Deutsche Welle English Service News September 3rd 2002, 16:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back at Johannesburg Summit With one day left to go, leaders at the largest U.N. summit ever in South Africa have reached a major deal on clean water. But a plan to expand renewable energies promoted by Germany has been watered down. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1433_A_621900_1_A,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- UN Earth Summit: Germany sharply criticises the USA and OPEC Germany has sharply criticised the United States and OPEC after its demands for a binding agreement on expanding the use of renewable energy failed. German Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul condemned their short-sightedness, adding that their dinosaur way of thinking was not forward-looking. The German minister said delegates could not agree to clear targets or timeframes with Washington and the oil producing countries. German Environment Minister Juergen Trittin expressed some reservations about the action plan which delegates want to endorse on Wednesday. But in an interview with Deutsche Welle he said, seen as a whole, the conference resolutions were encouraging. Meanwhile Russia has signalled that it will ratify the Kyoto climate accord soon. Canadian prime minister Jean Chretien said his country would vote on ratification by the end of the year. North Koreans seek sanctuary in Germany Embassy in Beijing A group of 15 North Koreans, believed to be asylum-seekers, has entered the German embassy's school and housing compound in Beijing. The Germany embassy said it was seeking a humanitarian solution. Chinese police have sealed off the area but diplomats insist that the police are not allow to enter the compound. Diplomatic sources said it was a very complicated legal situation. The Beijing authorities in the past have allowed North Koreas to leave the country, travelling via thrid countries to South Korea. More than 80 North Koreans have sought asylum in foreign missions in China this year. Aziz-Annan talks at summit After talks with U.N. chief Kofi Annan in Johannesburg, Iraq's deputy prime minister Tarik Aziz has said Baghdad wants an overall solution to its crisis with the USA, including a lifting of U.N. sanctions. Kofi Annan urged Iraq to comply with U.N. resolutions. But Tari Aziz accused the USA of spreading fear that Baghdad were massing weapons of mass destruction as a pretext for military action. A "comprehensive solution", as he put it, could be found. Ending a visit to Moscow ahead of an Arab League meeting in Cairo, Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri said Baghdad wanted sanctions lifted before a return of inspectors. Russian counterpart Igor Ivanov said Moscow could use its veto to block any U.S. offensive against Iraq. Israel's Supreme Court approves expulsion of suicide bomber's relatives Israel's Supreme Court approved on Tuesday the expulsion to Gaza of two West Bank Palestinians accused of assisting their brother with a suicide bombing. But in what Israeli legal experts described as a setback to the military, the court's landmark decision set limits on internationally condemned plans to expel families of Palestinian militants as a deterrent to future attackers. The nine-judge panel ruled unanimously that a militant's relative could not be expelled solely on the basis of family ties but had to pose a security risk, even if the army believed deportation could dissuade others from mounting attacks. Palestinian cabinet minister Saeb Erekat called the decision (quote) a "black day for human rights" (unquote). Germany's Rau visits Krelim During a visit to the Krelim by German President Johannes Rau, Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared bilateral ties as no longer strained by issues such Russia's ex-Soviet debt burden. Much had been achieved, Putin said, and Rau spoke of numerous common interests within a partnership despite some differences of opinion. Germany and Russia boosted trade by 80 percent over the two years. Germany, for example, imports Russian gas. The Krelim said the pair would also discuss Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave, that will be encircled once EU enlargement proceeds. Rau, who's on a four-day trip, also meets Russian executives and visit the city of Novgorod. German prosecutors open tax probe into former defence minister German prosecutors have opened a tax evasion inquiry into disgraced former defence minister Rudolf Scharping, who was fired in July after allegedly accepting fees from a public relations firm. The "Scharping affair" broke when the weekly news magazine Stern claimed that he had received some 71,000 euros as minister from the Hunziger public relations firm in 1998 and 1999. A spokesman for the Koblenz prosecutors office said Scharping was accused of letting the head of Hunzinger, Moritz Hunzinger, pay a 27,600-euro bill for new clothing in March 1999 and failing to declare the gift to the tax authorities. Scharping has denied the allegations, insisting after the affair broke that he had properly declared all income. Bush to make national address on Sept 11 US President George W. Bush will address the United States from New York on September 11 to honor the victims of last year's attacks and discuss "the task that lies ahead" in his declared "war on terrorism," the White House said Tuesday. A White House spokesman said President Bush will also talk about what he called the task that lies ahead in defending freedom. Bush is scheduled to visit the Pentagon and the site of the World Trade Center, both targets struck by hijacked airliners used as missiles, as well as the field in Pennsylvania where another hijacked passenger jet crashed after a passenger revolt. Reactor shutdown in Japan amid scandal The Japanese company TEPCO has shut down one of its atomic power reactors amid a nationwide scandal over the suspected falsification of safety reports on cracks in 13 reactors dating back to the 90s. The shutdown is at a plant in Japan's northeastern Fukushima region. TEPCO said turbine steam with radioactivity at 100 times the normal level had leaked but levels outside were negligible. On Monday TEPCO said five executives would resign and five reactors at three plants would be shut for checks. Last week TEPCO acknowledged 29 cases of suspected falsification of reports from 1986 until the mid-90s. Prosecutors have meanwhile sought jail terms of up to four years for six employees of the Tokaimara nuclear reprocessing plant, three years after a nuclear accident that killed two workers. Only slight gains in world literacy - UNESCO A UNESCO study of illiteracy says a fifth of the world's population can neither read nor write but improvements have emerged, especially among women and particularly in Africa. For the first time in Africa, the number of women with reading and writing skills exceeds those who are illiterate. From 1995 to 2000 world illiteracy fell slightly, from 28.5 to 25.8 percent. But, UNESCO says the trend will miss the world target, set at an education summit in Dakar - of halving illiteracy by 2015. Only 26 developing nations had a chance of reaching that goal. Economic worries erode Japanese shares Tokyo's share market has fallen to its lowest level in 19 years as investors shed bank stocks on worries over the economic outlook for Japan and its major trading partner, the USA. The Nikkei average closed down 3.2 percent at 9,217 - a level last seen in 1983. Europe's markets opened lower, with the DAX in Frankfurt trading down 3.3 percent a short while ago at 3,490. The euro is trading just above 99 U.S. cents. Underscoring the trend, Germany's construction industry says it fears the loss of 80,000 jobs this year. Up to June, 4,500 firms had become insolvent. Compared to the mid-90s, the sector had shed 40 percent of its workforce. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. Serbian News Network - SNN [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.antic.org/
