Deutsche Welle English Service News September 18th 2003, 16:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
Berlin, Paris Push to Revive Struggling EU Economy Paris and Berlin reinforced deepening ties Thursday with the unveiling of a proposal to kick-start the flagging EU economy, even as the two heavyweights came under renewed fire for breaching euro zone stability criteria. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1433_A_973905_1_A,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Bush says Arafat has failed U.S. President George W. Bush has acknowledged that his Middle East peace plan had stalled, and blamed Palestinian President Yasser Arafat. Speaking at a news conference with Jordan's King Abdullah, Bush said Arafat had undermined former Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas' efforts to consolidate security forces under his leadership and to crack down on militant groups. He said he was still committed to his proposed peace "road map" and hoped for a Palestinian leadership fully committed to fighting terror. UN General Assembly to hold emergency session on the Middle East The UN General Assembly is expected to hold an emergency session on the Middle East after Israel's threat to expel Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat from the West Bank. The meeting will address Sudan's request for a resolution calling on Israel to desist from its plans to remove Arafat. A similar measure was blocked in the Security Council this week by a US veto. The United States has been heavily criticised internationaly after blocking the Council resolution, which it said was unbalanced and did not address the question of Palestinian "terrorism." U.S. army says two soldiers wounded in convoy attack Two U.S. soldiers have reportedly been wounded when their convoy was attacked by gunfire and explosives in a volatile area west of Baghdad. A spokesman for the U.S. military said a Humvee had been damaged in the attack east of the town of Ramadi. He could not confirm whether it was the same incident as an attack near the town of Khaldiya which left two U.S. vehicles ablaze. Germany's Schroeder to offer Bush help in Iraq Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said in an interview Thursday that Germany is prepared to help train Iraqi police and soldiers in a sign that its differences with the United States over the US-led war are over. Training could take place in Germany or elsewhere, he said, but it might be dangerous within Iraq. He told the Handelsblatt business daily that the offer stood independent of any UN resolution on Iraq's post-war reconstruction. Schroeder is expected to meet US President George W. Bush next week on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. It would be the first time they have held face-to-face talks in more than a year because of their acrimonious dispute over the invasion of Iraq. Germany's Fischer and Iraqi official urge time frame for handover of sovereignty German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer and Iraqi Governing Council member Adnan Pachachi have called for a time frame for control over Iraq to be given back to its people. Iraq is currently under the control of the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority and Germany, along with France, wants sovereignty to be returned to the Iraqis as soon as possible. Washington's push for a UN resolution on creating a multinational force for Iraq is likely to dominate talks between the leaders of Germany, France and Britain in Berlin on Saturday. Bali bombing suspect given life sentence Ali Imron, a key suspect in the Bali bombings trial has been sentenced to life in prison for his role in the attack. A court in Indonesia ruled that he had helped to organise and carry out last year's bombings that killed 202 people, most of them foreign tourists. Prosecutors had asked for a 20-year prison sentence. Two other Bali bombers have already been sentenced to death and are currently sitting on death row. Spanish police arrest al Qaeda suspects Police in Spain have arrested several people suspected of having links with the al Qaeda terror network. The arrests come a day after a Spanish judge formally charged al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, an Al Jazeera journalist and 33 others with membership of a terrorist group. The journalist, Tayseer Alouni, who lived in southern Spain, was arrested earlier this month. He's been accused of passing on messages and money to al Qaeda operatives. Some of those detained have been charged with playing a role in the September 11 attackson the US. Sweden awaits top diplomats for Lindh memorial service The man arrested on Tuesday in connection with the murder of Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh has denied attacking her. The defense lawyer for the 35-year-old said his client had nothing to do with Lindh's stabbing death. Swedish police are waiting for the results of DNA tests following the arrest of the suspect, whose identity has not been given. Under Swedish law the suspect would have to released on Friday if no charges are filed by then. Meanwhile Swedish police geared up for tight security around Friday's memorial service for the Foreign Minister, which will be attended by some of the world's top diplomats. Hurricane Isabel bears down on U.S. East Coast Hurricane Isabel has begun its descent on the eastern part of the United States. Torrential rain and towering waves are already battering the North Carolina coast. The hurricane's full force is expected later today as it moves north through Virginia and Washington, DC. Winds are expected to reach speeds of at least 170 km/h. The federal government was set to shut down due to the storm, and more than 225,000 people have been ordered to evacuate coastal areas from North Carolina up to Virginia and Maryland where states of emergency have been declared. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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/
