Deutsche Welle English Service News 20.11.2003, 16:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
Istanbul hit by New Series of Explosions Istanbul was rocked by two explosions on Thursday only days after twin suicide bombings against Jewish targets in the Turkish city. Meanwhile, Germany's intelligence service warned Islamic terrorism may be on the rise. 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_1037869_1_A,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Twin blasts in Istanbul - British consulate struck Two new explosions in Istanbul - outside the British consulate and a high-rise tower block of the British-based bank HSBC - have killed at least 26 people and wounded more than 400 others, say city officials. Britain's consul-general Roger Short was reported missing. A British chaplain said he had died. The blasts follow Saturday's fatal car-bombings of two synagogues in Istanbul. A caller to Turkey's Anatolien news agency claimed today's blasts were the work of a Turkish group and al Qaeda. Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said it was too early to confirm this. Visiting Britain, U.S. President George W. Bush said "free nations" were determined to "defeat evil". British Prime Minister Tony Blair said the "terrorist outrage" was directed at democracy. Among those to condemn the blasts have been the Vatican and the EU. German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said it was an "inhumane act". At least nine civilians killed in Iraq At least nine people have died in several attacks in Iraq. In the city of Kirkuk a car bomb exploded outside an office of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, killing at least five people and injuring more than 30 others. The leader of that party, Jalal Talabani, heads the US-appointed Governing Council. In Baghdad an Iraqi policemen died from shots fired at the Jordanian embassy. An explosion at a school in Kerbela killed two children. And two Iraqis died in an attack on the home of a clan chief in Ramadi. Meanwhile more than 70 percent of Iraqis are reported to have indicated in an opinion survey that they want American troops to stay until the security situation improves. Bush meets families of British fallen Continuing his visit to London, U.S. President George W. Bush has met families of British troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan at Westminster Abbey. He told them they had died serving "something greater" and not in vain. Overshadowed by the Istanbul blasts, protestors are gathering in London to challenge Bush and Blair's policies, especially on Iraq, by marching past Downing Street. Scare at White House discounted - stocks down In Washington an aviation scare at the White House has been played down after officials began evacuating staff and visitors. They were allowed to return. A White House source spoke of an "air incident", referring apparently to a plane entering airspace near the mansion. A FAA federal aviation spokeswoman said it was only a "blip on the radar". Share markets are in nervous decline after the Istanbul blasts. Frankfurt's DAX dropped by more than one percent to 3,602. Benchmark crude oil rose to 30 dollars per barrel, up 24 cents. IAEA officials toughening resolution In Vienna, the board of the the UN's nuclear watchdog agency, the IAEA, has adjourned until Friday its verdict on a report about Iran's nuclear programme. France, Britain and Germany are redrafting a resolution after the United States insisted that it contain stronger wording to condemn Iran for allegedly hiding its programme over two decades. The IAEA's chief Mohamed ElBaradei said the "good news" was that Iran was cooperating, for example, over its stated suspension of uranium enrichment. His recent report said that Iran had in several cases breached the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. ElBaradei added that North Korea remained a "serious challenge" in terms of non-proliferation. Last year, the United States claimed that North Korea had admitted to having a secret weapons programme. Sri lanka crisis easing There are signs that the government crisis in Sri Lanka is easing two weeks after it began. The government has offered President Chandrika Kumaratunga more say in continuing the efforts to make peace with the Tamil rebels. This emerges from a session of a crisis committee of presidential and prime minister's representatives. The president alleges that the government has been conceding too much to the rebels. More protest likely in Georgia A fresh storm of protest is expected in Georgia after the official announcement that PresidentEduard Shevardnadze's party won the parliamentary election the opposition claims he rigged. The leading opposition party said the final results amounted to a "coup d'etat" and it promised to again assemble thousands of its supporters in the capital, Tbilisi, later this week to demand Shevardnadze's resignation. Western election observers who monitored the poll three weeks ago said it was marred by "spectacular" levels of ballot-rigging and fraud. Unrest has convulsed Georgia since then, worrying Western governments, which see the former Soviet republic as a crucial transit route for oil from the new fields of the Caspian Sea. Rau calls for reform of United Nations President Johannes Rau says Germany supports United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan's call to reform the UN. Speaking during a visit to Mexico on Wednesday, Rau said the United Nations and its various agencies must be the primary instruments for determining multilateral issues. He said whatever form the changes to the UN take, one principle must be maintained; that no nation has the right to take military action unilaterally. Rau made the comments during a speech to the Mexican Council for Foreign Policy. The German president is on a 10-day trip to Latin America, which will also take him to Chile, Uruguay and Brazil. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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/
