Deutsche Welle English Service News 02. 08. 2005, 17:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD: Merkel Wants US-Style Security Advisor If the conservative Christian Democrats win the upcoming elections, Angela Merkel is planning to install a security advisor in the chancellery to increase the head of government's influence on foreign policy issues. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1665957,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DW-WORLD's "Click Back" monthly review quiz for August 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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- King Fahd laid to rest in Riyahd Saudi Arabia's King Fahd has been buried in a simple ceremony in the kingdom's capital Riyadh. Dozens of Muslim leaders and foreign dignitaries were in attendance to bid farewell to the man who ruled the oil-rich kingdom for 23 years and through two Gulf wars. King Fahd died on Monday of pneumonia at the age of 83. Former Crown Prince Abdullah has already been installed as the new king. Astronauts prepare for shuttle repairs Discovery's astronauts are preparing for a high-stakes task that has never been done before: sending a spacewalker to repair material protruding from the shuttle's tile belly. NASA says that material could cause dangerous overheating during re-entry and could lead to a disaster. Astronaut Steve Robinson will do the job while riding on the space station's robot arm. He says if he can't pull the protruding material off, he'll chop it off with a make-shift hacksaw. Shuttle commander Eileen Collins believes the spacewalk will go smoothly. The Discovery is due back on earth on Monday. Germany pledges additional aid to Niger Germany has pledged an additional one million euros for humanitarian aid in Niger. The Foreign Ministry said the money would go to helping German non-governmental humanitarian organizations working in the country. It's estimated that almost a third of Niger's population is at risk of starvation following a locust invasion and drought. The new funds add to the 1.5 million euros Germany has already provided in aid. Mother denies killing newborns A German mother suspected of killing nine of her newborn babies has admitted to giving birth to the children but denied murdering them. Press reports also say the 39-year-old woman has a two-year-old child, three grown children between the ages of 18 and 20, and is pregnant again. On Sunday, authorities found the bones of the nine babies buried in flowerpots, buckets, and an aquarium. Police believe they were buried there between 1988 and 2004. More violence in Sudan More violence has been reported in Sudan following the death of Vice President John Garang, who died in a helicopter crash on Sunday in Uganda. In a suburb of the capital Khartoum, a number of people died in fighting between southern and northern Sudanese. At least 24 people died in rioting in Khartoum after the news of Garang's death broke out. Meanwhile, the former rebel group Sudan People's Liberation Movement, the SPLM, has appointed a successor to Garang, who was its leader. His deputy, Salva Kiir, will become new head of the SPLM , which said it also expects him to be sworn in as vice president in two weeks. World leaders have been praising Garang in his death. Jordan and Egypt both applauded his commitment to Sudan's peace process. US President George W Bush urged the Sudanese people to refrain from violence. Rain-hit Mumbai continues clean-up Workers are pressing on with a massive clean-up in India's financial hub Mumbai after torrential monsoon rain eased for the first time in a week. On Tuesday high waters forced thousands to flee their homes and weather damage was put at around 888 million dollars. Skies were overcast but rain had stopped falling in much of Mumbai for the first time since July 26. The reprieve gave work crews a chance to clear mounds of garbage and animal carcasses. The rains claimed the lives of 409 people in the city alone. A total of 993 people are known to have died across the entire state. Tamil Tigers accused of recruiting kids Sri Lanka's military has accused the Tamil Tiger rebels of recruiting children into their ranks, in defiance of a ban. At least eight children were allegedly abducted in the last two days, and several underaged children have recently been returned to their parents. Under a February 2002 truce between the Sri Lankan government and the rebels, child recruitment and abductions are banned. Two blasts hit Turkish resort city, wound six Two explosions have ripped through rubbish bins, wounding six people in Turkey's Mediterranean tourism hub Antalya.Police said on Tuesday that it was not immediately clear what caused the blasts, which occurred within minutes of each other in separate locations in central Antalya, Turkey's fourth-largest city. Groups linked to the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party - PKK - claimed responsibility for two recent bombings that targeted resort areas and have threatened further attacks on other tourist sites. Gaza protestors: will defy march ban In Israel, protestors against the Gaza Strip pull-out have said they will defy a ban on Tuesday on a march to certain Gaza settlements. Rally leaders said they would try to move to the main settlement block of Gush Katif. Over 15 thousand police and soldiers are deployed in the Gaza Strip to prevent people sabotaging the evacuation. Overnight, police came to a compromise with the protestors, allowing them a democratic demonstration in the town of Sderot in southern Israel on Tuesday evening, given that they disperse shortly afterwards. The pull-out from Gaza is scheduled to start two weeks from now. The government has tried to prevent too many protests against the plan, because it says they could provoke violence from Palestinians. Iran preps restarting nuclear activities Iran has said that it has begun preparations to resume its nuclear activities, and that the decision was irreversible. Iranian officials said operations at a nuclear plant near the town of Isfahan would resume within one or two days. Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have begun preparing to supervise work. Britain, France, Germany, and the US have threatened to go to the UN Security Council if Iran restarts its nuclear work. Iran said it was reopening the plant because the European Union hasn't been quick enough in giving an offer of trade and security incentives in exchange for Tehran ending its nuclear activities. Small bomb hits British offices in Iran A small bomb has exploded near the offices of British Airways and British Petroleum in Tehran. It caused no casualties, but shattered windows. It had been placed in a dustbin. Suspects and motives are still unclear, but the European Union is right now in conflict with Iran over its nuclear programme. The British Embassy called the incident "serious" and thanked Iranian authorities for quickly intervening, closing off the perimeter of the building. N Korea: "no progress" in 6-party talks In the eighth day of six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear programme, negotiators are trying to agree on a joint statement. They are using a draft written by China as a basis for discussion. North Korea said that the talks were making no progress. South Korea and Japan both expressed pessimism that the statement could be written efficiently. Tokyo said Pyongyang still does not acknowledge that it has a uranium enrichment programme, even though the country claims to have nuclear weapons. Pyongyang says that until the United States and other countries guarantee it aid and military security, it will not even consider stopping its nuclear activities. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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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