Deutsche Welle English Service News 10.8.2005, 16:00 UTC ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Last chance to play! 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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD: Iran Cuts Seals on Nuclear Plant The German government has called on Tehran to halt plans to resume uranium conversion, but to return to the negotiating table. But Iran has removed the seals at a key atomic plant, signalling that talks are over. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1675102,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Iran's nuclear plant online Iran's uranium conversion facility in Isfahan is now fully operational after the removal of all the seals placed by international inspectors, according to a nuclear official. Meanwhile the UN atomic agency has cancelled a planned formal meeting on Iran's nuclear program because diplomats remain locked in closed-door talks on an EU proposal to stop the fuel cycle work. The UN body sealed sensitive areas of the plant last November after Tehran agreed to suspend all nuclear fuel work as part of an agreement with Britain, Germany and France. Iran's new President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, defended the resumption of work at Isfahan but said Tehran wanted to continue negotiations with the EU. The German government has expressed concern about Iran's latest move. 8 hurt in southern Philippines blasts Two bombs have exploded in the southern Philippine city of Zamboanga, wounding eight people. The military blamed militant groups like the Jemaah Islamiah or Abu Sayyaf for the attacks. The first bomb, which went off in a parked jeep, damaged nearby shops and wounded four people, while the second, in a nearby hotel, also wounded four. A third bomb was also reportedly found in the area. The military said the rebels could have launched the attacks due to an intense manhunt in the central Mindanao province, where they are believed to be hiding. NATO to send planes to protect Pope NATO has announced that it will send AWACS surveillance aircraft to help protect Pope Benedict during his visit to Germany this month. The Pope plans to attend an event to celebrate World Youth Day in the German city of Cologne which will take place from Aug. 16 to Aug. 21. Over 800,000 visitors are expected to visit Cologne during this time. AWACS or Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft monitor airspace from onboard computers. The NATO planes can provide early warning of low-flying intruders and were deployed recently at the funeral of Pope John Paul and at last year's Athens Olympics. Survivors unlikely in Finnish copter crash All 14 people on board a Finnish helicopter which crashed into the Baltic Sea off Estonia on Wednesday are feared dead. Estonian civil aviation officials said the helicopter dived very quickly and that people were unlikely to survive in such a crash. The two crew members and six of the passengers were Finnish. Two Americans and four Estonians were also on board the Sikorsky 76 helicopter. It was on a regular commercial flight from the Estonian capital Tallinn to Helsinki. Iraqi leaders hold treaty talks Iraqi leaders have held talks aimed at breaking a deadlock over a new constitution due to be handed to parliament by August 15. President Jalal Talabani hosted a gathering of leaders from across Iraq's sectarian and ethnic divide. Officials discussed issues such as federalism and the control and distribution of oil resources. Meanwhile, the violence in Iraq continues. Police said four civilians and two policemen were killed and seven wounded when a suicide car bomber blew up in front of a police patrol in Baghdad's Al-Gazalia neighborhood on Wednesday afternoon. Late on Tuesday four US soldiers were killed and six wounded in an attack on a patrol near the northern oil town of Baiji, 180 km north of Baghdad. Huge investigation into UN-Iraq program Thousands of companies among the 4,600 that bought oil and sold goods to Iraq under a UN program are being investigated for kickbacks, bribes and illegal surcharges. A key investigator said that the UN-established inquiry into the now-defunct oil-for-food program plans a comprehensive analysis in September on the role of UN officials and agencies in administering the 52 billion euro humanitarian program for Iraq. Another report is due in October on thousands of the companies that contracted for Iraqi oil or sold food, medicine and other supplies. The UN program was set up in 1996 to ease the impact of economic sanctions imposed after Baghdad's troops invaded Kuwait in 1990. AU names mediator in Zimbabwe crisis The African Union has appointed a mediator to foster political dialogue in Zimbabwe. In a bid to resolve the crisis in the southern African country, the AU said on Wednesday that Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, who is the bloc's chairman, had asked former Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano to undertake the task of mediating between the ruling ZANU-PF party of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. The move follows growing international criticism of Africa's failure to act on Zimbabwe's razing of shanty towns, which the United Nations says has robbed 700,000 people of homes or jobs. US will deal with Mauritania's junta The United States has said that it will negotiate with Mauritania's military junta despite its initial condemnation of the putsch in the West African Islamic state. The military took power in the former French colony in a bloodless coup last week ending two decades of authoritarian rule by President Maaouya Ould Taya. Until now the USA along with the EU, the UN and the African Union had demanded the reinstatement of the ousted ruler. The military council has pledged to hold elections within two years and to forbid any member of the military junta from standing for office in that contest. A spokesman for the US State department said that it was prepared to work with the junta in support of this plan. Russian avian flu epidemic spreads The number of bird deaths in a Russian bird flu outbreak has jumped sharply in the past 24 hours. Most deaths occurred in Russia's Omsk and Kurgan regions on the Kazakh border, and a spokesman from Kazakhstan's agriculture ministry said that the form of avian influenza discovered in the outbreak has been identified as type H5N1 which can be transferred to humans. However, no human deaths have been reported and a mass cull of poultry is underway in the affected part of north-east Kazakhstan. NASA delays launch to Mars NASA has delayed the launch of an unmanned spacecraft to Mars by at least 24 hours because of a technical problem. The launch was due to take place on Wednesday but engineers think there may be a problem with the rocket itself which would take it into space. This comes a day after the space shuttle Discovery touched down safely at Edwards Air Force base in California following a successful mission. The shuttle's commander Eileen Collins called it one of the most important missions in the history of the shuttle programme. NASA now says that there could be a further manned space shuttle flight later this year. Heat wave sweeps Iberian Peninsula The heat wave sweeping the Iberian Peninsula is continuing to claim lives. A man died in Spain of heat stroke as the thermometer rose to 43 degrees Celsius. Local officials say some 50,000 hectares of forest in Spain's largest national park have been destroyed by wildfires. Vacationers and local residents have been evacuated. Officials are blaming lightning as the cause. Portuguese fire-fighters are battling a blaze in one of Europe's biggest pine forests in the north of the country. Dozens of people have been forced to evacuate their homes. A 74-year-old man died when flames engulfed his property. Explosions rock US chemical plant In the United States a series of explosions has rocked a chemical plant in a Detroit suburb. The resulting fire sent plumes of black smoke into the air prompting officials to evacuate hundreds of homes in the area. Some workers were inside the waste plant at the time of the blast, but all escaped without injury. About a dozen people have been treated for breathing difficulties and other minor complaints. The cause of the explosion is not known. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The waiting is over for fans of German soccer as the Bundesliga starts again. 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