Deutsche Welle English Service News 24. 03. 2005, 17:00 UTC ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Protests continue in Kyrgyz capital In Kyrgyzstan, opposition protesters have forced their way into the main government building in the capital, Bishkek. They're demanding the resignation of President Askar Akayev. Security forces guarding the compound withdrew after protesters pelted them with stones. Opposition supporters have also reportedly seized the state television building, and it's not clear who's in control of the country. There have been conflicting reports about the whereabouts of President Akayev. The Russian news agency Interfax reports that he has left the country on a helicopter bound for Russia. The protests began following recent parliamentary elections, that the opposition have accused the the president of rigging. Supreme Court refuses Schiavo case The US Supreme Court has denied a request by parents of brain-damaged Terri Schiavo to order the reinsertion of her feeding tube. This is apparently the last legal avenue available in the controversial right to life case. A Christian alliance speaking outside the hospital said they are now hoping Florida's Goveneur Jeb Bush will intervene. Terri Schiavo has been in a persistent vegetative state for the past 15 years. Her doctors removed her feeding tube last week at the request of her husband, who says his wife would not have wanted to be kept alive by artificial means. Doctors have said Schiavo could die within days. UNHCR to withdraw from Aceh The United Nations' refugee agency says it will pull all of its international staff out of Indonesia's Aceh province by the weekend. A UNHCR spokesman said his organisation regretted the decision, but was following orders from Jakarta. Next month, Indonesia is expected to impose new regulations that will likely result in scores of foreign relief workers leaving the area. This raises concerns for the welfare of those affected by December's tsunami who are still in need of assistance. The province was out of bounds to outsiders prior to the tsunami, as government troops tried to put down a long-running rebellion. 14 dead in Texas oil refinery blast In the United States, an explosion at an oil refinery has killed at least 14 people and injured dozens of others. The blast caused extensive damage at BP's largest US refinery, situated in Texas City. A company spokesman said the cause of the explosion was not immediately clear, but he ruled out the possibility that it was a terrorist attack. Boskovski surrenders in The Hague A former Macedonian cabinet minister has surrendered to the war crimes tribunal in The Hague. Former Interior Minister Ljube Boskovski has been charged with murders committed during an ethnic Albanian guerrilla insurgency in Macedonia in 2001. He arrived in the Netherlands on a flight from the Croatian capital, Zagreb, where he'd been held on separate charges since August. Stasi files on Kohl released The Berlin authority in charge of the archives of the former East German secret police, the Stasi, have released files dealing with former Chancellor Helmut Kohl. About 1,000 pages have been made available to a small group of researchers and journalists. Parts of the documents referring to the former chancellor's personal life have been blacked out. The move follows years of legal efforts by Kohl to prevent the release of the files. Pope misses Easter masses In Rome, Pope John Paul II has missed the beginning of Easter celebrations for the first time in his 26-year papacy. The Pope watched the Holy Thursday service in St Peter's Basilica on television. In a message read out at the start of the mass, the Pope said he was spiritually with those gathered in the basilica. His health is still precarious following a throat operation to ease breathing problems last month. He also suffers from Parkinson's disease. The Pope is still expected to deliver his "Urbi et Orbi" blessing on Sunday, but will not preside over the mass. Easter is the most solemn event of the Church calendar, when Christians commemorate the passion, crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. Tuberculosis rampant in Africa The World Health Organisation says tuberculosis rates are rising in Africa, where co-infection with the widespread HIV virus makes the disease particularly lethal. In a report, the WHO said the number of TB cases was increasing by three to four percent annually across the African continent. The report said there were nearly nine million new cases of TB world-wide in 2003. More than two million of them were in Africa, which also has the highest HIV infection rate in the world. The WHO however said that TB rates globally had dropped by more than 20 percent since 1990. An estimated 1.7 million people died of the disease in 2003, most of them in the developing world. Schleswig-Holstein talks continue The two strongest parties in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein are holding exploratory talks on forming a coalition government. Last month's election left the Christian Democratic Union with one more seat than the Social Democratic Party. Both sides have expressed optimism that they will be able to form what's known as a grand coalition. The state's incumbent SPD premier, Heide Simonis, had tried to hold on to power in a coalition with the Greens and with the support of a small regional party. But in a meeting last week, the legislature failed to re-elect her. The CDU's Peter Harry Carstensen is hoping to become the new premier. Man claiming to be German abducted Al Jazeera television says Iraqi militants have kidnapped a man who claims to hold German citizenship. The Arabic-language TV station has broadcast parts of a video in which the man, who was apparently born in Iraq, appeals to Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder for help. Al Jazeera said the kidnappers were demanding the release of all Muslims held in German jails. But a spokesperson for the Foreign Office in Berlin said it appeared highly unlikely that the kidnapped man was a German citizen. But she said the German embassy in Baghdad was making inquiries. Expo opens in Japan The World Exposition, or Expo, has opened in Aichi in Japan. The theme of this year's Expo is "nature's wisdom." A total of 121 countries are hosting displays meant to show the link between technology and the environment. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told invited guests at the official opening that this should serve as a starting point for thinking about how technological innovation can help solve problems like global warming. The German and French pavilions are sharing a single building, in a move intended to express their close ties. The six-month-long event is expected to attract about 15 million visitors. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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/
