Deutsche Welle
English Service News
July 19th , 2001, 16:00 UTC
In Genoa, a massive security operation is underway as up to 150,000
anti-globalization protesters start to arrive for the annual G-8
summit, which starts on Friday .The Italian authorities have posted
over 20,000 police throughout the port city. The leaders of Canada,
Germany, England, France, the United States, Japan, Russia and Italy
will discuss a wide range of issues over 3 days. The most
controversal topics include the Kyoto agreement to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions, which the USA refuses to ratify and the American
National Missile Defense programme, which effectivly terminates a
key anti-missile treaty with Russia.
The world's leading economic powers and Russia warned of growing
globall terrorism on Thursday and urged Kabul's ruling Taliban to
close down terrorist training camps in Afghanistan.Foreign ministers
from the Group of Eight, the United States, Japan, Germany, France,
Britain, Italy, Canada and Russia said that any country with
influence on the strict Islamic movement should act responsibly. The
statement condemned the continuing violations of human rights in
Afghanistan, including the worsening of conditions for women and
religious minorities.
In Colombo, two people were killed and nearly 80 injured on Thursday
as Sri Lankan police fought street battles with opposition
supporters protesting against the suspension of parliament. Riot
squads arrested more than 20 people in the biggest anti-government
rally since President Kumaratunga was elected in 1994. The protest
was the latest in a series of confrontations between the government
and opposition since the ruling party lost its parliamentary
majority last month.Mrs. Kumaratunga has called an August 21
referendum on her plans to change the constitution, saying the
changes are needed to help end the country's bitter ethnic war and
to change the electoral system she says prompted her to suspend
parliament.
Nepal's beleaguered prime minister, Girija Prasad Koirala, resigned
on Thursday over the Maoist insurgency that has spread rapidly
across the impoverished Himalayan kingdom. The move came six weeks
after the massacre of most of the Himalayan kingdom's royal family.
Mr. Koirala rode to power for the fourth time in March last year and
promised to stamp out the Maoist rebellion which has claimed almost
2,000 lives since 1996.He resigned as government troops closed in on
rebels who have been holding 70 policemen hostage in the remote
western district of Rolpa for more than a week.The Maoists had vowed
to hold peace talks to seek an end to the revolt if Mr. Koirala
stepped down.
More rain is set to hit India's eastern state of Orissa, where more
than a million people are already marooned by floodwaters. Special
Relief Commissioner Panda said on Thursday that continuing heavy
rain will cause the worst-ever floods in the history of the state.
Over the last 10 days, flooding has killed an estimated 34 people,
washed away 4,000 houses and damaged 18,000 homes in the
impoverished state, many parts of which are still recovering from a
recent massive cyclone.
Japanese prosecutors on Thursday formally charged U.S. Staff Sgt.
Timothy Woodland with raping a woman on southern Okinawa island. Sgt
Woodland said the woman had consented to havinf sex with him and
denied raping her. When he was handed over to Japanese police this
month,despite massive pressure from the US armed forces high command
and became only the second U.S. serviceman to be given up to
Japanese investigators before formal charges were filed.
Slobodan Milosevic's wife was reunited with her detained husband on
Thursday, making her first trip to The Hague since the ousted
Yugoslav leader was arrested to face war crimes charges. Mirjana
Markovic flew from Belgrade to Amsterdam, after being given a
special visa by the Dutch government and an assurance from the Hague
Tribunal that she would not face arrest. A prominent politician and
leader of a Serb nationalist political party, Mira Markovic is
widely seen as the driving force behind her husband's career. The
former Yugoslav president has been indicted on four counts including
crimes against humanity and held responsible for the mass killings
and expulsions of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo in 1999.
Disgraced British politician and best-selling novelist Jeffrey
Archer was jailed for four years on Thursday after being found
guilty of perjury and perverting the course of justice in a
sensational London trial.The flamboyant Archer, a peer in the House
of Lords, was convicted of lying and creating false diaries to win
700,000 dollars in libel damages from the Daily Star newspaper in
1987. He took the tabloid to court after it alleged that he paid a
prostitute for sex in 1986.
Serbian News Network - SNN
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http://www.antic.org/
