German royals marry with pomp (AP)

BERLIN – Prince Georg Friedrich Ferdinand of Prussia, great-great-grandson of Kaiser Wilhelm II, married Princess Sophie of Isenburg Saturday, a royal wedding that has rekindled German interest in the nation's long-defunct royals.

The couple were married in a church in Potsdam, outside Berlin, the former seat of the prince's family that ruled much of Germany until the monarchy was abolished in 1918.

After Saturday's ceremony, the couple traveled by horse-drawn carriage to Sanssouci Palace for a dinner and ball. Several hundred onlookers lined the streets outside of the church to see the couple, who were relatively unknown until the announcement of the wedding. Both work as consultants in Berlin.

The 33-year-old bride wore a dress designed by Wolfgang Joop, and a diamond tiara belonging to her family. The 35-year-old groom was dressed in a top hat and tails.

The event was broadcast live on local public TV, sparking protest from members of the former communist Left party, and was splashed across the pages of newspapers and glossy magazines. The couple held a civil ceremony on Friday.

From 1871, the Kings of Prussia also served as German Emperors, with Wilhelm II being the last. He abdicated in 1918, following World War I, and the German monarchy was dismantled.

Descendants of German royal families still carry their titles, although they have no meaning and are legally considered part of their names.

Germans view their own aristocrats skeptically, but many ardently follow the royal houses of their European neighbors. Both this year's major royal weddings, in London and Monaco, were broadcast live on German TV, attracting millions of viewers.

(This version corrects that the prince is the great-great-grandson of the Kaiser.)

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UK spies sought German movie extra and Nazi agent (AP)

LONDON – At the end of World War II, British spies were in pursuit of a charismatic, multilingual German agent who had befriended Hollywood celebrities and persuaded British and American detainees to broadcast propaganda for the Nazis.

Secret files from the MI5 spy agency declassified Friday reveal the colorful story of Werner Plack, a German agent who moved from the film sets and nightclubs of prewar Los Angeles to the hotels of wartime Berlin and occupied Paris.

A Nazi interrogated by MI5 described Plack as a "freelance propaganda agent."

MI5 said it was eager to find him because he had "taken part in the recruitment of British renegades" who helped the Nazi war effort.

He was involved in persuading British comic writer P.G. Wodehouse to make radio broadcasts from Berlin for an American audience in 1941 — broadcasts that caused outrage in Britain.

MI5 sources filled in a vivid picture of Plack, described as having an "elegant appearance," a "strong build" and "good teeth."

U.S. officials told the British he had lived for years in Los Angeles, where he worked as a movie extra and for German consul Georg Gyssling, "his duties being to report to Gyssling on important film personages."

He also "was engaged in selling German wines to well known members of the film colony," said the report, which added that Plack "was reported to drink alcohol to excess and to possess a poor credit record."

In June 1940 he got into a bar brawl with a man "who had expressed resentment at statements made by Plack concerning Hitler."

In August 1940, Plack boarded a liner in San Francisco bound for Japan — carrying, U.S. authorities suspected, American secrets disguised in code in religious texts. His papers were searched when the ship stopped in Honolulu, but no coded messages were found.

Plack returned to Germany, where he worked for the Foreign Ministry to find English-speaking propagandists for the Nazis.

Witnesses reported seeing him in the presence of Wodehouse, the creator of Jeeves and Wooster, whose controversial broadcasts led some in Britain to accuse him of being a Nazi collaborator.

Questioned by MI5 near the end of the war, Wodehouse called the broadcasts a "hideous mistake" and said "I never had any intention of assisting the enemy."

And Plack seemed to be disappointed in Wodehouse. A detainee told MI5 that "Plack told me that the intention had been to use Wodehouse for propaganda purposes, but he had refused, after having spoken a few times, to broadcast any more on the German radio."

The file ends in December 1945, at which point Plack's whereabouts were unknown.

Online: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/

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German group withdraws Putin 'role model' prize (AFP)

BERLIN (AFP) – Red-faced organisers of a prominent German political prize bowed to growing pressure Saturday and went back on a decision to give Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin a major award.

The Werkstatt Deutschland organisation cited "massive criticism in the media and the political world" over plans to honour Putin with the Quadriga Award, recognising "role models for enlightenment, dedication and the public good."

The retraction came after a week of controversy following the decision to award Putin, Russia's former president and for many still the real political force in the country.

Outraged critics said any award to Putin would make a mockery of previous winners of the prize, who include several leading rights activists.

The Russian leader has been accused of presiding over serious human rights abuses during his time in power, particularly in relation to the conduct of the conflict in Chechnya.

