Deutsche Welle English Service News March 3rd 2005, 17:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
US, EU on Collision Course Over China Two senior members of the United States Congress warned the European Union this week that the lifting of the 15-year arms embargo on China could result in a halt of US sales in military technology to the EU. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1507278,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DW-WORLD's ""Click Back"" monthly review quiz for March is waiting for you and will test your knowledge of stories we've written. If you answer all questions correctly, you can also win a great prize. To play, please go to: http://www.dw-world.de/english ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Bashir jailed for Bali bombings Australia has expressed disappointment at the sentence handed down by an Indonesian court to the Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir. The court in Jakarta sentenced Bashir to two-and-a-half years in prison for his involvement in the 2002 night-club bombings on the island of Bali. More than 200 people were killed in the blast, almost half of them were Australians. Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said he hoped the sentence would be appealed. The five-judge panel in Jakarta said Bashir was guilty of a "sinister conspiracy." But the court cleared Bashir of charges stemming from the 2003 bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta that killed 12 people. Car bombs explode in Baghdad Two car bombs have exploded at a police checkpoint outside of the interior ministry in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. At least two police were killed and several others wounded in the attack. Elsewhere in the capital, police discovered the bodies of three men who had been blindfolded and shot in the back of the head. In the town of al-Qaim west of Baghdad, three people were killed in clashes between US troops and insurgents. The US army says that two US soldiers have died after being wounded by a home-made bomb. Guerrillas blew up a gas pipeline feeding Iraq's main power station. Repairs are expected to take five days. Paedophilia trial opens in France In France, 66 men and women accused of sexually abusing at least 45 children have been put on trial. More than 60 lawyers are involved in the case. Prosecutors say that between 1999 and 2001 dozens of children were raped or abused in the western town of Angers. And they say they have gathered evidence that shows that parents bartered their own children in exchange for small sums of money, cigarettes and food. If convicted, three of the defendants could face life in prison. The trial is expected to take several months to complete. North Korea threatens missile testing North Korea is threatening to resume its long-term missile tests, saying it no longer feels bound by a self-imposed moratorium. North Korean officials announced the moratorium in September 1999 after talks with the US administration under former president Bill Clinton. Pyongyang said its dialogue on non-proliferation ended with the start of the current administration under George W. Bush. North Korea has also demanded that the United States apologise for labelling it an "axis of evil" and an "outpost of tyranny." ECB downgrades eurozone forecast The European Central Bank has downgraded its forecast for growth in the eurozone. ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet told reporters at the bank's headquarters in Frankfurt, that they'd revised their forecast for this year to an average of 1.6 percent. That's down from the central bank's previous forecast of 1.9 percent. The forecast for next year is down to 2.1 from the previous forecast of 2.2. percent. Trichet said the forecasts were revised following disappointing economic data for the end of last year. The eurozone is made up of Germany and 11 other countries that have the common European currency, the euro. Italian police make 42 Mafia arrests Police in the Italian city of Naples have arrested 42 people in an anti-Mafia operation. The police were acting on arrest warrants issued against suspected members of the local Di Lauro clan. A gangland war for control of drug trafficking in the city has claimed more than 100 lives over the past year. Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu told reporters after the arrests that police would relentlessly pursue all Mafia suspects. Investigators said the clan was believed to have links to organised crime groups in Albania and in Spain. Delic pleads not guilty to war crimes A former Bosnian general has pleaded not guilty to charges of war crimes before the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague. General Rasim Delic, who led Muslim forces during the Yugoslav war of the 1990's, is accused of allowing his forces to commit "murder and cruel treatment." Delic was in charge of the Bosnian Muslim forces from 1993, the year after the war began, until it ended in 1995. A number of Croat and Serb leaders, as well as former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic are also being tried in The Haag. Protests close Indian parliament The Indian parliament has been stalled by a second day of protests by opposition Hindu nationalists. Unhappy with the installation of a new government in the eastern Jharkhand province, members of Bharatiya Janata Party shouted slogans against the ruling Congress party causing the adjournment of the house. The BJP, together with its coalition partners, claims to have won 36 seats in the recent state election. But the state governor invited a Congress ally to form the government, despite winning only 33 seats. BJP federal leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra described the move as the "murder of democracy." A strike in the province has closed schools, banks and offices. Schroeder open to unemployment talks German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder is open for talks with the conservative opposition to fight unemployment. In his answer to a letter written by Christian Democratic Union and the Christian Social Union leaders Angela Merkel and Edmund Stoiber, Schroeder wrote that he is prepared to accept their offer of serious discussions. Amongst other issues, Schroeder identified employment market reforms, and the expansion of the health insurance scheme as important. Merkel and Stoiber's letter was a response to the record number of jobless people in Germany, which rose to more than 5.2 million people last month. Schroeder completes Yemen visit German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has wrapped up his trip to Yemen with a statement reaffirming his commitment to strengthening bilateral cultural and economic ties. Chancellor Schroeder made the statement following a meeting with Yemeni President Ali Abdallah Saleh. The next stop on Schroeder's week-long trip to the Gulf region is Oman. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- When the ball gets rolling on the first day of the second half of the Bundesliga season, it�s time to place your bets at DW-WORLD again. Bet, score and win is the name of the game. Compete with soccer fans around the world by predicting who will be up or down, how many goals and how tops the table. 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