Deutsche Welle English Service News November 10th, 2003, 16:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
CDU Fears Party Rift Over Anti-Semitism Scandal Christian Democratic leaders are standing behind a member of parliament who called Jews a "race of perpetrators" despite mounting criticism that they have failed to take adequate disciplinary measures. 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_1026286_1_A,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- US official says al Qaeda wants to topple Saudi royal family US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage has said the al Qaeda network is trying to topple the pro-Western Saudi government and royal family. The al Qaeda group is being blamed for a suicide attack on Sunday at a housing compound that killed at least 17 people and wounded 120 in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. Speaking on Al Arabiya television, Armitage called the attack "shocking", but praised Saudi Arabia for its efforts to improve security. Washington has been pressing Saudi Arabia to combat al Qaeda, believed responsible for the attacks on US cities on September 11, 2001, where 15 out of the 19 attackers were Saudis. Bremer expects more violence in Iraq Iraq's US-appointed administrator says he expects an increasing number of attacks on US troops in the country. Paul Bremer told London's The Times newspaper that terrorists in Iraq would likely step up their attacks, as they see progress being made in efforts to reconstruct the country. Bremer said that hundreds of fighters had entered Iraq from Sudan, Syria, Yemen and Saudi Arabia. He added that occupying forces would only be able to come to grips with the problem through improved intelligence. The latest US soldier to die in Iraq was a US military policeman. He was killed on Sunday in an attack involving a rocket-propelled grenade, south of Baghdad. US top court to hear Guantanamo detainees' appeal The US Supreme Court says it will hear appeals by detainees from the war in Afghanistan, who say their continued incarceration at a US military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba is unlawful. The Supreme Court has agreed to review a ruling that US courts lack jurisdiction to consider claims by the detainees. They're being held without access to their families or to lawyers, and without any charges having been brought against them. The Supreme Court is to hear arguments in the case next year, with a decision due by the end of June. It marks the first time the nation's highest court agreed to a case stemming from the anti-terrorism policies of President George W. Bush. Iran suspends uranium enrichment programme Iran says it is suspending its disputed uranium enrichment programme. Hassan Rohani, the head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council made the announcement following a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Rohani also said he would send a letter to the International Atomic Energy Agency agreeing to intrusive inspections by IAEA inspectors. Japan LDP set to regain majority after party merger In Japan, the governing Liberal Democratic Party is set to regain the majority it lost in Sunday's election, despite having lost 10 seats in parliament. This, after the smallest party in the ruling coalition, the New Conservative Party, announced that it would merge with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's LDP. The move would give the LDP 244 seats in the lower chamber. That's three less than what it had going into Sunday's election but more than the 241 needed for a majority. But observers say strong gains made by the opposition in the vote could make it difficult for Koizumi to push through his planned economic reforms. Political crisis puts Sri Lanka peace talks on hold Sri Lanka's government has called for snap polls to resolve a political crisis which has led to the indefinite postponement of talks to end two decades of conflict with Tamil Tiger rebels. The government's chief negotiator said he would discuss the problem with Norwegian peace mediators. The crisis was sparked late last week, when President Chandrika Kumaratunga sacked three ministers and suspended parliament. The government negotiator though said the talks which the government had expected to hold with the Tamil Tigers later this month or in early December would not go ahead until the political turmoil had been resolved. Israel prisoner deal may be in jeopardy A prisoner exchange deal between Israel and the Lebanese-based militant group Hizbollah may be in jeopardy. The Israeli cabinet narrowly approved the swap on the weekend, but it seemed to rule out the release of Lebanese militant jailed in 1980 for killing an Israeli family. Hizbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said his group was still waiting for details of the proposed swap. Under the deal, 400 Palestinians and Arabs held by Israel would be exchanged for a kidnapped Israeli and the bodies of three dead Israeli soldiers. Meanwhile, Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei says he plans to unveil a new cabinet on Wednesday. Qurei has been locked in a dispute with President Yasser Arafat over control of security forces. Georgian election crisis unresolved The Georgian election crisis remains unresolved. Several thousand opposition supporters have protested outside the parliament building in Tbilisi for a third consecutive day, demanding President Eduard Shevardnadze's resignation. They accuse him of having rigged the November 2 parliamentary elections. Preliminary results published by the Central Elections Commission show pro-government parties in the lead, although opinion polls taken before the ballot indicated the opposite trend. Results in 27 constituencies have been declared invalid. The rallies that began last week have raised fears of a return to the violence that troubled the former Soviet state after its independence in 1992. Western governments and investors are concerned because an oil pipeline is being built from Azerbaijan through Georgia to Turkey to take Caspian oil to the Mediterranean Sea. Washington loses WTO appeal on steel duties-envoys The World Trade Organisation has said that US tariffs on some steel imports violate international trade rules. In a final verdict handed down in Geneva this Monday, the Appellate Body upheld an earlier decision by a panel of trade judges that the tariffs were inconsistent with trading regulations. The European Union has threatened to retaliate with billions of euros of sanctions against U.S. goods unless Washington removes the duties imposed in March of last year. Chemical giant IG Farben files for bankruptcy IG Farben has announced that it is starting bankruptcy proceedings. IG Farben is the parent company of the one that made the poison gas used in extermination camps during Germany's Nazi period. It has been in liquidation since 1952, but it was still being traded on the Frankfurt stock exchange. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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/
