HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK ---------------------------
Deutsche Welle English Service News August 25 2002, 16:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD: Remembering Lessons on Racism from Rostock Germany marked the 10th anniversary of a gruesome racially-motivated mob attack against a refugee home in the eastern city of Rostock with peace marches and demonstrations. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http: http://dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1432_A_616255_1_A,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Flood waters in China and Germany recede slightly The flood situation along Germany's Elbe River is for the most part under control, but remains serious as the high water started to arrive in Hamburg. The flood plain now stretches about 500 kilometers across northern Germany. On Sunday, sodden dykes held, as water levels slowly start to sink. A controversial decision to blow a hole in a dyke to drain water endangering the Worlitz ornamental gardens, a UNESCO world heritage site was hotly debated. The measure is reported to be have been successful. Meanwhile, millions of sandbags used to reinforce dykes in Saxony will be sent to China, where hundreds of thousands of people continue to battle high water along Dongting Lake. The situation in central China has eased but a state-of-emergency remains in effect as the level of the lake remains over 34 meters. The lake's level fell slightly on Sunday after the flood crest of the Yangtze River passed overnight. Since June, flooding across China has forced some 600,000 people to seek higher ground and claimed more than 900 lives. China's communist party's 16th Party Congress to open Nov 08 The much anticipated 16th Party Congress of China's Communist Party will start on November the 8th. At the Congress decisions about who will lead the party and for that matter the country for the next decade will be taken. State run media on Sunday said Communist Party Chief Jiang Zemin and other leaders over the age of 70 will step down at the event, which will be held in Beijing. Analysts expect the Congress to usher in the first orderly succession of power in Communist China. The announcement of the congress follows three weeks of secretive talks on the leadership change at a seaside resort that wound up last week. Earth Summit to formally open on Monday Security is extremely tight in Johannesburg, South Africa with thousands of police officers and South African troops protecting the venue of the Earth Summit. Environmentalists on Sunday denounced a proposal to bridge a North-South rift as a sell-out to rich nations seeking freer trade and corporate globalisation. The 10-day World Summit on Sustainable Development, officially opens on Monday, seeks to find a new UN blueprint to battle poverty by fueling environmentally friendly economic growth. Some 100 heads of state accompanied by some 40,000 officials are expected to attend the summit. Russia mulls response to U.S. rebuke over Georgia Russian officials on Sunday again denied western claims of an indiscriminate bombing attack in northern Georgia, however, the attack was confirmed by observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the OSCE. Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze, speaking on state television, said "the main thing is that the White House has reflected the real barbarity of this act". On Sunday he ordered more than 1000 Georgian Interior Ministry troops into the Pankisi Gorge. Relations between Russia and Georgia have hit new lows in the past week as Moscow accused Georgia of turning a blind eye to Chechen rebels allegedly hiding in the gorge. German candidates to meet in ever televised debate German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and his conservative challenger, in next month's election Emund Stoiber will participate in the country's first ever televised debate this evening. Tonight's 75-minute debate to be broadcast live on Germany's commercial stations, RTL and Sat1, is the first of two live debates. Opinion polls show Gerhard Schroeder and his Social Democrats closing the gap with the Christian Democrats. Pollsters said the chancellor's decisive handling of Germany's flood crisis and his rejection of an American-led military strike against Iraq, have paid dividends. The people of Germany vote on September 22. Police probe "poisoning" of Slovak president Police in Slovakia are investigating allegations of an attempt to poison the country's president, Rudolf Schuster. He was taken to a military hospital in Bratislava with a high temperature just hours after having been released. Mr. Schuster was first taken ill at a Mass celebrated by Pope John Paul, the Second in Krakow, Poland last week, with a gall-bladder infection. The allegation of poisoning was made by his son Peter, who refused to give a motive or to elaborate. Schuster is expected to make a full recovery, but next week's trip to Belgrade had to be postponed. Italian Red Brigade fugitive arrested in Paris Police in Paris have arrested Paolo Persichetti, an Italian Red Brigade fugitive whose been on the run since 1992 after a court sentenced him to 18 years in jail for his role in the killing of an air force general in Rome in 1987. A French police spokeswoman said Persichetti, was turned over to Italian authorities in Turin early Sunday. Power plant roof collapses in UAE In the United Arab Emirates at least 4 people were killed and 19 injured on Sunday when the roof of a power plant which is still under construction caved in. The state-owned news agency WAM quoted police as saying seven people were killed adding that six people were missing. Authorities at the plant in Jebel Ari, on the outskirts of the Emirate barred reporters from the compound and from the Dubai hospital where workers were being treated. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. You can even listen to all programmes as audio-on-demand. --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
