Deutsche Welle English Service News 20. 04. 2005, 17:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
Pope Stresses Inter-Faith Dialogue Pope Benedict XVI says he's open to dialogue both within his own Church and with other faiths during his first public Mass Wednesday, signaling a commitment to continue the reconciliatory stance of his predecessors. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1558435,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Tell us what you think! DW-WORLD wants to hear your opinion of our Web site. Please take a few minutes to fill in our online survey and let us know what subjects you want to see more of and where you think we can still improve: http://websurveyor.net/wsb.dll/26036/DW-WORLD-ENG.htm?renderlang=eng ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Mixed reactions to Pope Benedict Newly elected Pope Benedict XVI has paid a fond tribute to John Paul II as he celebrated his first mass. The Roman Catholic Church's choice of conservative Joseph Ratzinger as the new pope has been largely welcomed worldwide but it's also drawn scepticism. The 78-year-old from Bavaria and the first German pontiff in nearly 500 years was picked by 115 cardinals at the Vatican on Tuesday. UN chief Kofi Annan said Pope Benedict brought a "wealth of experience" to the holy office. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said Ratzinger would be a "worthy successor" to the late Pope John Paul II. While many of the world's 1.1 billion Catholics celebrated Pope Benedict as a symbol of papal continuity, there's been dismay among advocates of womens' and gay rights and liberal Catholics. China calls for end to anti-Japan protests The Chinese government has called for an end to anti-Japanese protests across the country. Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing in a statement carried on state media said Chinese should not endanger social stability. Asian foreign ministers meeting in Jakarta to prepare for an Asia-Africa summit also called for calm. Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said the tensions between Asia's two economic giants were worrying. In recent weeks stones have been thrown at Japanese premises in China as thousands of people protested over a Japanese textbook seen as whitewashing Japanese atrocities in China before and during World War II. 50 bodies recovered from Iraqi river Iraqi police say over 50 bodies of men, women and children have been recovered from the Tigris river 40 kilometres south of Baghdad. Officials haven't ruled out the possibility that they were the Shi'ite hostages taken last week by Sunni extremists. There have been conflicting reports on whether anyone had been taken or not. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said on Wednesday that those found in the river had been identified and more details would be released in coming days. In a separate incidents: The bodies of 19 Iraqi soldiers were found executed at a football stadium north of the capital. Triple suicide bombs in Baghdad on Wednesday killed at least two people and injured many others. Israel takes first step to Gaza pullout The Israeli army has begun removing non-essential equipment from the Gaza strip in a first step towards evacuating Jewish settlers from the coastal territory that it's occupied for nearly 40 years. The army and around 8,000 Jewish settlers are to be removed from the area later this summer. But the government is considering a three-week delay to avoid clashing with a mourning period observed by religious Jews. Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas said on Tuesday that he was ready to coordinate with Israel on the pullout and pledged to ensure that it happens in a calm atmosphere. Italian government crisis escalates Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has said he would resign as prime minister, in what could be a step to forming a new administration to overcome tensions. He made his comments on the way into a Senate confidence debate on his fragile centre-right coalition. It was further weakened by a threat from a second party to pull out of the coalition. The National Alliance said that its five ministers might quit Berlusconi's cabinet after he reversed his decision on Monday to resign. Instead Berlusconi called for a vote of confidence in his administration. This comes after the departure last week of four ministers of another coalition party, the Union of Christian Democrats. Its leaders had demanded policy changes after the bloc was bruised in regional elections. Iran pressures EU on nuclear talks Iran has threatened to end talks with three European powers on its controversial nuclear program if they don't accept Tehran's new proposals to renew uranium enrichment in the future. The comments from the head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Hassan Rowhani, come as negotiators meet in Geneva to discuss EU demands that the Islamic Republic abandon the enrichment program. The EU trio -- Germany, Britain and France -- has offered Iran political and economic incentives in return. Tehran maintains that its nuclear program is only for generating electricity. Quake jolts southern Japan, Fukuoka Southern Japan has been jolted by an earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale. Its epicentre was close to the city of Fukuoka, where authorities said 13 people were injured, mainly by falling objects and glass from shattered windows. High speed trains were halted. Japanese authorities did not issue a tsunami warning. Greece ratifies EU constitution The Greek parliament has ratified the European Constitution by 268 votes to 17. This makes Greece the sixth European Union member state to ratify the treaty. The constitution, which aims to streamline decision-making in the expanded 25-member European Union, must be ratified by all member states to come into force. US Senate panel delays vote on Bolton Republicans on the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee have delayed a vote on President George W. Bush's nominee for Washington's next ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton. The committee agreed to postpone the vote until next month after Ohio Republican Senator George Voinovich said he would withhold a deciding vote for John Bolton. Democrats on the committee said accusations were building that indicated that Bolton had displayed a pattern of abusive behaviour toward subordinates and tried to force intelligence analysts into writing reports to suit his views. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. 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