Deutsche Welle English Service News 17.04.2005, 16:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
Camp Survivors Recall Horror and Freedom Hundreds of Nazi concentration camp survivors from around the world marked the 60th anniversary of their liberation over the weekend as they mourned the millions who lost their lives. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1554631,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- We'd like to introduce you to our latest newsletter: "Germany Light" give you a weekly look at Germany's cultural, peculiar and sometimes odd happenings. To sign up for regular dose of fun and entertainment, please go to our Newsletter section at http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1170241,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Bergen-Belsen survivors mark anniversary Survivors of three Nazi concentration camps in Germany have been marking the 60th anniversary of their liberation. Former inmates of the concentration camp of Bergen-Belsen near Hanover in northern Germany gathered for an official ceremony to mark the day British troops liberated them. The camp, where 70,000 people died was the first to be liberated by British troops on April 15, 1945, just weeks before the Nazis surrendered. Piles of bodies were discovered in the disease-infested camp which was burnt down shortly afterwards. Ceremonies are also being held this weekend in the camps of Sachsenhausen and Ravensbruck near Berlin. India, Pakistan agree to boost trade The leaders of India and Pakistan have held talks described as positive and have agreed to boost trade and transport links to bolster their peace process. But there was little significant breakthrough on their long-running dispute over divided Kashmir. Both countries claim the entire region and have fought two wars over it since independence from Britain in 1947. On his first trip to India in four years, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf started off his second day in the country with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh by watching part of a cricket match between their national teams. After their talks, Singh accepted an invitation from Musharraf to visit Pakistan on a day yet to be decided. Raid to free dozens of hostages in Iraq Iraqi and US troops have launched an operation in the central Iraqi town of Madain, where Sunni rebels are holding a number of Shi'ite residents hostage. Unconfirmed reports say between three and up to 150 people are being held captive, including women and children. The Sunni insurgents have threatened to kill them amid rising tensions between Sunnis and Shi'ites in the region. Elsewhere in the country, the US military has said three American soldiers have been killed by gun fire at a US base in the Iraqi city of Ramadi. Several dead in Swiss bus crash Swiss radio stations are reporting that up to 10 people have been killed in a bus accident. The vehical, thought to be carrying around 30 passengers, plunged 150 meters into a ravine on a Swiss mountain road Sunday morning. A large rescue opperation is underway. Turk Cypriots to elect new president Turkish Cypriots have gone to the polls to elect a new president. Pro-reunification leader Mehmet Ali Talat is the favourite to succeed veteran Rauf Denktash, who is retiring after more than 30 years at the helm of his self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. The island has been split along ethnic lines since 1974, when Turkey invaded in response to a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at union with Greece. Current prime minister Talat's Republican Turkish Party won general elections in the tiny enclave in February on a pro-reunification ticket. He is expected to push for a revival of stalled peace talks with rival Greek Cypriots. Basque poll a test on autonomy plan Parliamentary elections for Spain's Basque region have opened. Some view the polls as a virtual referendum on independence from Spain. The restive region, split between Basque nationalists seeking greater autonomy from Madrid and Spaniards who support territorial unity, will choose a new 75-member parliament. Batasuna, the political wing of the armed seperatist group ETA, has been banned from these elections. The ruling Basque Nationalist Party has promised to hold a referendum on the region's political future, but the Spanish government says it will not accept it. Italy tries to avoid coalition collapse Italy's coalition government has urged rebel ministers to return to the cabinet to avert a collapse. Such an event would force early elections that Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi would likely lose. The future of Berlusconi's centre-right government has been in doubt since the Union of Christian Democrats walked out on Friday demanding sweeping policy changes after the coalition suffered heavy losses in regional elections. If Berlusconi cannot coax the UDC back with promises of new measures to boost the ailing economy and help poorer Italians, he has said he will dissolve the government. Berlusconi, who spent the weekend at his villa in Sardinia, is expected to talk to President Carlo Ciampi on Monday about the possibilities of a new cabinet. China-Japan crisis meeting China has told Japan that it has nothing to apologise for after weeks of anti-Japanese protests in cities across the country. Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing told his visiting Japanese counterpart, Nobutaka Machimura, that the Japanese government had done a series of things that hurt the feelings of the Chinese people. Machimura flew to China on Sunday to protest against anti-Japan demonstrations. The protests erupted over Japan's newly approved school textbooks which protestors say play down Japanese wartime atrocities. Demonstrators across various cities in China are also protesting against Japan's bid for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. New coalition for Schleswig-Holstein Germany's northernmost state Schleswig-Holstein has a new coalition government. It's made up of social democrats and christian democrats. The grand coalition alliance became the only way out after the social democrats and greens, headed by Social Democrat State Premier Heidi Simonis failed to secure a working majority in state elections in Schleswig-Holstein earlier this year. The new state premier will be CDU regional party leader Peter Harry Carstensen. The grand coalition must still be approved by regional conferences of both parties scheduled for next weekend. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Tell us what you think! 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