Deutsche Welle English Service News 03. 08. 2005, 17:00 UTC English Service News ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD: Kohl Takes Heat Off Former Minister Pfahls The corruption trial of Holger Pfahls took a key turn on Wednesday with the testimony of ex-Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who effectively cleared the former junior defense minister of suspicions of bribery. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1667381,00.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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 14 US soldiers killed in Iraq combat
Fourteen US Marines and a civilian interpreter have been killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq. The incident occurred during combat operations near the town of Haditha, some 200 kilometres northwest of Baghdad. The latest troop casualties come a day after six Marines were killed in the same area. In further violence in Iraq, unknown assailants have shot dead the American journalist and author Steven Vincent. His body was found in the city of Basra. Police said gunmen abducted Vincent and his Iraqi translator on Tuesday. Discovery astronaut repairs shuttle Astronaut Stephen Robinson, on the Space Shuttle Discovery, has successfully completed an unprecedented emergency repair job. The spacewalking astronaut pulled two potentially dangerous strips of protruding fabric from Discovery's belly with his gloved hand. Robinson said both pieces came out easily and he did not have to use a makeshift hacksaw that he carried along just in case. NASA officials wanted the exposed ceramic-fiber fillers removed because they feared the fibers could lead to overheating on re-entry and a possible repeat of shuttle Columbia's disastrous breakup two and a half years ago. Ahmadinejad takes office in Iran Iran's new President Mahmood Ahmadinejad has officially taken office. The ultra-conservative former mayor of Tehran was formally installed at a ceremony led by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In his first address as president, Amhadinejad appealed for an end to weapons of mass destruction in the world. But shortly after the ceremony nuclear negotiator Ali Agha Mohammadi said Tehran hoped to resume uranium conversion work on Wednesday. The European Union and United States have issued sharp warnings to Tehran over its threats to resume the sensitive nuclear fuel work. The move could risk Iran being sent to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions. Mauritanian army troops launch coup In Mauritania, there are reports of an apparent coup d'etat. Army troops backed by presidential guard members took over the armed forces headquarters as well as state radio and television buildings. The incident happened as Mauritanian President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya was in Saudi Arabia, attending the funeral of King Fahd. President Taya has since arrived in Niger for emergency talks with that country's leader. Zambia to hand terror suspect to Britain A terror suspect arrested in Zambia and wanted over the July 7 London bombings as well as by the United States will be deported to Britain. The Zambian government said Haroon Rashid Aswat -- a Briton of Indian descent -- was questioned by British and US investigators who agreed that he should be extradited to the UK. Media reports have linked Aswat to an attempt to set up a militant training camp in the US. While some reports also link him to the July 7 London bombings, a British police source said Aswat was not thought to be involved in those attacks. The source added that Aswat would likely face extradition to the US following his arrival in Britain. Six-party talks on N Korea on-going Six-party talks in Beijing on North Korea's nuclear weapons programme are still on-going and look set to continue into the night. Top envoys from the six nations involved were trying to come up with a joint statement detailing what North Korea would gain if it gave up its nuclear programme. One point of difference has been about when Pyongyang would dismantle its nuclear weapons programme -- before, or after, it receives aid and security guarantees. Islamic Jihad: no attacks during pullout The Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad has said it has given orders not to fire on Israeli targets during the Gaza Strip pullout. The order went out three days ago, and was intended to to give a chance for the withdrawal to go on peacefully. Islamic Jihad also denied that it fired a rocket on Tuesday night at a gathering of Jewish settlers protesting the Gaza withdrawal. A six-year old Palestinian boy died in the attack. Earlier this year, Islamic Jihad signed a truce agreement. However, it has since been behind a number of deadly attacks. The pullout is scheduled to begin two weeks from now. Germany's Adidas to buy rival Reebok Germany's huge sporting goods company, Adidas-Salomon, has said it will buy US rival Reebok. Reebok shareholders and anti-trust authorities still must rule on the matter. The total cost of the deal would be 3.1 billion euros. Adidas posted profits in the second quarter which were almost 10 percent higher than analysts expected. Adidas, based in Frankfurt, is the world's second largest sporting goods concern, after the US's Nike. Last week, smaller competitor Puma announced plans to close the gap on Adidas, by making new acquisitions and entering new markets. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Germany's Bundesliga kicks off this Friday with a match between Bayern Munich and Mönchengladbach. DW-WORLD offers you a live ticker, so be sure not to miss the first soccer event of the season! Go to http://www.dw-world.de/soccer and click on the live ticker banner to follow the action. It all starts at 6:30 p.m. UTC. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. And of course the DW website also has information about DW-RADIO and DW-TV programmes: topics, broadcast times and frequencies. 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