Deutsche Welle English Service News October 27th, 2003, 16:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
Union's Suicide Ads Come Under Fire One of Germany's largest unions is reaping serious criticism after running television ads showing young people about to commit suicide. The ad calls for more apprenticeships for hundreds of thousands of jobless youth. 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_1014740_1_A,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- At least 35 killed by Baghdad blasts At least 35 people have been killed and many more wounded after a series of explosions rocked Baghdad. Ten people are reported killed in a blast outside the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross alone. That was the first of at least four explosions to hit the Iraqi capital Monday morning. Two of the other blasts happened near police stations. US military sources say a US soldier was killed and six others wounded during such an attack. The attacks co-incided with the first day of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. The ICRC has meanwhile said it will begin pulling foreign staff out of Baghdad. A spokesman however confirmed that the Red Cross would continue to refuse military protection. Germany condemns Baghdad bombings Germany has condemned Monday's fatal bombings in Baghdad. A government spokesman in Berlin told reporters that the blasts amounted to attacks on Iraqi interests. Thomas Steg said the international community agreed that the political and economic situation in Iraq must be stabilised as quickly as possible. But he said progress on this issue was unlikely without a clear plan for the return of political power to the Iraqi people. Steg said further that Germany will not consider scrapping Iraq's debt to Berlin of more than 4 billion euros. However, he did say that a temporary freeze on servicing payments could be discussed by the Paris Club of creditor governments. Steg said Iraq's potential oil wealth meant it should not be treated in the same way as the world's poorest nations in debt negotiations. Russian markets suffer after weekend arrest of YUKOS head President Vladimir Putin has refused to meet representatives of Russia's business lobby to discuss the arrest on Saturday of the country's richest oil executive. The arrest of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, chief executive of oil giant Yukos, on fraud charges triggered a heavy sell-off of Russian stocks in early trading amid concerns that powerful independent businesses could be targeted by the Kremlin in the run-up to parliamentary elections in December. Trading on the Russian stock exchange index, was suspended for one hour after a tumble of more than 13%, dragged down by Yukos stocks which fell by over 19%. Meanwhile, the rouble has also fallen on foreign currency markets as banks hurried to buy dollars. Rescue efforts continue for lost miners in Russia Emergency teams in southern Russia have resumed their efforts to free 13 coal miners trapped underground since Friday. The miners are believed to be stuck in an elevated part of a mine and surrounded by rising floodwater. Rescuers are trying to reach them via a second tunnel. There is no contact with the miners and officials fear that their oxygen may be running out. 33 others miners, who were part of the original group, were rescued on Saturday after being able to move to a different location. The mishap occurred after an underground lake burst open, inundating the mine and knocking out power. It's the second accident at the mine in Novoshakhtinsk this year. Social Democrats headed for defeat in Brandenburg In municipal elections held in the eastern German state of Brandenburg on Sunday, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's Social Democratic Party has seen its support drop sharply. With the majority of the votes counted, candidates from the conservative Christian Democratic Union have fared best, taking 27 percent. The Party of Democratic Socialism, the successor party to the former East Germany's ruling communist party, took about 22 percent. Schroeder's Social Democrats have about 23 percent. In the last municipal vote in Brandenburg, in 1998, the Social Democrats took 39 percent of the vote. Official results are expected later on Monday. The SPD state premier, Matthias Platzeck, said the defeat was due to widespread dissatisfaction with federal policies on economic reform. Northern Nigerian states suspend polio campaign In northern Nigeria, three states have suspended a polio immunisation programme led by the World Health Organisation (WHO), after Islamic leaders said the vaccine could spread AIDS and cause infertility. The states are Kano, Zamfara and Kaduna, which all have mainly Muslim populations. Nigeria has the highest incidence of polio in the world, and the WHO fears the disease will spread from there to neighbouring West African states. It has launched a parallel immunisation campaign in five other West African countries. In Geneva, the WHO has said there was no question about the purity or safety of the vaccine it used. Raging California fires kill more than 10 Wildfires in southern California have killed more than 10 people and destroyed nearly 700 homes. Hot temperatures and dry winds have fueled the flames, which are threatening thousands more homes across the region. Some evacuation orders were lifted on Monday morning, but others are still in effect in areas like San Bernardino County, east of Los Angeles, where 40,000 people have had to flee their homes. Four counties remain under states of emergency, with San Diego county the worst hit. Officials say the fires could have been deliberately lit. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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/
