Berlin  - An elderly German woman who was taken hostage by Islamists three months ago in Mali was released Wednesday evening, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in Berlin.

The 77-year-old retired teacher was one of four western tourists abducted on January 22 during a cross-country adventure tour in four- wheel-drive vehicles in Niger and Mali.

Munich  - Plans for a new mosque to be built in Munich got the official go-ahead Wednesday, after years of political wrangling.

The city council approved building plans for the 10-million-euro (13 million dollar) mosque to be built in the city centre, despite opposition from Bavaria's Christian Socialist Union (CSU) and another regional party.

A broad political majority voted in favour of the project, including Social Democrats (SPD), Federal Democrats (FDP), Greens and the Left Party, according to a city spokesman.

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Hanover, Germany - A senior Abu Dhabi official said Wednesday he was scouting for investment opportunities in Germany - but denied that General Motors' European operations with its flagship Opel brand was on his list.

In an interview at the Hanover Fair, a major annual industry show, Mohammed Omar Abdullah of the Abu Dhabi Economic Development Ministry said he was not aware that Abu Dhabi intended to invest in Opel, a volume carmaker based near Frankfurt.

Brussels/Frankfurt - A war of words erupted on Wednesday between the European Union's executive and the head of its largest member's central bank as officials accused one another of "surprising" acts and "misinformed" decisions.

Rome/Berlin - A hunt was on in Germany and Italy on Wednesday for a German couple who abandoned their three children at a pizzeria in northern Italy, officials said Wednesday.

Two boys, aged ten months and six years, and their four-year-old sister were found unsupervised on Sunday evening at a restaurant in the town of Aosta.

The 26-year-old mother and her 24-year-old companion told the children they were going outside to smoke a cigarette and have not been seen since.