Denmark+Briefing+Book

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 **__Danish Filmmaker Canned From Cannes for Hitler Remarks __** Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier was condemned and declared "persona non grata" Thursday by the Cannes Film Festival for saying that he sympathizes with Adolf Hitler. A statement from Cannes organizers criticized von Trier for his comments the day before. At a news conference for the film Wednesday, von Trier said in a rambling speech that he understood and sympathized with Hitler. He said later that he had been joking and issued an apology. The festival statement said the Cannes board of directors "firmly condemns these comments and declares Lars von Trier a persona non grata at the festival." On Wednesday, von Trier told reporters at the "Melancholia" news conference that he had some compassion for Hitler. Von Trier went on to say he admired Hitler aide Albert Speer. The remarks came as von Trier discussed his German heritage. Jewish groups condemned von Trier's remarks and quickly applauded the festival's measures against the director Thursday. Kirsten  Dunst said in an interview later that von Trier was embarrassed by his remarks. **__Danish Navy frees 16 Iranians from suspected Somali pirate ship __** After a firefight with suspected Somali pirates, Danish sailors freed 16 Iranian hostages on board an alleged mother ship, according to the Danish Royal Navy. Four of the suspected pirates were killed and 10 were wounded during the firefight Thursday, the Royal Navy said on its website. The Esbern Snare closed in on the suspected pirate mother ship Thursday while patrolling off the coast of Somalia, according to the statement. "When Esbern Snare tried to stop the mother ship with calls, the mother ship opened fire on Esbern Snare, in which the Esbern Snare immediately returned fire," the statement said. Sixteen hostages and 28 suspected pirates were on board, along with several weapons and some equipment, the Navy said. All the suspected pirates were being held onboard the Esbern Snare while Danish authorities looked into possible prosecution, the Navy said.   **__Danish team robbed of computers, money at worlds __** Members of Denmark’s hockey team have been robbed of personal computers, iPods, iPads, money and other items at the ice hockey world championship in Slovakia. Organizers said in a statement Sunday that the rooms of players and team officials in the Tatra hotel in Bratislava were burglarized during Saturday's game against Germany. Organizers have asked all hotels hosting the 16 teams in the tournament to increase security so this won’t happen again. They say that the hotel will compensate the Danish team for the losses <span style="font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS','sans-serif';"> ** __<span style="font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 22pt; letter-spacing: -0.75pt;">Fehmarn link: Denmark opts for sea tunnel to Germany __ ** <span style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt;">Denmark is to build an underwater tunnel to Germany, cutting road and rail journey time between western Europe and Scandinavia. The Danish parliament rejected plans for a bridge across the Fehmarn Strait in favour of the tunnel, deciding it would be safer and greener. Denmark and Germany agreed on the need for the 11.6 mile tunnel in 2008. Construction of the Danish-funded tunnel is to begin in 2014 and should be completed within six years. <span style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt;">A budget of 32bn kroner ($5.9 billion) has been drawn up. The tunnel will be built between the Danish island of Lolland and the German island of Fehmarn. Both islands are already connected by bridges to the rest of their respective countries. When the tunnel is completed, the duration of a rail journey between Hamburg and Copenhagen will be cut from about 4.5 to three hours, the project's website says.