Deutsche Welle English Service News 18th May, 2002, 16:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD: Berlin Gears up for Bush U.S. President George W. Bush will visit Germany next week. Chancellor Schröder says Bush is coming as a friend. But Berlin police expect violent protests as tens of thousands of demonstrators descend on the city. 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_522965_1_A,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- More Fighting on Kashmir Border India has expelled Pakistan's ambassador to New Delhi, in reaction to Tuesday's killing of 30 people at an army camp in Jammu which India blames on Pakistani-based Kashmiri militants. The expulsion follows more mortar exchanges between Pakistani and Indian troops across Kashmir's disputed border and a meeting of India's cabinet and military leaders. Thousands of residents have fled villages on both sides. Pakistan this week again denied supporting Kashmiri separatists and condemned the Jammu assault as it did last December, when India's parliamentary complex was attacked. India subsequently withdrew its ambassador to Islamabad. Both countries conducted underground nuclear tests in 1998. Arab League sees no point in Middle East Conference The Arab League has said it fails to see why it should take part in a May second Middle East peace conference, as proposed by the United States, the European Union and Russia. Arab League Secretary-General, Amr Moussa, said the Arab world didn't intend to become mere actors in a theater piece. In a report by the Egyptian news agency MENA, Moussa said no Arab will take part in the peace conference unless Isreal withdraws completely from occupied areas. /-- Meanwhile, the Palestinian parliament has called for prompt reforms of Yasser Arafat's Autonomy Authority and for firm election dates. On Friday Arafat put into doubt promised new elections within six months, by linking them to a complete Israeli withdrawal. Indonesia withdraws 5 of 6 naval ships from territorial waters Indonesia has withdrawn five of six naval ships that had entered East Timorese coastal waters. The presence of the ships had significantly raised tensions, ahead of East Timorese independence at midnight Sunday. East Timor's designated foreign minister Ramos Horta says only an Indonesian medical vessel will remain in territorial waters during the celebrations. He had earlier protested to Jakarta that the deployment of the six ships wasn't a particularly "good public relations exercise." Invited to Sunday's independence ceremony are President Megawati Sukarnoputri, former U.S. President Bill Clinton and United Nations Chief, Kofi Annan. Son of South Korean president arrested Police in South Korea have arrested the youngest son of President Kim Dae-jung on charges of bribery and influence-peddling, and intend to question another son on similar matters. Kim Hong-gul, the youngest of three sons, is accused of two shady business deals, including receiving more than one million dollars from a businessman wanting to set up a lottery company. The second son, Kim Hong-up, is yet to be questioned. Police say the president has not been accused of any wrongdoing. Al Qaeda Claim for Djerba Blast? A London-based Arabic newspaper has carried a claim that an al Qaeda terrorist carried out last month's attack on a synagogue on the Tunisian island of Djerba that killed 21 people, including 14 German tourists. The 'paper "Asharq al-Awsat," quoting an al Qaeda commander, said that the suicide bomber was a member of the terror network. On April the 11th, a truck laden with bottled gas exploded, killing tourists emerging from a bus, near Djerba's El Ghriba synagogue. The newspaper said its correspondent had interviewed the al Qaeda commander in a mountainous region of Afghanistan. Schroeder Warns Demonstrators U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell has accused Europe of adopting an increasingly anti-American stance, ahead of a four-nation visit next week by President Bush, starting on Wednesday in Berlin. Powell told the British "Guardian" newspaper that on the contrary U.S. foreign policy under President Bush was a success. Anti- globalisation and peace activists plan demonstrations across Germany. Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder today warned that police squads would intervene if demonstrations turned into riots. He described Bush as a good friend of Germany. On Thursday, Bush is due to address Germany's parliament before travelling on to Russia, France and Italy. Mystery disease affecting British troops in Afghanistan identified In Afghanistan, the mystery illness that has struck dozens of British troops has been identified. British health officials say the troops were struck with "Winter Vomiting", caused by "Small, round structured viruses." They say the outbreaks, while extremely infectious, only last for a couple of days. The illness broke out this week at a field hospital in Bagram where thousands of international troops are stationed. Fianna Fail leads in Irish elections Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern and his Fianna Fail party are heading for a resounding victory, following early results from Friday's election. Finanna Fail has 9 of 17 seats counted so far: a total of 166 seats are at stake. If the trend continues, Ahern could be returned with the first overall majority in a quarter of a century. Ahern's popularity is boosted by a booming economy. Official final results are expected on Sunday. Doping Claim Finally sport, and the Giro d'Italia cycle race has been shaken by news that lead Italian rider Stefano Garzelli has failed a dope test. Garzelli's team, Mapei, said he had tested positive for Probenecid in a sample taken during Monday's stage from Cologne to Liege in Belgium.Garzelli has denied taking banned substances and said his team had persuaded him to take part in Saturday's sixth stage, pending the analysis of a second sample in Lausanne next Tuesday. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. 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