Climate conference

Danish police arrested 210 demonstrators in the Christiania squat in Copenhagen, a refuge for hippies and artists since the 1970s.

Police said the protesters had set alight barricades and some had thrown petrol bombs as officers tried to put out the fires.

Large numbers of climate protesters had been at the squat for a party on Monday night. A witness told Danish television that police had blocked all the exits from the refuge and had then fired tear gas.

Earlier in the day, 17 people were arrested at a rally to highlight the plight of climate refugees.

The majority of those detained have since been released.

The arrests follow the mass detention of about 900 protesters at the weekend during which Danish police were accused of using heavy-handed measures.

Warning from the UN

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Copenhagen on Tuesday, where he will stay until the climate talks end on Friday. After flying into the Danish capital, Ban told news agency Associated Press that rich and poor countries must "stop pointing fingers" and said countries have to look at what else they can do.

Before his departure from the UN headquarters in New York, Ban issued a warning that negotiators faced a race against time.

"I appeal to (negotiators) to redouble their efforts to find the room for compromise to make a final push in this final stretch," Ban said.

"If everything is left to leaders to resolve at the last minute, we risk having a weak deal or no deal at all, and this would be a failure of potentially catastrophic consequence," he added.

A number of developing countries forced a five-hour suspension of talks on Monday, accusing industrialized nations of trying to undo gains made under the Kyoto Protocol.

ca/AFP/dpa/AP

Editor: Chuck Penfold