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Deutsche Welle English Service News August 27th 2002, 16:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD: Flood Relief On Its Way The German Cabinet has approved the draft law for helping the country's flood victims. The legislation will enable rapid and direct financial assistance totalling some 10 billion euro ($9.75 billion). To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1431_A_617677_1_A,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. attack on Iraq would result in "chaos" warns Mubarak U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney's renewed warning of an pre-emptive attack on Iraq has been rejected by several allies, including Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak who said he feared "chaos" in the Middle East. Mubarak said there was "no need" for such an attack. If so, Arab leaders would be unable to restrain their civilian populations. German Defence Minister Struck warned that last September's anti-terror alliance could fall apart if the USA proceeded. There was no evidence that Saddam Hussein was sheltering terrorists or possessed atomic weapons, Struck said. Visiting Damascus, Iraq's vice president Yassin Ramadan said his country did "not care less" about U.S. threats. Any return of U.N. inspectors would be futile if an attack eventuated, he said. British foreign secretary Jack Straw said no decisions on military action had been taken. On Monday, Cheney said that inaction was a far greater risk. Cheney's remarks a mistake - Schroeder Reiterating his rejection of U.S. threats against Iraq, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder described Vice President Dick Cheney's remarks of Monday as a "mistake". Referring to Cheney's suggestion that an attack proceed even when U.N. inspectors had re-entered, Schroeder said he felt confirmed in his view that Germany should not participate. The U.S. ambassador to Germany, Dan Coats has been quoted by the Munich newspaper "Merkur" as saying that ties with Germany were like that of a family. The USA wanted to maintain a united Front against Saddam Hussein, but the issue was not a game but a very serious topic. Crude oil prices rise Tensions over a possible U.S. attack on Iraq have pushed oil prices higher, with the benchmark North Sea Brent crude selling today in London at well above 27 dollars a barrel. That's a level not seen since April and close to prices that followed the hijack terror attacks on New York and Washington last September. Analysts said U.S. rhetoric about a potential war was lifting prices because world oil storage levels were somewhat below normal. Poor plea for lifting of farm subsidies at summit Agriculture issues have dominated the second day of the U.N. sustainability summit in Johannesburg, with poorer nations urging the world's rich to scrap billions of euros in farm subsidies. Nations such as Lesotho said subsidies and tariff barriers, like those upheld by the EU and the USA, robbed poor farmers of the chance to sell produce and so break the cycle of poverty. The World Bank says opened access could enable developing nations to earn 150 billion euros a year. EU development minister Poul Nielson said Europe was ready to negotiate. On another summit topic, energy sustainability, German environment state secretary Gila Altmann said the EU would push for wind and solar power generation. Police raid Batasuna office Spanish police have begun to enforce orders to shut down the Basque political party Batasuna by storming one of its main offices, in Pamplona, amid protests by its supporters and a bomb scare elsewhere. Police said they had defused a device in the town of Tolosa after receiving a warning, perportedly from ETA separatists. On Monday, high court judge Baltasar Garzon suspended Batasuna's activities. Parliament then voted to ask Spain's Supreme Court to outlaw Batasuna outright. Batasuna spokesman, Arnaldo Otegi, said the attempt to muzzle the party infringed basic rights. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar has regularly accused Batasuna of being a wing of ETA, a separatist movement blamed for 836 murders since the late 1960s. Belgian minister resigns over Nepal arms deal In Brussels, Magda Aelvoet, a senior Belgian Green minister has resigned in protest at the government decision to allow the sale of 5,500 machineguns to Nepal. The decision has drawn fierce criticism in the Belgian parliament and several MP's, including some from parties forming Belgium's six-party coalition government, have condemned last month's deal, on the grounds that Nepal is engaged in a civil war. But Foreign Minister Louis Michel defended the decision saying that an ethical decision had been taken to help a fledgling democracy defend itself against Maoist rebels. Bangladesh bans new novel by Nazrin A new novel by the exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nazrin has, according to the news agency AP, been banned in her home country. It said the interior ministry had outlawed the Bangladeshi-language version of her novel, entitled "Wilder Wind", allegedly because it contained anti-Islamic statements that could endanger society. Nazrin moved to Europe in 1994 after murder threats by fundamentalists. NASA comet-chase probe lost in space till December Contour, NASA's comet space probe, is probably lost in space, until December, when its antennas might again link up with Earth. Controllers have admitted, however, that the probe might be gone for good. The 160 million dollar robotic spacecraft, designed to survey the hearts of two comets at close range, went silent on August 15th, just as its solid-rocket motor fired to boost the probe out of Earth orbit. Contour failed to re-establish contact afterward. Astronomers believe the hearts of comets could give clues to how life began on Earth and what killed the dinosaurs. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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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