Deutsche Welle English Service News August 12th 2005, 16:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD: Merkel Aims to Win Back Eastern Voters Chancellor candidate Angela Merkel sought to distance herself from remarks made by her key ally in Bavaria, Edmund Stoiber. His comments on eastern voters are being linked to the conservatives' slide in the polls.
To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1678556,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The waiting is over for fans of German soccer as the Bundesliga starts again. Get it all on DW-WORLD.DE: We offer you results, tables and live tickers of the matches. Check out picture galleries of the best players and interactive features such as quizes and betting games where Chinese Bayern Munich fans get a chance to compete against Texan Schalke supporters. You'll find it all at www.dw-world.de/soccer ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Heathrow strike eased, says BA British Airways says some of its ground personnel have gone back to work at London's Heathrow Airport where a wildcat strike had stranded 70,000 passengers worldwide. BA said it would take days, however, to end the backlog in 600 flights cancelled since Thursday. BA baggage handlers and bus drivers had gone on strike in sympathy with the sackings of 600 workers at Gate Gourmet, a US-owned flight catering firm. It also caused delays for other carriers such as Qantas and Sri Lankan Airlines and at airports like Frankfurt. Israeli rightists protest at Gaza pullout Tens of thousands of Israelis have rallied in central Tel Aviv, protesting against the planned pullout of Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip. Shortly before the protest, Israel's army shut off Jewish settlements in the occupied territory to non-residents in an effort to prevent radicals from hindering next week's planned pullout. Months of demonstrations, road blockades and acts of sabotage have failed to shake Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's resolve to remove all 21 settlements in Gaza. Russia urges restraint over Iran Russia has called for a "de-escalation" of tensions and dialogue over Iran's decision to resume nuclear fuel work. This follows Thursday's decision by the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, urging Iran to resume its moratorium on nuclear fuel production. The IAEA resolution was drafted by Germany, Britain and France, and was passed unanimously by the 35-nation board. Iran has however vowed to continue with plans to produce nuclear fuel at its Isfahan facility, saying that it has the right to produce fuel for peaceful purposes. The US accuses Tehran of seeking to produce nuclear weapons. NASA launches Mars orbiter A US spacecraft has blasted off from the launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida, beginning a mission to gather data from Mars. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter lifted off on an Atlas V rocket on a seven-month journey to the red planet. A previous attempt to launch the spacecraft was scrubbed on Thursday because of a glitch during fuelling. Britain bans radical Muslim cleric The British government has barred a radical Muslim cleric from returning to the country. Syrian born Omar Bakri Mohammed who had spent the past 20 years in Britain is currently in Lebanon. A government spokesman said that Bakri's presence was no longer "conducive to the public good." The move came as Britain's top legal official defended plans to deport another radical Muslim cleric and nine other foreigners suspected of posing a threat to national security. Jordan said on Friday it would ask Britain to extradite one of those detained, cleric Omar Mahmoud Othman Abu Omar, also known as Abu Qatada, who Spanish officials have previously described as Osama bin Laden's "spiritual ambassador in Europe." Pfahls sentenced to two years in jail A court in the southern German city of Augsburg has sentenced former deputy defence minister Holger Pfahls to two years and three months in jail for bribery and tax-evasion. The 62-year-old Pfahls has admitted accepting some 3.8 million deutschmarks, worth nearly two million euros, in connection with the sale of 36 Fuchs armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia in 1991. He also admitted that he failed to declare the funds as income. However, former Chancellor Helmut Kohl told the court two weeks ago that Pfahls had had no influence over the deal. Pfahls was arrested in Paris last summer, after being on the run from German authorities for five years. Polish-Russian tensions rising Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski has called on his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to take action to stop a series of attacks on Polish citizens in Moscow. This comes a day after a correspondent for a Polish daily paper was attacked in the Russian capital. A Polish diplomat and an embassy staff member were also beaten up earlier in the week. Poland's ambassador to Russia, Stefan Meller, has told his staff not to go out alone and only to do so if necessary. The attacks are widely seen as being in revenge for the earlier muggings of four Russian children in a Warsaw park. Germany's Merkel criticises Stoiber The German opposition conservatives' candidate for chancellor Angela Merkel has distanced herself from comments made by Edmund Stoiber, the leader of the Bavarian wing of the conservatives. Stoiber has drawn widespread criticism on Wednesday when he described voters in the former communist eastern Germany as frustrated and lacking political judgement. Merkel told public television that Stoiber's statement was divisive. Merkel is due to challenge the Social Democrat Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on September 18. A survey for German ZDF TV shows Merkel's conservatives ahead with 41 percent, trailed by Schroeder's Social Democrats on 31 percent. The outcome could hinge on small parties, including the new Left Party. Bomb blast in Germany kills man A suspected pipe bomb has killed one man in a residential area in the southern German town of Barbing. Authorities said they believe the German who died was attempting to plant the bomb under the car of his intended victim. Police earlier ruled out terrorism but said that they were probing a possible racist motive for the attack. Several buildings in the city of Munich were evacuated and searched in connection with the incident. Bird flu imbalance, says Philippines Philippines health minister Francisco Duque has accused Europe and the United States of amassing anti-viral drugs in case of a bird flu pandemic and ignoring the Third World. Duque's remark came at a health conference in Bangkok where 11 Asian nations set up their own network to respond if outbreaks in poultry jump the species barrier. The World Health Organisation fears that the virus could mutate and spread human-to-human. A Swiss pharmaceuticals company says Germany has ordered six million doses of an anti-flu medication. US researchers say a bird flu vaccine has worked on volunteers but a major hurdle remains to mass-produce it in case of a pandemic. Crude at 66 dollars a barrel World oil prices have risen for a fifth straight day, nudging 66 dollars a barrel for light sweet crude in New York and London. Analysts blame shortages at refineries, particularly in the United States at the height of its summer driving season. In Germany Super petrol has climbed for the first time beyond 1 euro 30 cents. The International Energy Agency says there's no let up in demand. Worldwide oil consumption is running at 1.6 million barrels per day. End to South African gold mine strike In South Africa gold miners have trickled back to work, ending their biggest strike in 18 years. Unions have accepted a pay rise offer of between six and seven percent from four companies. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DW-WORLD offers you a special service for the Bundesliga. Get all the action on your mobile device and you'll never miss out on important news. For more information, please visit http://www.dw-world.de/dw/0,1595,8733,00.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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