Deutsche Welle English Service News September 10th 2003, 16:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
Schröder Defends Reform Package to Parliament German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder took the first step down what is likely to be a rocky legislative path on Wednesday, as he defended his Agenda 2010 reform package to the lower house of parliament. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1430_A_966897_1_A,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Korei accepts nomination as Palestinian PM The speaker of the Palestinian parliament, Ahmed Korei, has announced that he will accept his nomination as prime minister of the Palestinian Authority. His decision to form an emergency government came after one of the bloodiest 24 hours in the region. On Wednesday morning, a targeted Israeli air strike on a house in Gaza wounded a leader of the radical Hamas movement, and killed two others. The air strike followed two Hamas suicide bombings in Israel which killed at least 15 people. In response to the latest violence, Mr. Korei condemned both the air strike and the suicide bombings, and said both sides had to get back to the negotiating table to end the violence. Israeli PM flies home in wake of increased violence Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon has cut short his visit to India to return home in the wake of the latest suicide bombing in Israel. Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, Sharon said he had not given up on peace and would make every effort to bring an end to terror. Meanwhile, Sharon has not ruled out Ahmed Korei as a negotiating partner for peace if Korei is committed to fighting terror. US soldiers killed in Iraq A US soldier was killed in Baghdad on Wednesday when an improvised explosive device he was defusing went off. This comes on the heels of another US casualty, a victim of a homemade bomb that went off on a supply route northeast of Baghdad. On Tuesday, a suicide bomber in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil killed himself and an Iraqi child and wounded dozens of people. A US military spokesman said a second child and an elderly woman were also feared dead in the blast. Arbil, the capital of Kurdish-controlled North Iraq, had until now been relatively peaceful in the aftermath of the Iraq war. Iran faces IAEA deadline on nuclear program The United States and 14 other countries have submitted a motion to the International Atomic Energy Agency giving Iran until October 31 to prove it has no clandestine nuclear weapons program. Other sponsors of the draft resolution the UN nuclear watchdog included Japan, Turkey, Britain, France and Germany. The motion accuses Tehran of violating the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and calls on it stop enriching uranium. In response, Iran's foreign minister has threatened withdrawing from the UN body, accusing France and Germany of backing the resolution in an attempt to win back favour in the US. Malaria outbreak kills over 4,000 in Ethiopia Over 4,000 people have died in a malaria epidemic that has hit Ethiopia's northern region of Gojjam in the last four months. An official said on Wednesday that many who could have been saved had died due to a lack of anti-malaria medicine. Stagnant pools of water from rains between May and August have been breeding grounds for mosquitoes that then transmit the disease. Schroeder offer to train Iraqi police Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has said Germany is willing to train Iraqi police and soldiers, saying this could do more to improve security in Iraq than bringing in more troops. Speaking in parliament, Mr. Schroeder said any extra troops should preferably come from Muslim countries, and reiterated that there were no plans to send German soldiers to Iraq. The US is seeking a new U.N. Security Council resolution that would persuade more countries to send military and financial support to Iraq. 23 Pakistani immigrants drown in Greek river At least 23 Pakistani immigrants have drowned in a Greek river in an attempt to enter the country from Turkey. In one of the worst recent accidents involving illegal immigrants, the bodies of the 21 men and two women were washed onto the Greek banks of the river Evros. Most fatal accidents involving migrants occur in the Aegean sea as they try to sail across to Greece from Turkey. Dutch bank pres favors sanctions The president of the Dutch central bank, Nout Wellink, has called for financial penalties against Germany and France. In an interview to appear in Germany's Stern magazine, he said if the two countries breach EU limits again next year, sanctions should be imposed. Meanwhile, in Brussels, the European Union Commission has slightly lowered its economic growth prognosis for the Euro Zone for the current year. An EU commission speaker said that due to the sluggish economy, GDP is now expected to grow 0.5%, down from earlier predictions of 0.7%. Bali court sentences bomber to death An Indonesian court has sentenced an Islamist terrorist to death by firing squad for his part in the Bali bombing. 202 people died when a bomb exploded in a Bali nightclub last October. Abdel Aziz, also known as Imam Samudra, admitted involvement in the attacks, but denied allegations that he played a pivotal role. Defence lawyers have said they will appeal. He is the second man to be sentenced to death for the bombing. 30 others are still on trial. Afghanistan welcomes fresh US aid Afghanistan has welcomed the announcement of new US aid. US President George W. Bush has asked Congress for $87 billion for post-war Iraq and Afghanistan. Of this, $300 million is earmarked Afghan infrastructure, including roads, schools and health clinics. Another $11 billion dollars would go to the US military's hunt for al-Qaeda and Taliban forces, blamed for a fresh surge of violence in south-east Afghanistan. In the latest attack, 4 Afghan aid workers were killed when their car was ambushed by armed men in the Ab Band region. Stasi files threaten West German politicians German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer has spoken out against a general investigation of West German politicians and possible ties to East German spies. The debate was sparked when the Rosenholz files, with names of West Germans in East German spy reports, were returned to the office that keeps the East German Stasi files. Thuringia's premier, Dieter Althaus, believes that some surprises would turn up if a closer investigation took place. He said that some people would be afraid of such an enquiry. H-bomb pioneer Edward Teller dies Edward Teller, dubbed the "father of the H-bomb," is dead at the age of 95. Known for his role in the early development of nuclear weapons, Teller and numerous other scientists fled Nazi Germany and worked on the Manhattan Project, the secret program that developed the atomic bomb. After the war, Teller pressed the case for a continued strong national defense, persuading President Harry Truman to build the far more powerful hydrogen bomb. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. 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