Deutsche Welle English Service News 06. 02. 2004, 17:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
Schröder To Step Down as Party Leader Giving in to calls from his party member to focus more on his duties as German chancellor, Gerhard Schröder on Friday announced he will step down as leader of his Social Democratic Party (SPD). To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1432_A_1106723_1_A,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Explosion hits Moscow metro, killing 39 Thirty-nine people have been killed and more than 120 injured in an explosion in the Moscow subway during the morning rush hour. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing, but Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed separatist Chechen leaders for the attack, and appealed to the international community to boost its efforts in the fight against terrorism. But a top Chechen rebel leader has denied any involvement in the blast, and Deputy Moscow Mayor Valery Shantsev said that investigators had not found metal shrapnel, which usually fills suicide bombers' explosives. The Interfax news agency, meanwhile, is reporting that a female suicide bomber was responsible for the blast. The incident comes a month before Russia's presidential elections. Germany's Chancellor Schroeder gives up party leadership German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has announced his intention to resign as chairman of his party the Social Democrats. Speaking at a press conference in Berlin, he also named Franz Muentefering -- head of the SPD's parliamentary group -- as his successor. The move comes in response to growing criticism in the party over the government's reform drive. Schroeder added that he is giving up the job as chairman reluctantly, but that it would allow him to concentrate on the reform policy and on his job as Chancellor. Indian parliament dissolved Indian President Abdul Kalam has dissolved parliament in preparation for early polls in the forthcoming General Election. The exact date of the election in the world's largest democracy has yet to be set although leaders of the ruling Hindu nationalist party are known to favour a date as early as April or May due to the onset of the Monsoon. 650 million people are eligible to take part in the elections. 21 die in Indian Kashmir in second day of separatist violence Renewed violence in Indian-administered Kashmir has resulted in 21 deaths according to police. This follows separatist related violence on Thursday in which 23 people died. The bloodshed comes despite breakthrough talks set for February 16-18 between India and Pakistan, which each control part of the Himalayan province. More than 40,000 people have died since the insurgency broke out in 1989, according to official Indian figures. 26 die in Indonesian earthquake At least 26 people have died and hundreds are reported injured after powerful earthquakes hit Indonesia's remote Papua province. The quakes which measured 6.9 on the Richter Scale hit the town of Nabire located some 3000 kms away from the capital of Jakarta. As many as five hundred houses have been destroyed and the local airport has suffered damage according to local officials. UN appeals for Liberian aid At a two-day conference at the United Nations in New York Secretary-General Kofi Annan appealed for nearly 390 million euros to start rebuilding Liberia. He said at least another 80 million euros were needed to meet its immediate humanitarian needs. The West African nation is trying to rebuild following President Charles Taylor's flight into exile in August, which cleared the way for a power-sharing deal between his government and rebels after 14 years of fighting that claimed more than 150,000 lives. In addition the United States wants to freeze all assets belonging to Taylor according to diplomatic sources. Lennox Lewis retires from pro' boxing Finally, boxing, and world WBC heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis of Britain has announced his retirement. Lewis said his defeat last June of the Ukrainian Vitali Klitschko was his last professional fight. It was time for a younger generation, Lewis said. Lewis lost just two of his 44 fights in a 14-year professional boxing career. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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/
