Deutsche Welle English Service News 22.10.2003, 16:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
Selling Ads To Keep Germany's High Schools Afloat Beset by budget problems, a high school in Frankfurt has begun renting out ad space in order to buy basic items. Some teachers, and state school authorities aren't too happy about the decision. 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_1006223_1_A,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Israel defies new UN resolution Israel has vowed to carry on with the construction of a security barrier despite a new UN resolution demanding it be torn down. Late on Tuesday, the U.N. General Assembly passed by a large margin a resolution calling for Israel to "stop and reverse" the barrier's construction on Palestinian lands. Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert defended the fence's construction and said the government would continue protecting the Israeli people. Meanwhile, Israeli forces have killed three militants in the West Bank, including a local leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). The group has vowed revenge. Israel's top diplomat visits Germany Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom has begun a two-day visit to Germany with a visit to the former concentration camp of Sachsenhausen near Berlin. In a short speech there, Shalom defended his government's policies in the Mideast region and said Israel had the right to defend its citizens. Criticising what he called the new phenomenon of anti-Semitism, Shalom also visited an exhibition in a former barrack building firebombed in 1992 by right-wing radicals. The Israeli foreign minister, who's on his first visit to Germany, is due to meet Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and other top officials during his stay. Berlusconi calls on EU to give refugees a dignified reception The Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, has called for the European Union to give a dignified reception to refugees. Referring to the latest refugee dramas on the Mediterranean Sea, Berlusconi said in the European Parliament that refugees were leaving their countries in desperation and wanted to work in Europe. Berlusconi, who's presently in the EU chair, said the refugees needed to be received in ways conforming to European culture. Iran says it will hand over nuclear documents Iranian officials have said they would hand over today all documentation related to the country's past and present nuclear activities as demanded by the UN's atomic energy watchdog. This follows the visit to Tehran on Tuesday by a trio of EU foreign ministers who urged Iran to implement its pledge to suspend uranium enrichment and accept tough inspections by the International Atomic Agency. German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said things were on the "right path" and denied claims that the EU had made concessions to Iran. Macedonia launches appeal for civilians to hand in illegal weapons Macedonia has launched an appeal for people to hand over illegal weapons, but officials said ethnic Albanian opposition leaders rejected the initiative. The opposition Democratic Party of Albanians of Arben Xhaferi and another small Albanian party refused to sign an appeal which had the support of all the other political groups represented in parliament. Macedonia has been in an uneasy peace since a seven-month uprising in 2001 when ethnic Albanian guerrillas took up arms against the government to demand better civil and political rights. Bush and general comment on Islam The American president, George W. Bush, has praised the world's most populous Muslim nation, Indonesia, for supporting the war on terror, but he said Islamic extremists had defiled a great religion. Bush said Americans knew that Islam was fully compatible with liberty, tolerance and progress. In Washington, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has announced an internal probe into speeches given at churches and prayer breakfasts by a senior military intelligence official who said Muslims worship an idol and not a "real God." The Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman, John Warner, has urged that William Boykin, an army Lieutenant-General who's deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence, be reassigned, at least temporarily. France urges Ivorian probe into newsman's killing Ivorian officials say a policeman is being interrogated in connection with the killing of a French journalist in Abidjan, the West African country's main city. Jean Helene, a correspondent for Radio France Internationale, was shot dead outside a police station on Tuesday night. He had been waiting to cover the release of opposition party activists. French President Jacques Chirac has urged an immediate inquiry. Aero Lloyd can fly again The German airline Aero Lloyd, which declared bankruptcy last week, can run a few flights again thanks to a small bail-out. The Bavarian State Bank, the majority owner of the company, has offered five million Euros to keep charter group from breaking-up. Financial sources said the move would give Aero Lloyd more time to find investors. 600 German Buddhists meeting About 600 German Buddhists start a two-day congress in Wuppertal on Friday. They'll commemorate the founding of the first German Buddhist association a hundred years ago. Organisers say there will be high-ranking international speakers, important Zen masters and a prominent nun who campaigns for women's rights among Buddhists. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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/
