Deutsche Welle English Service News May 17th, 2002, 16:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD: Strolling to Power The people of Ireland are going to the polls today for a general election. And it looks like the vast majority will vote for Prime Minister Bertie Ahern. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1430_A_520830_1_A,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Arafat calls for elections after Israelis withdraw Palestinian President Yasser Arafat has announced he will call new elections - but said only after Israeli troops completely withdraw from occupied areas. Arafat made the announcement to journalists in Ramallah. Despite this mixed message, Palestinian sources say that Arafat has called for the preparation of election rolls. on Thursday, Arafat promised to hold local, general and presidential elections within the next six months and form an accountable government. - Early Friday morning, Israeli tanks advanced into the Jenin refugee camp. After a shootout lasting several hours with Palestinian militants, the tanks withdrew. There are no reports of casualties. Heavy shooting plus a bomb explosion over dispute Kashmir region India and Pakistan were locked in a military stand-off over the disputed Kashmir region, and exhanged unusually heavy border fire on Friday. India accused Pakistan of starting the fighting. An Indian defence official said that four Indian civilians and two guards were injured. In another attack on Friday, at least two people died and 15 were wounded when a bomb planted by suspected rebels exploded in downtown Srinigar, the summer capital of Indian parliament. Tensions flared on Tuesday, when 30 people died in an attack on an army camp near Jammu, an attack India blames on Indian-based Kashmiri separatists.// Close to a million men have been mobilized on both sides of the border, after a militant attack on India's parliament in December. 4000 Afghani troops join "Operation Condor" In Afghanistan, 4000 Afghan troops have joined about 1000 international forces taking part in "Operation Condor". The British-led "Operation Condor" aims to flush out suspected al Qaeda and Taliban fighters in Afghanistan's south-eastern mountains. A spokesman for the British military said several Taliban fightes have been killed since the operation began on Thursday. 40 British soldiers ill with mystery bowel inflammation Still in Afghanistan, the number of British servicemen who are sick with a mystery bowel inflammation has risen to 40, after 22 more reported sick. One serviceman is so ill,that he is to be flown back to Britain on Friday. Eight others have already been airlifted out of Bagram, where the illness, which resembles enteritis, struck a field hospital this week. The hospital has since been closed and some 333 people have been quarantined. Thousands of allied forces are stationed at Bagram, but none of the other forces have reported the illness. 37 killed in bus crash in Tanzania In Tanzania, thirty-seven people were killed in a bus accident in the southern highland district in the Lukumburu mountains. According to local media reports, the bus driver lost control around a sharp bend along a narrow and winding road. The bus then plunged over a steep escarpement and overturned. Eight other passengers were injured. The bus was traveling to the Indian Ocean city of Dar es Salaam. Irish elections continue Voting is underway in a general election that could give the Republic of Ireland its first single party government in 25 years. Incumbent Prime Minister, Bertie Ahern, is set for the biggest win in a quarter of a century, riding on the crest of a booming economy. Polling booths are open for a record fifteen hours Friday. Counting begins on Saturday, final results are expected on Sunday. /-- A key issue facing the next government will be the holding of a second referendum on EU enlargement under the Nice Treaty. Ireland threw the EU's expansion plans into turmoil last June when the treaty was rejected in the first referendum. An Irish Times poll showed that even fewer are likely to vote for the treaty: only 32 percent would vote for it, eight percent fewer since the first referendum. EU and Latin America want to cooperate more closely The European Union and Latin American have said they want to work more closely together to fight against terrorism and drug dealing. The 15-nation EU is keen to strengthen economic and political ties with Latin America, which traditionally looks more to the United States. 48 EU and Latin America heads of state and government are meeting in Madrid on the first day of the second-ever summit between the two trade blocs. The EU has called on Latin American leaders to continue reforms in the face of increasing instability. Trade between the EU and Latin America now exceeds 100 billion dollars per year. Animals rights in German constitution - European first Germany is the first European country set to include animal rights in its constitution. A majority in the Bundestag approved an amendment which would allow for tougher laws in keeping and transporting animals. The change is also expected to be passed by the Bundesrat. Belgium votes to allow mercy killings Belgium has become the second country in the European Union, after the Netherlands to decriminalise euthanasia.In Brussels, the lower house of parliament passed a controversial bill that gives seriously ill people the right to end their own lives. After two days of heated debate, the lower chamber voted 86 to 51 in favour, with 10 abstentions. The Netherlands became the first country in the world to allow a patient the right-to-die, when it passed its euthanasia law in April. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. News and background reports from the fields of current affairs, culture, business and science. And of course the DW website also has information about DW-RADIO and DW-TV programmes: topics, broadcast times and frequencies. 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