Deutsche Welle English Service News March 14th 2005, 17:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
German CEOs Reject Disclosing Salaries Executives of leading German companies have dismissed a government initiative to force publicly traded companies to disclose top managers' salaries. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1517673,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Are you coming to Germany soon? DW-WORLD has just the thing for you: Every 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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Massive anti-Syrian protests in Beirut A record number of protestors have gathered in the Lebanese capital Beirut for an anti-Syrian demonstration. Officials say at least 800,000 people are protesting against the presence of Syrian troops in the country - a month after former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri was assassinated. The Lebanese opposition has blamed Syria for his murder, but Damascus has denied any involvement. Reports say the rally exceeds numbers that turned out for a pro-Syrian demonstration in the southern town of Nabatiyeh on Sunday. Syria has begun pulling back the 14,000 soldiers it has stationed in Lebanon. German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer on Monday hailed Syria's decision to fully withdraw its forces from Lebanon as a "step in the right direction". Annan meets Abbas in Ramallah United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has held talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank. After the meeting, Abbas said he expected to persuade militants to agree to a formal truce with Israel in talks with them on Tuesday in Cairo. For their part, Palestinian militant chiefs said they were ready for a formal ceasefire if Israel freed 8,000 prisoners and pulled back forces in the occupied West Bank. Annan went to the West Bank after talks in Jerusalem on Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. The secretary-general will also attend the opening on Tuesday of Israel's redesigned Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and museum. China passes anti-secession bill The annual session of China's parliament has closed, passing a new law authorising the use of force against neighbouring Taiwan if it formally declares independence. The ten day session ended with the National People's Congress also approving a 13 percent increase in defence spending. Taiwan has denounced the anti-secession bill as a threat to regional security and called for mass demonstrations. US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice criticised the law for increasing tensions between China and Taiwan. However Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao defended the new law, saying it was not meant to target the people of Taiwan nor was it a law of war. Beijing has continued to claim sovereignty over Taiwan since China's civil war ended in 1949. Four die in attempted jailbreak, Manila Negotiations to end a standoff between a group of prisoners and Philippine police at a detention centre in the capital Manila have broken down. According to police the group of ten prisoners - who are suspected members of the militant Abu Sayyaf group - backed away from a pledge to surrender. At least four people died when the group attempted to escape the high security centre. Police said they were prepared to launch an assault on the building where the inmates are holed up if talks failed. Hundreds arrested in Nepal protests Security forces in Nepal have beaten and arrested hundreds of people across the country during rallies against King Gyanendra's seizure of power last month. Monday's demonstrations came a day after Moaist rebels called for nationwide protests against the king, including an 11-day general strike at the beginning of April. After dissolving the government and assuming power, the king cracked down on dissent and declared a state of emergency. Gyanendra said he seized power because leaders had failed to crush the Maoist insurgency, which has killed more than 11,000 people since 1996. Haradinaj pleads not guilty Kosovo's former prime minister, Ramush Haradinaj, has pleaded not guilty to 37 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. He was making his initial appearance at the international tribunal in The Hague. Haradinaj was a regional commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army in the 1998-99 conflict in the Serbian province. Haradinaj is the most senior former member of the KLA to be indicted in connection with the ethnic Albanian war against Serb forces. He resigned as Kosovo's prime minister last week to face the charges. Germany funds Tsunami warning system Germany and Indonesia have signed a joint deal to set up an early warning Tsunami system for the Indian Ocean. Germany's science and research minister Edelgard Bulmahn officially handed over the plans for the new system to her Indonesian counterpart Kadiman Kusmayanto in Jakarta. The early warning system has been developed by the Potsdam Geological Research Institute with initial costs expected to be about 45 million euros. The first buoys and monitoring sensors will be set up in the Indian Ocean later this year. The system is part of Germany's aid contribution to those countries devastated by the Tsunami 11 weeks ago. Germany seeks to save phone data Germany's interior minister Otto Schily intends to set up a central data base for all internet and telephone exchanges in an effort to combat terrorism. Speaking on the sidelines of the CeBIT computer fair in Hannover, Schily said telecommunication activities should be stored for up to one year. This, he said, would help security officials access information about the planning of terrorist attacks. Currently, phone and internet data in Germany is saved for up to three months. Lufthansa to take over airline Swiss Germany's largest airline, Lufthansa, has confirmed that it has entered negotiations to take over Switzerland's struggling air carrier, Swiss. In a joint statement, the two companies said they had agreed on a business plan under which Swiss would retain its brand name, with Zurich as its main aviation hub, but the airline would be fully integrated into Lufthansa. The takeover still has to be approved by Lufthansa's supervisory board and major Swiss shareholders. Borussia football club avoids bankruptcy Six-time German soccer champion Borussia Dortmund has avoided bankruptcy after the company that owns a 94 percent stake of its Westfalen Stadium accepted the club's financial rescue package. Borussia Dortmund expects to record debts of 134.7 million euros by mid-2006. Its financial problems can be traced back to huge gambles on player transfers and wages in the hope that the club would be playing regularly in the money-spinning Champions League. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Join our latest forum: The EU intends to lift its 15-year arms embargo against China, much to the regret of the US which says resuming defense trade would upset the balance of power in the region. What do you think? Participate by going 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. 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