their way to...

Some 20,000 activists took part in a major rally of the local Occupy movement in Frankfurt on Saturday, German police said. Protesters peacefully filled the city center of continental Europe's biggest financial hub in their protest against the dominance of banks and what they perceive to be untamed capitalism, Frankfurt police spokesman Ruediger Regis said. Police revised the initial turnout estimate of 10,000 quickly upward to 20,000 as protesters jammed Frankfurt's downtown business district on what was a warm and sunny Saturday afternoon.

Ford Motor Co. is giving a hint of what forthcoming models will look like with its Evos concept car, a streamlined four-seater with slender LED headlights and a high front grille. Four gull-wing doors, front and rear, were popped up as the car was displayed at the Frankfurt auto show on Tuesday. The outlandish doors probably won't make it to production. And the extreme fastback silhouette, with a low raked back windshield and roofline that sinks sharply to the rear, may be softened.

A group of ground staff at Frankfurt airport is beginning a new three-day strike in a long-running pay dispute. The GdF union called the strike from 9 p.m. Sunday (2000 GMT; 3 p.m. EST) until 5 a.m. Thursday (0400 GMT; 11 p.m. EST Wednesday) after the latest talks collapsed. It follows a three-day strike last week at Europe's third-busiest airport. Airport operator Fraport says it kept more than 80 percent of flights running last week and expects to do so this time, too. Still, German news agency dapd reported that Lufthansa canceled some 140 flights for Monday.

FRANKFURT - German police said yesterday that the body of a man pulled from the Rhine River last week has been identified as missing 22-year-old American Devon Hollahan. Frankfurt police said that Hollahan, of Arizona, who was reported missing Nov. 21, was identified through DNA testing. His body was pulled from the Rhine Dec. 15 about 60 miles northwest of Frankfurt. Police said Hollahan drowned and that foul play is not suspected, adding that he probably fell into the River Main in Frankfurt under the influence of alcohol and drifted into the Rhine.

All Nippon Airways had to cancel two of its first long-haul Boeing 787 flights on a new route between Tokyo and Frankfurt because of software glitches. ANA spokeswoman Jean Saito says the Tokyo-based airline canceled a Jan. 26 flight out of Frankfurt due to a malfunction of the flaps system and a Monday flight out of Tokyo because of an error in the software that monitors aircraft controls. The Seattle Times reports ( http://is.gd/wpYQrq) both glitches were repaired and the planes returned to service.

FRANKFURT - Scientists say a Roman horse head made from bronze and plated in gold has been discovered at an archeological site in Germany. Egon Schallmeyer, Hesse state archeologist, said the head is part of a horse and rider statue and “qualitatively one of the best [pieces] created at that time.’’ The ornamented, well-preserved head was found earlier this month at the Waldgirmes excavation site in central Germany and displayed yesterday at the German Archaeological Institute in Frankfurt.

FRANKFURT - An Islamic extremist who killed two US airmen in an attack at Frankfurt airport last year was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison yesterday. Arid Uka, 22, was also convicted of attempted murder and serious bodily harm for wounding two other servicemen and for taking aim at a third before his 9mm pistol jammed. Uka killed Senior Airman Nicholas J. Alden, 25, of South Carolina, and Airman First Class Zachary R. Cuddeback, 21, of Virginia, in the March 2 attack on an Air Force security team headed for Afghanistan.

The fastest fields in Boston Marathon history will be chasing Kenyan defending champions Geoffrey Mutai and Caroline Kilel at the 116th edition of the world's most storied road race on April 16. The 34-member elite assemblage announced yesterday by longtime sponsor John Hancock numbers multiple athletes who are likely to be competing in this summer's Olympics in London, including eight men who've posted times below 2 hours and 7 minutes and 10 women...

FRANKFURT -- Deutsche Telekom AG chief executive Kai-Uwe Ricke will step down from Europe's biggest telecommunications company today, the company said late yesterday . Ricke, who took over as chief executive four years ago, made the decision after the company's board met yesterday. He had been under pressure from shareholders who were unhappy with the company's lowered profit and sales forecasts amid fierce competition in Germany. German media had been rife with speculation since Thursday that Ricke's tenure was on the edge after the company reported a 20 percent decline in its...

FRANKFURT - The union representing ground workers at Frankfurt airport said yesterday that it was extending its strike through Friday to press its demands for more pay from airport operator Fraport AG. The strikes that began last week have already led to the cancellation of hundreds of flights and delays at the airport, Europe's third busiest, which sees some 1,300 takeoffs and landings daily. Germany's largest airline, Lufthansa, which uses Frankfurt airport as its main hub, said it only canceled an additional 80 roundtrip flights yesterday - all domestic and European routes.

