Deutsche Welle English Service News March 7th 2005, 17:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
Deutsche B�rse Withdraws Offer for LSE The operator of the Frankfurt stock exchange, Deutsche B�rse, has withdrawn its offer to buy the London Stock Exchange (LSE), according to company officials. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1510562,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Are you coming to Germany soon? DW-WORLD has just the thing for you: Ever Monday, we compile a list of the top five events that are going on this week -- from exhibitions to concerts to festivals and markets. Check out "Germany's Top Five" at www.dw-world.de/english ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date for Syrian troop pull out set Syrian and Lebanese leaders have set a deadline for the planned pullback of Syrian troops in Lebanon. In a joint statement after talks in Damascus, officials said the troop redeployment would take place at the end of March. The international community has called for a complete and immediate Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon. Meanwhile, up to 150,000 protesters in the Lebanese capital Beirut attended a rally in Martyrs' Square, where assassinated former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri is buried. The protesters called for Syria to quit Lebanon completely, and demanded the truth about Hariri's death. Syria has been blamed for the Hariri's murder three weeks ago. State funeral in Rome begins A state funeral for an Italian secret service agent killed in Iraq has taken place in Rome. Nicola Calipari was killed by US forces in Iraq last week as he was bringing a freed Italian hostage to safety. In attendance at the funeral were Italy's top politicians, including Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Meanwhile, US forces in Iraq faced further strains with allies on Monday when Bulgaria said American troops had probably shot dead one of its soldiers. The Bulgarian soldier was killed in southern Iraq on Friday when US forces reportedly fired on his patrol. French president visits Germany German Chancellor Gerhard Schoeder has welcomed French President Jacques Chirac to Germany. Speaking after infomal talks, Schroeder said both leaders were in complete agreement on all of the major EU and international foreign policy issues. Chirac and Schroeder called for reform of the EU's Stability and Growth Pact, which they have criticised for lacking flexibility. And they issued a joint statement urging Syria to fully withdraw from Lebanon as soon as possible. Communist party wins Moldova poll Moldova's Communist party has retained its dominant position following Sunday's parliamentary poll. The election commission said the Communists under President Vladimir Voronin won 46 percent of the vote. This is likely to give the party 56 of 101 assembly seats, which enough to pass laws but short of the 61 needed to re-elect the president. Voronin had campaigned on building closer ties to western Europe and accused Russia of interfering in Moldovan affairs by supporting Russian-speaking separatists. Voter turnout in the ex-Soviet state was estimated at just under 60 percent. International observers said the poll was generally in compliance with election standards, but there were some shortcomings, notably in campaign conditions and media access. Fire kills inmates in Dominican prison More than 100 people have died in a prison fire in the Dominican Republic. The state prosecutor said the fire broke out following gang fighting in a prison, 150 km east of the capital Santo Domingo. He added that the blaze spread rapidly as rioting gang members set pillows and sheets on fire. Army helicopters were ferrying the wounded to hospitals in the capital. Many have serious injuries. Bolivia's president to quit Bolivian President Carlos Mesa has announced he will resign, following a second week of protests in the Latin American country. Officials said his letter of resignation would be presented to Congress on Monday. Congress must then decide if it will accept the resignation. The political crisis follows widespread strikes and protests by coca farmers and labour unions aimed at making multinational companies pay higher royalties. Mesa's opponents have accused the President of using the threat to resign as a political tool to consolidate power. Top suspect in Chen shooting dead Police in Taiwan have named a dead unemployed man as their top suspect for last year's election-eve shooting of President Chen Shui-bian. The police said the man, Chen Yi-hsiung, committed suicide by drowning days after the March attack. The suspect left behind a suicide note saying he wanted to kill himself to relieve the burden on his family. The day after the attack, the incumbent Chen Shui-bian won a second four-year term by a razor-thin margin. Deutsche Boerse scraps bid for LSE The German stock exchange, Deutsche Boerse, has scrapped its bid to buy the London Stock Exchange, or LSE. In a statement on Sunday, Deutsche Boerse's chief Werner Seifert said both sides could not agree to terms that were financially acceptable. At the end of January, Deutsche Boerse had offered to purchase the LSE for just under two billion euros. The LSE twice rejected informal offers from Deutsche Boerse at that price. German politician remembered In Cologne, Germans have paid homage to Hans-Juergen Wischnewski, one of the most prominent Social Democratic politicians in the past century. The 82-year old died ten days ago and at his funeral on Monday, Wischnewski was remembered in particular for his trouble-shooter role in the 1970's, most memorably when he masterminded the storming of a hijacked German aircraft in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. Political summit set for Germany There are signs of growing willingness for negotiations between the German government and opposition parties in an effort to deal with Germany's 12.6 percent unemployment. The Berliner Zeitung reports that Chancellor Gerhard Schoeder will invite Christian Democrat chairwoman Angela Merkel and Christian Socialist leader Edmund Stoiber to political summit talks. No date for the meeting has been announced. Both conservative party leaders had previously expressed their readiness to work with the governing coalition to reduce record levels of joblessness. However, some Socialist Democratic politicians remain sceptical of the opposition parties' initiatives. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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/
