Deutsche Welle
English Service News
July 3rd, 2001, 16:00 UTC
Slobodan Milosevic has refused to plead to the war crimes charges
against him at the International Criminal Tribunal for former
Yugoslavia in The Hague and the judge said a "not guilty" plea would
be entred on his behalf. Milosevic appeared without legal
representation and began a statement refusing to recognise the
jurisdiction of the court, but the chairman, British Judge Richard
May, interrupted him, saying that it was not the time for speeches.
Two Western envoys have been talking together to the Macedonian
president about making peace, as warfare continued between
government forces and ethnic Albanian rebels. They're Fran�ois
L�otard for the European Union and James Pardew of the United
States. L�otard said they'd had a good discussion with President
Trajkovsky about resumption of dialogue on making political reforms.
Pubic life has virtually stopped in Zimbabwe because of a
nation-wide strike. Set for two days, it's a protest against the
government's economic policies. The trigger was a 70 percent
increase in fuel prices.
The Council of Europe has sharply criticised racism and
discrimination against foreigners in Germany. A report by its
commission against racism and intolerance says severe racially
motivated incidents had been recorded. Especially worrying, says the
report, is the situation of immigrants and the German population's
attitude to them. For example, many were discriminated against in
their search for jobs and housing. The commission calls on the
German government to do more to integrate foreigners in German
society.
The descendants of East Germany's Communist Party have said they
regretted the building of the Berlin Wall but would not apologise
for it. The cautious formulation on the Cold War symbol marks an
effort by the Party of Democratic Socialism to attract new voters
without alienating its core membership of mostly elderly east
Germans ahead of Berlin elections in the autumn.
General Electric says it's disappointed that European antitrust
regulators blocked its $42 billion purchase of Honeywell
International, noting that the European Union took a fundamentally
different approach in reviewing the deal than U.S. regulators. GE
disagreed with the European Commission's conclusion that the
transaction would have unfairly enhanced its market position and the
influence of its aircraft engines and aircraft leasing businesses.
The European Commission early Tuesday rejected GE's bid for
Honeywell, killing what had been billed as the world's largest
industrial merger. The deal had already been approved by the U.S.
Department of Justice.
The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Opec, is leaving
its daily production level at around 24 million barrels. This was
announced in Vienna, OPEC's headquarters. The 11 countries in the
cartel had earlier talked informally about prices and outputs.
Official meetings begin Tuesday evening.
Israel maintains it's sticking to the U.S.-brokered ceasefire plan
that has been all but destroyed by an upsurge of violence between
Israelis and Palestinians. Despite a death toll that has continued
to rise since the truce was agreed on June 13, a morning meeting
between Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and senior ministers apparently
brought no change in Israel's proclaimed policy of "restraint".
It's reported from Hanoi, that the USA and Vietnam will jointly
research the toxic effect of Agent Orange, which US forces used
during the Vietname war to defoliate forests. The American embassy
in Hanoi said after two days of talks that the two governments have
agreed on two scientific projects to research the effects of the
dioxine-containing poison on human beings and the environment.
Dioxine is the most potent man-made poison.
The French president has spoken out in favour of NATO membership by
the three Baltic republics that used to be part of the Soviet Union.
Jacques Chirac said in a Russian broadcast at the end of a visit to
Russia that every country had the right to join any organisation.
But the Russian government reinforced its opposition to Estonia,
Latvia and Lithuania joining the western military alliance.
Britain and Ireland say they will step up talks with Northern
Ireland's Protestant and Roman Catholic politicians to try to pull
the peace process out of a deepening crisis. The United States is
also involved in the drive to end a long-running dispute over IRA
guerrilla disarmament.
The Americans say their dismantled spy plane held on China's Hainan
Island since April was flown out to the United States on Tuesday.
China held its 24 crew for 11 days after the plane collided with a
Chinese fighter, releasing them only after Washington said it was
"very sorry" for the death of the Chinese pilot and that the spy
plane had landed on Hainan without permission.
Serbian News Network - SNN
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