Deutsche Welle English Service News 02.02.2004, 17:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
IG Metall's Future Hinges on Wage Talks With a failed strike, internecine power struggles behind it and eroding membership, IG Metall's contentious wage negotiations this year could determine the union's future - and whether it has one. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1431_A_1102728_1_A,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Bush orders probe into Iraq intelligence US President George W. Bush has announced that he will launch an investigation into apparent flaws in pre-war intelligence used to justify the war against Iraq. Bush also said he would widen the scope of the investigation to the broader context of the fight against proliferation and weapons of mass destruction. He added that he wanted to hear directly from former chief US weapons inspector David Kay, who told a senate committee last week there was no evidence Saddam Hussein had any stockpiles of banned weapons prior to the war. Bush, who had previously rejected any inquiry, has faced mounting pressure on the issue from both Democrats and fellow Republicans. 56 die in twin bombings of Kurdish offices in Iraq In Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq, 67 people have been killed and over 250 wounded in twin suicide bomb attacks on the offices of the two main Kurdish political parties. The dead include the governor of Erbil and the Kurdish deputy prime minister. Both the Kurdish Democratic Party and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan have worked closely with U.S. occupation forces. Kurdish leaders have responded to the bombings by renewing their campaign for greater Kurdish autonomy within a federal Iraq, a demand rejected by Iraqi Arabs and minority ethnic groups. Sharon to evacuate Gaza settlements Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is reported to be planning to evacuate 17 Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip. In an interview with the Haaretz newspaper, Sharon said he assumed that, in his words, "there will be no Jews in Gaza" in the future. Sharon had previously threatened to unilaterally separate Israel from the Palestinian territories, if the US-backed "road map" peace plan failed. About 7,500 Jewish settlers live in the Gaza strip. 120 Iranian reformist MPs quit in protest In Iran, the conservative Guardian Council has criticised the mass resignation of over 120 MPs in support of 2,000 reformist candidates banned from this month's forthcoming general election. The Guardian Council, the unelected conservative body of clerics and judges who imposed the ban, said the resignations could be seen as proof of disloyalty to the Islamic Republic. The Guardian Council has also rejected the Interior Ministry's appeal for elections to be postponed in order to give candidates time to campaign properly. Meanwhile, Iran's largest pro-reform party has announced it will boycott the February 20th elections, with its leader saying the party has lost hope that a free and fair parliamentary vote can be held as scheduled. Pakistani nuclear scientist confesses The pioneer developer of Pakistan's nuclear programme, Abdul Qadeer Khan, has reportedly confessed to passing weapons technology to foreign governments from 1986 to 1993. A source from Pakistan's commission investigating alleged nuclear proliferation told reporters that Khan has admitted leaking secrets to North Korea, Iran and Libya. Khan was placed under house arrest on Saturday. Six other scientists were also held. Khan previously enjoyed the status of a national hero for developing atomic weapons during Pakistan's arms race with India. Sick Germans likely don't have bird flu Here in Germany, initial tests conducted on two women suspected of having contracted avian influenza or bird flu have not confirmed the presence of the virus. A spokesperson for a tropical medicine institute in the northern city of Hamburg said more conclusive test results were expected in a few hours' time. The women recently returned to Hamburg from Thailand. One of them has shown symptoms of the illness. Ten Asian countries are scrambling to contain an outbreak of bird flu. Nine people in Vietnam and three in Thailand have died from the virus so far. Most are believed to have contracted the virus through contact with an infected chicken. Border officials on trial over Sudanese man's death Three German border guard officers have gone on trial in Frankfurt over the death of a Sudanese man as he was being deported. The three are accused of restraining the man so forcibly that he suffocated on board the plane. A State prosecutor told the court that the three accused pinned him down and continued to do so until he stopped resisting "abruptly." A doctor on board tried to resuscitate him, but it was too late. The prosecutor said the officials, aged between 31 and 40, should have realised that their actions could have fatal consequences. 4 Kenyans go on trial for 2002 Al-Qaeda attacks In Nairobi, four Kenyans have gone on trial for the 2002 attacks on an Israeli-owned hotel and a charter jet near Mombasa. The suspects are charged with killing 12 Kenyans and three Israelis. Three suicide bombers were also killed. The prosecution alleges the suspects were linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist network, which claimed responsibility for the attacks. The two incidents severely damaged Kenya's tourist industry. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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/
