Deutsche Welle English Service News October 25th 2003, 16:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
Intelligence Chief says Sept. 11 Attacks not Planned in Hamburg The trial of a suspected extremist could be dismissed after a German intelligence official said the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States were planned in Afghanistan and not Hamburg, as had been previously thought. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1430_A_1013772_1_A,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Helicopter crash-lands near Tikrit A U.S. Blackhawk helicopter has crash-landed near Tikrit in northern Iraq just hours after a visit by US. Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz to the hometown of the fugitive Saddam Hussein. Initial reports said the helicopter was possibly hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. Five soldiers had been wounded. Earlier, a bus carrying an Iraqi sports team was raked by gunfire as drove back to Kirkuk. Eleven members of a Kurdish taekwondo martial arts team were wounded, three seriously. Visiting Tikrit, Wolfowitz, who was a key advocate of the U.S.-led invasion last March, praised a new Iraqi security force being trained by Americans. He was told that local Iraqis viewed those who cooperated as "traitors. On Friday, an Iraqi police chief was shot dead outside a mosque in the city of Amara in southern Iraq, where guerrilla activity has been less frequent. 15 Russian miners rescued In southern Russia 15 miners have been lifted to the surface from a flooded coal mine. Rescuers believe another 18 are waiting deep underground, but the fate of a further 13 is unclear. The only access is via an secondary lift capable of carrying only three miners. The drama began on Thursday at the Zapadnaya mine when an underground lake spill into its main shaft, 800 metres underground. Twenty-five miners managed to get out promptly, but it took 36 hours to make telephone contact with most of the rest. Of the 13 still missing, it's hoped they're in an air pocket 1,500 metres from the main shaft. Russia has a notorious record for mine safety. Russian oil tycoon arrested Russian oil magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky who was arrested by Russian special police during a refuelling stop at an airport in Siberia after a flight from Moscow has been charged with fraud and tax evasion back in the capital. Khodorkovsky, one of Russian's richest businessmen, is the latest in a series of senior figures working for his oil company YUKOS to be arrested. Unconfirmed reports from the Interfax news agency state that Khodorkovsky has been released after being charged. Britain and Australia issue Saudi travel warning The British Foreign Office has advised against travelling to Saudi Arabia. It said that all but essential trips to the kingdom, which is the birthplace of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, should be cancelled. Australia also said that it had intelligence that terrorists in Saudi Arabia might be in the final stages of planning an attack. American embassy officials added that terrorist groups might place special significance on the upcoming month of Ramadan and advised extra vigilance. Saudi Arabian security services have recently arrested nearly 600 people suspected in connection with suicide bombings near Riyadh last May that killed 35 people. German soldiers arrive in Kunduz An advanced team of 27 German soldiers has arrived in northern Afghanistan as part of an expansion of a NATO-led peacekeeping force ISAF outside Kabul. Up to 450 German soldiers are eventually expected to be deployed in the rural area around Kunduz. Already, 1800 German soldiers make up part of the 5,500 troops of the 31-nation International Security Assistance Force in Kabul. Zimbabwean Daily News back on the streets Zimbabweans in the capital of Harare today rushed to get copies of The Daily News as police again raided its offices and arrested several staff members. It is back on the streets more than a month after it was shut down by authorities. A judge ruled that Zimbabwe's only independent daily newspaper must be given a licence to operate. Judge Michael Majuru said that the state-appointed Media and Information Commission had been wrong to deny a licence and that one must be issued by November 30th. The Daily News, which unlike government-owned media was openly critical of President Robert Mugabe, was Zimbabwe's best-selling and only privately-owned newspaper employing about 300 full-time staff. The head of the Media and Information Commission said it would appeal against the ruling. Wildfires in California - thousands evacuated In Southern California thousands of people have had to leave their homes as a raging wildfire spread across into residential areas north-east of Los Angeles. 1,400 firefighters are said to be fighting the blaze which is thought to have been started deliberately. So far 6000 people have been evacuated, and two major freeways closed. 12,000 acres have been affected so far with fears that the situation will worsen this weekend as seasonal winds known as Santa Anas fan the flames. The blaze has mainly hit the San Bernadino county. 52,000 Australian sheep start new life in Eritrea 52,000 sheep who have spent the last 70 days aboard a ship have finally reached terra firma. The animals, initially bound for Saudi Arabia became a floating diplomatic embarrassment for their country of origin, Australia. After Saudi Arabia rejected the sheep on health grounds they were offered to dozens of countries until finally being accepted as a gift by the east African country of Eritrea. The transporter was nicknamed the "Ship of Death" after a reported 5000 sheep died in cramped conditions in transit. Animal activists had called for the slaughter at sea of the sheep on humanitarian grounds however vets who inspected the animals stated that they seemed in good health. Rugby - France and Wales through Finally World Cup rugby and France and Wales have reached the quarter-finals, alongside New Zealand which had already qualified. France demolished Scotland 51-9 at Sydney's Olympic stadium. And Wales beat Italy 27-15, by scoring three tries in Canberra. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For more information please turn to our internet website at http://dw-world.de/english Here you'll find out what's happening in Germany, Europe and the rest of the world. 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