A strike by ground workers at Frankfurt airport will be extended through early Wednesday after leading to the cancellation of 231 flights on Monday, union officials said. Representatives of the air traffic controllers' union GdF said their strike will last through 5 a.m. (0400 GMT) on Wednesday. In their demand for better pay, some 200 ground workers went on strike on Thursday and Friday, interrupting hundreds of flights, although most traffic continued. The majority of the cancellations were flights operated by Lufthansa to destinations within Europe.

FRANKFURT - An Islamic extremist who killed two US airmen in an attack at Frankfurt airport last year was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison yesterday. Arid Uka, 22, was also convicted of attempted murder and serious bodily harm for wounding two other servicemen and for taking aim at a third before his 9mm pistol jammed. Uka killed Senior Airman Nicholas J. Alden, 25, of South Carolina, and Airman First Class Zachary R. Cuddeback, 21, of Virginia, in the March 2 attack on an Air Force security team headed for Afghanistan.

The fastest fields in Boston Marathon history will be chasing Kenyan defending champions Geoffrey Mutai and Caroline Kilel at the 116th edition of the world's most storied road race on April 16. The 34-member elite assemblage announced yesterday by longtime sponsor John Hancock numbers multiple athletes who are likely to be competing in this summer's Olympics in London, including eight men who've posted times below 2 hours and 7 minutes and 10 women...

All Nippon Airways had to cancel two of its first long-haul Boeing 787 flights on a new route between Tokyo and Frankfurt because of software glitches. ANA spokeswoman Jean Saito says the Tokyo-based airline canceled a Jan. 26 flight out of Frankfurt due to a malfunction of the flaps system and a Monday flight out of Tokyo because of an error in the software that monitors aircraft controls. The Seattle Times reports ( http://is.gd/wpYQrq) both glitches were repaired and the planes returned to service.

Prosecutors are asking for a sentence of life in prison for an alleged Islamic extremist who has admitted killing two U.S. airmen at Frankfurt airport last year. Dapd news agency reported that Prosecutor Jochen Weingarten told the Frankfurt state court in closing arguments Monday that Arid Uka deserved the maximum possible sentence due to the brutal nature of the crime. The 21-year-old ethnic Albanian from Kosovo confessed as the trial opened to killing two men at point-blank range before wounding two more airmen and taking aim at a third before his gun misfired.

How to get there The lowest round-trip air fare from Boston to Frankfurt at press time was $336 on Northwest Airlines . Leipzig is 340 miles from Frankfurt, about a five-hour drive or 3 hours by high-speed train. The city is an important rail junction with frequent service. What to do Concerts and musical performances of all sorts take place in Leipzig throughout the year. The big classical music event is the annual Bach Festival, May 14-23. The Classic Open, Aug.5-15, is an outdoor festival in historic Market Square featuring classical, jazz, and popular music performances.

Germany reached the Women’s World Cup quarterfinals by beating Nigeria, 1-0, yesterday in Frankfurt as Simone Laudehr scored on a thunderous volley during a 54th-minute goalmouth scramble in a surprisingly tight game. Goalkeeper Nadine Angerer celebrated her 100th international appearance with a shutout. The host nation, which has won both its games, looked hardly convincing in the three-week tournament it is favored to win. After France routed Canada, 4-0, to also advance, Germany must beat its neighbor Tuesday if the two-time defending champions are to win...

RECENTLY, A pair of undetonated bombs from World War II were discovered in the mud of the Rhine River in the German city of Koblenz. A dry spell had lowered the water level, and the hulking devices suddenly loomed like monsters from the deep. Forty-five thousand people were evacuated in the biggest bomb disposal operation since World War II. One of the bombs was a massive blockbuster, dropped by the Royal Air Force; the other, an American bomb, was smaller, but even more lethal. Both were safely disarmed, and the crisis passed.

Wilson Kipsang of Kenya ran the second fastest marathon in winning the Frankfurt race on Sunday, missing the world record by a mere four seconds. Kipsang won the Frankfurt Marathon for the second straight year in 2 hours, 3 minutes and 42 seconds, barely missing the world mark in mild weather and nearly perfect conditions. "It's OK," the 29-year-old said at the finish. "I'm very happy with the time. The pacemaking was fine, they did a good job. I'll try to do it next year, this has given me even more motivation".