Deutsche Welle English Service News 08. 05. 2005, 17:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
Germany Can't Draw Line Under Past: President German President K�hler urged Germans Sunday to keep alive the memories of the suffering inflicted by Nazi Germany."We Germans look back with horror and shame," he said during the WWII commemoration in parliament. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1576703,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DW-WORLD's "Click Back" monthly review quiz for May is waiting for you and will test your knowledge of stories we've written. If you answer all questions correctly, you can also win a great prize. To play, please go to: http://www.dw-world.de/english ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Europe remembers the end of WWII Commemoration ceremonies are taking place throughout Europe to mark the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. In Berlin, tens of thousands of Germans joined "democracy day" celebrations at the city's Brandenburg Gate. In London, Paris and elsewhere leaders joined sombre ceremonies to honour the dead of the 1939-1945 war, which claimed the lives of 40 to 60 million people. US President George W. Bush led a remembrance ceremony at a US military cemetery in the Netherlands. President Bush has now arrived in Moscow, a day after he called the Soviet domination of central and Eastern Europe after the war a great injustice. He made his comments in Latvia. President Bush and other European heads of government will join in ceremonies in Moscow on Monday. German WWII commemorations Events marking the end of the Nazi regime have also been taking place in Germany. German President Horst Koehler led a solemn memorial ceremony at the parliament building. The capital Berlin is bracing for violence expected on Sunday during a planned neo-Nazi march near the Brandenburg Gate and possible counter-protests by extreme leftists. Six thousand riot police are on duty to prevent clashes between the two groups. Overnight, thousands of Berlin residents and visitors formed a night-time chain of candles and lamps 33 kilometres in length to protest against rightwing extremism. Schroeder apologises to Russia for WWII German Chancellor Gerhard Schrooeder has apologised to Russia for the enormous losses suffered during WWII. He acknowledged that the Russian people suffered hardships from the Nazi war and asked for their forgiveness. His apology was printed in the Russian newspaper, Komsomol Pravda. He said he regarded Russian President Vladimir Putin's invitation to participate in Monday's commemoration as "the evidence of trust in German people." Iraq parliament gets six new ministers Iraq's parliament has approved six new government ministers to complete Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari's cabinet. The key post of defence minister was given to Sunni politician Saadun al-Dulaimi and a Sunni Arab was also nominated deputy prime minister. Jaafari said he may decide on one more deputy prime minister, who should be a woman. The new appointments follow weeks of wrangling and criticism that Jaafari's cabinet was Shia dominated. The announcement came as US-led forces killed six and arrested 54 suspected insurgents near the Syrian border. There has been an upsurge in violence throughout the country since the new government was sworn-in at the end of April. A suicide bomber killed 22 people in central Baghdad on Saturday. Iran will resume sensitive nuclear work Iran has announced it is preparing to resume some uranium enrichment-related work, despite warnings from Washington and the European Union that such moves would prompt them to put the case before the United Nations Security Council. Iran made an agreement with the EU last year to temporarily freeze enrichment in return for economic and political incentives. But Tehran said if negotiations with the EU didn't produce a significant outcome it would resume the process and insists its atomic ambitions are peaceful. Iranian hardline lawmakers even threatening to pass a new bill obliging the government to resume uranium enrichment. Ukraine wants new nuclear plants Ukraine has announced that it plans to build 11 new nuclear power plants in the next 25 years in a strategic move aimed at boosting its energy independence. Kiev says such moves are necessary because many of the country's old atomic plants must be shut down by 2011. In 1986, the former Soviet republic was the site of the world's worst nuclear accident, when a reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear plant exploded and caught fire, spewing radiation over much of northern Europe. Over 4,000 Ukrainians died and around seven million people in parts of Eastern Europe are believed to have suffered health problems as a result of the accident. Three dead, five injured in Kabul blast One of the three people killed in an explosion at an Internet cafe in the Afghan capital Kabul was a Burmese United Nations employee. The other two men were Afghan nationals and five other Afghans were wounded in the blast which police are calling a "terrorist" attack. The Internet cafe, equipped with 25 computers, is attached to a Park Residence guest house popular with visiting foreigners. It was the first bomb attack in Kabul since April 24, when a car bomb detonated in a residential neighbourhood, without causing any casualties. Lebanese leader returns from exile Lebanon's most prominent Christian opposition leader has returned to a hero's welcome in Beirut, ending more than a decade in exile. Over a week after the last Syrian soldiers withdrew from the country, Michel Aoun, a former general and outspoken opponent of Syrian influence in Lebanon, appeared at Martyrs' Square where tens of thousands of supporters gave him an enthusiastic welcome. On the eve of Aoun's return, a bomb ripped through a commercial district of the Christian port town of Jounieh north of Beirut, wounding 28 people and damaging shops and buildings. The explosion occurred three weeks ahead of general elections. It was the fifth bombing to target Lebanon's Christian heartland since the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri on February 14. Burma opponents deny hand in blasts Opponents of Burma's military regime have denied they were responsible for three bomb blasts which killed 11 people and wounded 162 others in the capital on Saturday. The junta blamed three ethnic rebel groups and an exiled pro-democracy group for what it called "terrorist acts", but there appears to be a lack of evidence backing that claim up. The attacks at two shopping malls were the most devastating attacks since the junta took power 40 years ago. Raikkonen wins Spanish Grand Prix Finally some sports news and McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen has won the Spanish Grand Prix, the Finn's third Formula One victory. Raikkonen spoiled the homecoming of Renault's championship leader Fernando Alonso, who finished second ahead of Italian Jarno Trulli in a Toyota. Seven-times world champion Michael Schumacher, who had won the last four Spanish grands prix, retired with 18 laps remaining after one of his tyres failed him when he was running in third place. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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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