Deutsche Welle
English Service News
July 8th, 2001, 16:00 UTC
Croatia's reformist government plunged into a major crisis on Sunday
over a decision to arrest and hand over Croatians wanted by the
United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
The front page of the leading daily newspaper, "Jutarnji List",
read that "The government has collapsed!" underlining the gravity of
the crisis reformists faced 18 months after dethroning nationalists
in elections.
Prime Minister Ivica Racan's coalition cabinet voted after an
emergency meeting on Saturday night to arrest and hand over suspects
named in two sealed indictments to the Dutch-based tribunal. It is
widely believed the indictments were aimed at two
generals who took part in the 1991-95 war against minority Serb
rebels who rose up against Zagreb's independence from
Yugoslavia. Four ministers including Deputy Prime Minister Goran
Granic resigned over the decision. Racan said he would ask
parliament for a confidence vote "very soon".
Albanians returned to the polls on Sunday for the crucial second
round of parliamentary elections, which were largely free of
incidents apart from opposition charges of voting irregularities.
The second round of the elections, the first since the
country plunged into anarchy in 1997 appeared to be a facsimile of
the first round which won praise from international observers.
Election observers reported no incidents of violence after
polling booths opened to 1.2 million eligible voters.
Heavy British security and a massive steel barrier blocked Northern
Ireland Protestants from entering a flashpoint Catholic area in
Drumcree on Sunday, but marchers heeded an appeal for calm. After
listening to speeches, most dispersed.
It was the fourth consecutive year the march had been banned
from the Catholic area after serious outbreaks of sectarian
violence in previous years. The ban came amid growing unease
about the future of the landmark 1998 Good Friday Agreement.
Charred vehicles, smashed windows and burnt-out buildings marked the
streets of the northern England city of Bradford on Sunday after a
night of rioting, in which 120 police were injured and 36 people
arrested.During nine hours of rioting by around 1,000 youths --
mainly Bengalis and Pakistanis from the city's 70,000-strong
Asian community -- riot police came under fire from missiles
including crossbows, flares, sledgehammers and petrol bombs.
The Bradford riots were the worst street violence in Britain for
years.
A mob of Zimbabwean war veterans on Sunday freed four white farmers
they had been holding at a farm since Friday, one of the released
farmers said.
The veterans beat up a farmworker earlier on Sunday before
withdrawing from the farmhouse where they had been holding and
threatening to kill the four farmers.
A neighbour Lindsey Campbell told Reuters, on Saturday that 60
veterans had invaded Kay's farm on Friday, beating up some
employees, chasing away 120 others and forcing Kay and his son David
to lock themselves in the farmhouse.The farmers say they support the
principle of land redistribution but oppose land seizures.
Russian and Japanese rescue teams fanned out in the northern Pacific
on Sunday to search for four people whose light plane disappeared en
route from Japan to Alaska, a Russian spokesman said.
An emergencies ministry duty spokesman in
Vladivostok, said the single-engined aircraft
vanished from radar screens at about 3:50 p.m. local time in the Sea
100 km east of Sakhalin island off Russia's Pacific coast.
The Council of Europe has taken back its sweeping accusation of
Germany being a racist country. The council's deputy
secretary-general, Hans Christian Krueger, said in a newspaper
interview that Germany does a great deal to combat racism and
anti-Semitism, and this had not been said clearly enough in the
report. A government spokesman expressed satisfaction with the
clarification. On Saturday the interior ministry denied a press
report that the minister, Otto Schily, was so annoyed by the racism
accusations that he was going to cut funding to the council, which
groups 43 countries.
Defending champion Venus Williams overpowered Belgian teenager
Justine Henin to win the Wimbledon women's title 6-1 3-6 6-0 on
Sunday. The young American raced away with the opening set in
20 minutes as Henin, the first Belgian to
reach a Wimbledon singles final, struggled to deal with
Williams's strength, particularly on her serve.
Serbian News Network - SNN
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