Deutsche Welle English Service News 28. 07. 2005, 17:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DW-WORLD's "Click Back" monthly review quiz for July 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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
DaimlerChrysler Chief's Exit Ends Failed Strategy Analysts say the departure of DaimlerChrysler chief executive Jürgen Schrempp marks the merciful end of a failed expansion strategy. The stock market greeted the announcement. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1661313,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- IRA pledges to lay down arms One of Europe's longest-lasting conflicts in the 20th century has received a boost for peace. The Irish Republican Army ordered its militants to lay down their arms and adopt peaceful means to end British rule in Northern Ireland in a historic move after more than 30 years of conflict. British Prime Minister Tony Blair called the IRA's decision to end its armed campaign as a step of "unparalleled magnitude." Gerry Adams, head of Sinn Fein, the IRA's political wing, said that at times it is right to resist, but that that time is over. Since hostilities between Catholic Irish and Protestant Northern Irish started in 1969, over 3,600 people have been killed, half of them at the hands of the IRA. Heightened tension in London Three weeks after 56 people were killed in bombings on London's transport system, British police have deployed the largest number of police officers ever to patrol the country's rail network. At a press conference, London's police chief Ian Blair warned that more cells of bombers could strike. The warning came after police in London arrested nine more suspects in connection with last week's failed London transport bombings. Detectives continue to question a man suspected of involvement in last week's attempted attacks. He was seized in a raid in the central English city of Birmingham. Pakistan arrests suspect in Pearl murder Pakistani security forces have arrested a suspect in the 2002 murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. Intelligence officials said Hashim Qadeer was one of seven Islamic militants still being sought in connection with Pearl's murder. Qadeer is thought to have arranged a meeting between the US journalist and his kidnappers. Pearl was abducted in January 2002 while researching a story on Pakistani militant groups. He was later found beheaded. Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, a British-born Islamic militant, was sentenced to death in 2002 for masterminding the crime while three associates were given life in prison. Their appeals against the convictions are still pending. Floods kill over 500 in western India After some of the worst monsoon rains ever in India, over 500 people have been killed by floods and landslides in the western part of the country. Hundreds more are missing. More than half of the people were killed in the country's financial centre, Mumbai where roads, rail and air travel are slowly resuming service after being shut down for two days. 160 kilometres off Mumbai's coast, at least ten oil workers lost their lives in an oil platform fire after a support vessel crashed into it on Wednesday. Ships and helicopters managed to rescue some 350 survivors from the platform. Swine flu death toll rises in China In China, authorities are trying to contain an outbreak of swine flu that has already killed 27 people. Health officials in the south-west province of Sichuan have reported another 131 cases. The World Health Organisation said it is watching developments but a spokesman said the disease appeared to pose no threat internationally. Although the pig-borne disease is endemic to swine-rearing countries, human infections are usually rare, so the high number of deaths is alarming. German unemployment higher in July The German unemployment rate has gone up this month. That's according to figures released by the Federal Labour Office. 4.77 million people are out of work in Germany, or 11.5 percent of the population. This is 68,000 more than reported in June and 412,000 more than in July of last year. Analysts say the increase is expected at this time of year. Germany not liable for NATO attack A German court has ruled that the victims of a NATO air raid on a Serbian town during the 1999 Kosovo war cannot claim compensation from the German government. A state court in Cologne said it was not proven that Germany was liable under international humanitarian law or its own constitution. A group of 35 claimants have been seeking compensation of over a half million euros over the assault on a bridge in Varvarin on May 30, 1999, in which ten people were killed and another 17 seriously injured. DaimlerChrysler's Schrempp to resign German automaker DaimlerChrysler has announced that its chief executive Juergen Schrempp would step down at the end of this year. Schrempp has faced intense criticism from analysts and the financial markets for his international strategy. Under his leadership, Daimler acquired US maker Chrysler and took a share of the troubled Japanese manufacturer Mitsubishi Motors. Current head of the carmaker's Chrysler division, Dieter Zetsche, will replace Schrempp. The company's stock has surged over six percent on the news. Critics slam Asian anti-pollution pact The world's top two air polluters - the United States and China - have joined Australia, India, Japan and South Korea to unveil a new partnership to fight global warming. The Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate aims to create new technology that will meet long-term energy needs while addressing climate concerns. But environmentalists are skeptical about the pact because it contains no legally binding requirements to cut emissions. Critics are also concerned that it might undermine the 140-nation Kyoto Protocol. The United States and Australia have refused to ratify Kyoto, saying it would harm their economies by raising energy prices and cost millions of jobs. Bulgarian coalition fails to win vote The Bulgarian Socialist party has failed to form a government, a month after it won national elections. Parliament voted on Wednesday to accept the nomination of the Socialist leader Sergey Stanishev as Prime Minister. But then lawmakers turned down the minority coalition government proposed by Stanishev. He has now returned his mandate to govern. The President Georgi Parvanov will now hand the mandate to the second largest political group in parliament, the National Movement Simeon II. Analysts expect the party to also have difficulties finding a coalition partner. The deadlock could delay Bulgaria's entry into the European Union, scheduled for 2007. Vieira wins Guinea-Bissau elections Former military ruler Joao Bernardo Vieira has won Guinea-Bissau's presidential elections. The election commission said Vieira won 55 percent of the vote, compared with 45 for rival Malam Bacai Sanha. Thousands of rival supporters armed with bottles and stones clashed in the capital Bissau. Security forces fired tear gas in a bid to quell the violence. There were no reports of injuries. Sanha and other opposition groups rejected the results, alleging the ballot was marred by fraud. But addressing a rally of several hundred in Bissau, Sanha urged his supporters to remain calm. Discovery docks with ISS The Discovery space shuttle has docked at the International Space Station after performing a back flip to allow those aboard the outpost to photograph the shuttle's belly for signs of damage. Chunks of foam had broken off from Discovery's external fuel tank during its launch on Tuesday. Officials from the US space agency NASA believe Discovery was unharmed, but they do not know when shuttles will fly again. Discovery is scheduled to stay a week with the International Space Station. Shuttle astronauts Steve Robinson from the US and Japan's Soichi Noguchi will perform three spacewalks, during which they will replace and repair balky gyroscopes that keep the space station stable and attach an external platform to be used for storage. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Send us your favorite picks for sight-seeing, museum hopping, historical edification whatever youve got to share with others heading to Germany. Restaurants, hotels, back-country hideaways write to us with your insider tips and tell us about what you liked best about traveling in Germany. 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