Deutsche Welle English Service News 10. 03. 2005, 17:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
Schr�der to Outline Next Phase of Reform At an event to mark the opening of the CeBIT technology fair on Wednesday night, Gerhard Schr�der revealed his plans to meet with opposition leaders in a bid to tackle the sluggish economy and spiralling unemployment. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1514278,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Hong Kong's Tung Chee-hwa resigns Hong Kong's leader Tung Chee-hwa has announced his resignation two years before his term expires. Tung said he was quitting the post of Chief Executive after eight years due to health concerns and exhaustion. However there is some speculation that he was fired from the post by Chinese leaders in violation of their promise to give the city a high degree of autonomy. Tung's reign has been increasingly unpopular over failed plans for an anti-subversion bill and his continued support for Beijing which sought to limit democratic reform in the territory. Hong Kong will now see the first leadership change since the former British colony was returned to Chinese rule in 1997. Karami reappointed as Lebanese PM Lebanon's President Emile Lahoud has asked his Prime Minister Omar Karami to form a new government. Karami was re-appointed shortly after he was forced to resign by popular demand. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has expressed his concern over the reappointment and the level of fairness in the current government. Meanwhile, US President George W. Bush has threatened further measures if Damascus did not withdraw its 14,000 troops and intelligence agents from Lebanon by May. Palestinian militant killed during raid Israeli forces have killed a Palestinian gunman during a raid in the West Bank despite a ceasefire agreement. According to Israeli media the man belonged to the militant Islamic Jihad group which was blamed for last month's suicide bombing in Tel Aviv. Palestinian cabinet minister Saeb Erekat has condemned the killing as an assassination and said such operations could lead to more violence. Talks regarding Israel's planned pull-out from West Bank cities broke down on Wednesday in a dispute over checkpoints. Bombers target Iraqi funeral Insurgents have targetted a funeral procession at a Shi'ite mosque in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. Initial reports said an explosion had killed at least 19 people. Iraqi officials have accused Sunni Muslim insurgents of attacking Shi'ite targets in a bid to spark a civil war. Earlier gunmen dressed in police uniforms killed the chief of a central Baghdad police station and at least two other officers. According to officials, insurgents set up a false police checkpoint and stopped the police officer's car as he drove to work. Pope to remain in hospital The Vatican has announced that Pope John Paul II will remain in hospital for a few more days. A Vatican spokesman that while his health continues to improve, doctors had advised the Pope to prolong his stay in hospital. No date has been given for the pope's discharge from hospital. The Vatican confirmed that the 84-year-old pontiff would be out of hospital before Easter Holy Week ceremonies. French strikes come amid IOC evaluation A general strike in France has seriously disrupted train and metro services and delayed some flights. Trade unions called the strikes three days ago to protest against government plans to relax laws on France's 35-hour working week. The stoppage comes as inspectors from the International Olympic Committee are touring Paris to assess that city's bid to host the 2012 Olympics. Bundestags debates unemployment Germany's lower house of parliament has been debating ways to tackle the country's mass unemployment. Currently 5.2 million people or 12.6 percent of the workforce are without jobs, a post-war record. Opposition conservatives have called for far-reaching economic reforms, including a relaxation of labour laws. Speaking in the Bundestag CDU leader Angela Merkel promoted a ten point reform plan called the "Pact for Germany." The opposition intends to propose it to the government next week, at high-level talks on the unemployment crisis. Deaths in Darfur underestimated: UN The number of people who have died in Sudan's Darfur region is far more than the 70,000 previously estimated. That's according to Jan Egeland, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator, who has just returned from the crisis region. The UN envoy told a news conference it was impossible to estimate the exact number of deaths from killings or disease. Egeland criticised African countries for not sending enough peacekeepers. Darfur has been in conflict for more than two years with rebel groups fighting the government for power and resources. Soccer referee held for match fixing A second referee has been arrested in the ongoing match-fixing scandal that has rocked German fooball in recent weeks. Dominik Marks was taken into custody by police in Berlin on Wednesday on the basis of testimony provided by disgraced football ref Robert Hoyzer, who's already admitted to being involved in a number of cases of match-fixing. State prosecutors believe the 29-year-old Marks may have helped to manipulate the outcome of three matches. Both referees are alleged to have taken payments from members of a Croatian betting syndicate. Teenager faces Jackson in court The teenage boy who accuses Michael Jackson of sex abuse has for the first time faced the pop star in court. The fifteen-year-old boy took the witness stand on Wednesday and said he once considered Jackson "the coolest guy in the world." The boy testified that he had been approached by Jackson to stay at his Neverland ranch where the two had looked at sexually explicit websites. The pop singer denies 10 charges including child abuse and false imprisonment. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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/
