Deutsche Welle English Service News 28th 2002, 16:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD: Germany, U.S. Show Signs of Making Amends The U.S. was one of the first to congratulate Germany after it was elected to the U.N. Security Council. Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer is planning a visit to Washington. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://lessing.dwelle.de/english/current_affairs/currentaffairs1.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. seeks Russian support for tough Iraq resolution Emmissaries from the United States and Britain are meeting in Moscow with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov to press for a tough U.N. resolution on Iraq. Diplomats at the United Nations have presented a draft resolution that would give Baghdad seven days to comply with unrestricted weapons inspections or face military action. So far, Russia, China and France have publicly opposed the automatic use of force. Poland, on the other hand, announced on Saturday that it would participate in a military strike against Iraq. President Aleksander Kwasniewski told a German newspaper that he had "unlimited confidence" in the policies of U.S. President George W. Bush. Turkish police confiscate weapons-grade uranium Police in southeastern Turkey on Saturday arrested two men planning to sell 16 kilograms of weapons-grade uranium. The two men arrested were Turkish nationals and had been trying to sell their bomb capable cargo for five million dollars. Without providing details, the police said the uranium had been stolen from a former Soviet republic. Just last week in its report on Iraq, the British government said that Baghdad had been trying to buy enriched uranium for its nuclear weapons program in South Africa. Intifada anniversary: Hamas promises more suicide attacks Some 20,000 Palestinians marched through the Gaza Strip on Saturday to mark the second anniversary of the Intifada uprising against Israel. The radical Islamist Hamas movement also said it would carry out more suicide attacks against Israel. In renewed violence in Gaza, Israeli forces reported two Palestinians killed and four others wounded. Since the second Intifada began, about 1,800 Palestinians and 600 Israelis have died. IMF and World Bank meet in Washington under massive security The IMF and World Bank annual meeting began in Washington on Saturday under a massive security umbrella to prevent anti-globalization activists from disrupting the proceedings. The IMF steering committee opened consultations with a discussion of the global economy and the burdensome debt of Latin America. Earlier, the finance ministers of the seven leading industrial nations said the were committed to sound economic policies and structural reforms and were confident such action would kick start the global economy. The ministers also pledged additional debt relief for developing countries. The World Bank said 800 million dollars were needed. Outside the meeting, police who appeared to outnumber the protesters, arrested more than 600 demonstrators. Rabat government reports electoral success for moderate Islamists The Moroccan government reports that moderate Islamists can expect clear gains from Friday's parliamentary elections. No official results have yet been published. It's estimated that about 55 percent of those entitled to, turned out to vote. Despite massive appeals to vote, that's less than the 58 percent five years ago. For the first time since King Mohammed the 6th took the throne three years ago, 14 million Moroccans were called on to choose a new parliament and usher in a new democratic era in the north African country. Twenty-six parties competed for 325 seats. Russis bombards Chechen rebels in Ingushetia After dispersing a group of Chechen rebels from neighbouring Georgia, the Russian army is trying to hunt isolated groups of them down. According to the Interfax news agency, fighter planes and artillery are attacking the the suspected hideouts of the rebels near the Caucasus village of Galashki in the Republic of Ingushetia. Russia says about 200 rebels invaded from the neighbouring Pankisi Gorge a few days ago. Georgia's government says it's ready for an international inspection of the gorge, where Russia suspects more Chechen rebels to be based. Sri Lankan POW swap The Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tiger rebels swapped prisoners-of-war in a ceremony on Saturday in the latest move to raise confidence in the island's peace process. Seven Sri Lankan military personnel were handed over to the government side by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam who got 13 rebels back in exchange. The swap, which took place at the crossing point into rebel-held territory in the northern part of the island, was friendly with the prisoners shaking hands and joking with each other. More than 700 die in Senegal ferry accident More than 700 people are believed drowned after the Senegalese ferry "Joola" capsized in heavy seas off the West African coast on Thursday. Officals in Dakar on Saturday said 60 passengers survived the accident and 88 bodies had been recovered. The rest were still missing. The ship had 800 passengers on board, although it was only registered to carry 550. Rebels seize more territory in northern Ivory Coast Ivorian media report that army rebels have seized control of more areas in the Moslem north of the country. Inhabitants say the rebels have now taken the town Odienne, routing government forces and occupying public buildings. The rebels also hold Ivory Coast's second largest city, Bouak�, and a number of other towns. In recent days French troops had taken about 2,000 foreigners out of Bouak� to safety, including several Germans. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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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