Deutsche Welle English Service News May 4th 2004, 16:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
Greens Abandon German Immigration Talks Germany's Green party has pulled out of crucial talks on a new immigration law, citing irreconcilable differences with the conservative opposition. The move threatens to create a crisis in the governing coalition. 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_1189209_1_A,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Enjoy our "World News" newsletter? Why not also subscribe to "Daily Bulletin", DW-WORLD's latest daily digest of the day's top German and European stories, delivered to you around 18:30 UTC. To find out more and sign up, please go to http://www.dw-world.de/english/newsletter ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Quartet talks aimed at reinvigorating Mideast negotiations Members of the so-called Middle East quartet have gone into meetings at the United Nations in New York to discuss the stalled peace process between the Israelis and Palestinians. Representatives from the United States, Russia, the European Union and United Nations are looking to revive negotiations on a peace road map. This comes after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Likud Party rejected his plan to withdraw troops and Jewish settlements from Gaza and the West Bank. The setback has forced Sharon to draw up another plan which will get wider support from the hard-liners within his party. U.N. call for Probe of Coalition Abuses in Iraq The United Nations has called for an independent probe into the alleged abuse of Iraqi detainees in a notorious Baghdad prison. In a letter to the U.S.-led administration in Iraq, the UN Commission of Human Rights said the probe should also look at the humanitarian situation in Fallujah. This comes after graphic photographs of Iraqi detainees being tortured and humiliated by US troops were aired on American television last week. Fierce battle between US troops and militia in Najaf In Najaf, five Iraqis have been killed and 20 others wounded in a fierce battle between US troops and militiamen loyal to the radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Gunmen also killed one US soldier and wounded two others when they opened fire on troops guarding a weapons cache south of Baghdad. Meanwhile, Thomas Hamill, an American who escaped his Iraqi captors after being held for three weeks, has arrived at a US military hospital in Germany for a checkup and a reunion with his wife. All suspects in alleged NATO summit bomb plot in Turkey rounded up Turkey's interior ministry has said that all suspects in an alleged plot to bomb a June Nato summit have been detained. A Turkish court in the northwestern city of Bursa charged nine suspected militants for membership in an illegal organisation with links to the al Qaeda terror group. The charges came after authorities said they had foiled a plot to attack the June summit in Istanbul. Police detained 16 people in the raid last week in Bursa, although seven of those questioned were later released. Nine others were detained in Istanbul, but also were released. China, Germany look to high-tech to deepen economic ties Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder have opened a high-tech forum aimed at boosting ties in research and development. The event in Berlin drew more than 100 Chinese and German companies to the economy ministry. It was also expected to lead to the signing of millions of euros in business contracts between participants. For his part, Wen has pledged to do more to fight the piracy of goods covered by intellectual property laws. China confirms three more SARS cases China's health ministry has said three suspected cases of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome have been upgraded to confirmed cases. Laboratory tests showed SARS anti-bodies in the patients. The upgrade brings the number of confirmed SARS cases in China to nine in the latest outbreak of the disease. Last year SARS caused almost 800 deaths worldwide. Several held after Pakistan bomb attack on Chinese Pakistani security forces have detained and questioned thirteen suspects over Monday's bomb attack which killed three Chinese technicians and wounded nine others in Gawadar. Police has also revealed that a remote control triggered of an explosive-laden car near a bus carrying the victims to work. The Chinese were helping build a deep seaport at Gawadar. Initial suspicions on possible motives focused on Islamic militants opposed to Pakistan's support for the U.S.-led "war on terror" and on Baluchistan nationalists opposed to the seaport project. Security has since been stepped up in Gawadar. German government sees record deficit The German government has calculated budget deficit of 47 billion euros for this year, a post-war high. Government sources said Finance Minister Hans Eichel had forecast a budget deficit which would break the previous record of 40 billion euros. Eichel had originally budgeted a deficit of 29 billion euros. According to press reports, Berlin is expected to abandon its goal of consolidating its budget, as required under EU rules, in favour of growth. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DW-WORLD.DE on Your Desktop. Keep up with events with our RSS-Feeds: http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,3367,5069_A_1137115,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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/