Among the dissenters were several members of the Werkstatt executive committee, who walked out in disgust, but at least two former winners of the prize also objected.

Both the 2009 laureate, Czech playwright, former dissident and onetime president Vaclav Havel, and last year's winner Danish artist Olafur Eliasson spoke out against the decision.

Eliasson had sent back his prize -- a sculpture of Berlin's Brandenburg Gate -- and Havel was reportedly preparing to do the same.

"It pains us all that (Havel) apparently no longer sees fit to remain in the fold of recipients," said Werkstatt Deutschland in its statement Saturday.

The Quadriga panel said it had made its about-turn with "great regret", because of "growing pressure that was more and more unbearable" and the risk of the controversy escalating further.

The organisers also "apologised to everyone involved", as Havel welcomed the latest decision.

"Vaclav Havel thinks it was very wise of the panel to reconsider its choice," his secretary Sabina Tancevova told AFP.

The row came ahead of talks on Monday between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in the northern city of Hanover.

But in Moscow, Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov played down the affair, insisting it would not affect relations between the two countries.

"This has nothing to do with Russian-German ties," Peskov told AFP.

The Putin government would "treat with respect any decision by this organisation", he added.

Peskov told the Interfax news agency: "Vladimir Putin is the holder of many international awards, who does not need a further acknowledgement."

The panel of 20 leading politicians, journalists and businessmen had decided to honour Putin only after a heated debate, said Werkstatt.

When the panel did opt for Putin, it was in recognition of his work towards developing "new relations of confidence between Russia, Germany and the European Union", according to the original citation.

The prize has been awarded every year since 2003 on October 3, the anniversary of German unification.

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German hackers convicted of stealing Lady Gaga songs (AFP)

BERLIN (AFP) – Two young hackers were convicted in Germany Thursday of stealing new songs from stars such as Lady Gaga and Mariah Carey and offering them for sale on the Internet, a court said.

The local court in the western city of Duisburg found the defendants, aged 18 and 23, guilty of dozens of counts of violating copyrights and hacking confidential data, a spokesman said. Their names were not released.

The teenager was handed an 18-month sentence at a young offenders' institute while the older defendant received an 18-month suspended sentence.

The two used Trojan horse software to gain access to the computers and e-mail accounts of the managers of high-profile artists, took unpublished songs and offered them for sale or download in 2009 and 2010.

The new material came from top-selling stars including Carey, Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, Leona Lewis and Kesha, the court said. Prosecutors say the two earned more than 15,000 euros ($21,000) with the scheme.

In addition, the 18-year-old downloaded explicit private photos from Kesha's computer and blackmailed her to give him an audio "shout out" which he could use to boost his own status in the hacker scene.

"The court considered the fact that both defendants are attested to be highly addicted to the Internet to be a mitigating factor," the spokesman told AFP, adding that full confessions given to the court had also counted in their favour.

Defence attorneys had asked the court to call the affected artists as witnesses but the judges rejected the bid.

The 18-year-old, identified in the German press only as Deniz A., had sent a letter of apology to Lady Gaga in December that was published in the daily Bild.

"Dear Lady Gaga," Deniz A., who reportedly called himself DJ Stolen, wrote.

"I am ashamed of what I have done. I did not think about the consequences."

The court said it would review his detention within six months and consider converting it to a suspended sentence.

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German playboy Gunter Sachs kills self at 78 (AFP)

PARIS (AFP) – Legendary German playboy Gunter Sachs, a former husband of French bombshell Brigitte Bardot, killed himself at his Swiss chalet, his ex-wife's office told AFP. He was 78.

Separately, his son Rolf Sachs confirmed the death to German celebrity magazine Bunte, and the German newsweekly Focus said he had shot himself. Swiss police could not immediately confirm the reports.

Sachs was a veteran of the go-go 1960s who helped make the French Riviera resort Saint Tropez a playground for rich and beautiful celebrities, such as film star Bardot, who was said to be devastated by the news.

"We called Gunter Sachs's private secretary who confirmed the suicide to us, but we have no details on the circumstances," an official at Bardot's animal rights foundation told AFP.

The source said Bardot "has been informed and is devastated. She had kept close ties with Gunter Sachs, who was a guest when we celebrated 20 years of the foundation."

A billionaire philanthropist and art collector, Sachs was the grandson of the found of car giant Opel and the third of Bardot's three husbands.

A few hours after meeting her for the first time he had a helicopter fly over her famous Cote d'Azur home, La Madrague, and shower it with hundreds of red roses.

"It's not every day that a man drops a tonne of roses in your yard," she later wrote.

The couple married a few weeks later on July 14, 1966, in Las Vegas. The divorced just over three years later.

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