Deutsche Welle English Service News 16.08.2005, 16:00 UTC ----------------------------------------------------------------------
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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Clashes in Gaza as first settlement evacuated Israel has evacuated the first settlement in the Gaza Strip as defiant settlers elsewhere clashed with forces poised to evict them after a midnight deadline. The secular community of Dugit, once home to 60 people and founded by fishermen in 1990, became the first of the 21 Jewish communities in Gaza to be cleared. In the Gaza settlement of Neve Dekalim, police and soldiers traded punches with security officers. Settlers have until midnight to evacuate Gaza voluntarily, after which they will be forcibly removed. Police said they have detained 800 Gaza pullout protesters since Sunday. Palestinians welcome Israel's pullout from Gaza, but fear Israel will use it as a means to seal a permanent hold on sections of the West Bank. Palestinians want both territories for a state. Major earthquake hits Japan A powerful earthquake has struck off Japan's coast, injuring at least 58 people. Several landslides were reported following the quake, and thousands of homes were without electricity. Japan's bullet trains and a nuclear power plant were temporarily shut down after the quake, which measured 7.2 on the Richter scale. It was centred on the ocean floor off Miyagi prefecture 300 kilometres north of the capital Tokyo. Japan's meteorological agency issued a tsunami alert but later lifted it. Deadline for Iraq constitution extended Iraqi lawmakers have granted a one-week extension to draft the country's new constitution. The extension was announced after leaders missed a midnight Monday deadline to submit the charter to parliament. The main sticking points remain the role of Islam, federalism and the distribution of oil revenues. In a special session Monday night, the Iraqi parliament voted to amend the present interim law with a fresh deadline of August 22, side-stepping the need to dissolve parliament and hold fresh elections. Indonesia pledges to honour Aceh deal Indonesia's president has pledged to honour an historic peace agreement with separatist rebels from tsunami-hit Aceh province. In a state of the nation address in parliament, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono promised to implement the memorandum of understanding, and urged rebels to do the same. Troops in Aceh have been told to obey the pact but stay on alert. Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement signed the peace accord in the Finnish capital Helsinki on Monday after six months of negotiations. The move paves the way for an end to almost three decades of bloodshed that has claimed about 15,000 lives. Fires rage across Portugal At least a dozen forest fires are burning out of control across Portugal as the country faces its worst drought in more than 60 years. More than 1,400 fire fighters tackled the blazes in the centre and north of the country. The largest fire near the town of Pampilhosa da Serra has been burning for three days. Two villages in the region are threatened by the wildfire. Fire-fighters said strong winds and the steep inclines found in the region were making it difficult to tame the flames. The government has pledged over 110 million euros for those who have lost their homes and livelihoods in the fires. 17 Spanish troops die in Afghan crash A helicopter belonging to the NATO-led international security force in Afghanistan has crashed, killing all 17 Spanish troops on board. Five other troops were injured in a second helicopter which was forced to make an emergency landing. Officials said the helicopters were on a training exercise near the western city of Herat. Although the cause of the crash remains unclear, Spanish authorities say they have not ruled out hostile fire. Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has interrupted his holidays to return to Spain. Plane crashes in Venezuela A Colombian plane with 160 people on board has crashed in the mountains of western Venezuela leaving no survivors. The West Caribbean Airways plane was headed from Panama to Martinique in the French Caribbean when the pilot reported engine trouble and requested an emergency landing before radio contact was lost. The plane crashed in the western mountainous region of Zulia. Officials said most of the passengers were French nationals. Catholic World Youth Day underway World Youth Day has kicked off in Cologne, with hundreds of thousands of young Catholics flooding the German city on the Rhine river. Pope Benedict XVI is due to arrive on Thursday in his first visit abroad since being elected in April. By the end of the week nearly a million Catholic pilgrims from almost 200 countries are expected to converge on Cologne for celebrations and prayers. The event will culminate in an open-air mass on Sunday celebrated by the German-born Pope. Russia culls fowl as bird flu spreads Russia has slaughtered more birds as fears continue to grow about the spread of bird flu towards Western Europe. Authorities have cordoned off roads in infected areas in Siberia, and culled hundreds of domestic fowl. It is still unclear whether the virus responsible for the new outbreak in the Siberian town of Chelyabinsk is the strain deadly to humans. The virus has steadily been moving westwards through Russia, carried by migratory wild birds. Canadian hostage said killed in Iraq= An Iraqi-Canadian who was kidnapped earlier this month in the Iraqi capital Baghdad has been killed. Thirty-two year-old Zaid Meerwali held dual citizenship, and had returned to Iraq from exile after the fall of Saddam Hussein. Meerwali's kidnappers had demanded a 250,000 dollar ransom. However, according to Meerwali's family, offers to pay 200,000 dollars for his release were ignored. Canadian Prime Minister, Paul Martin, has condemed the crime as "barbaric" and has called for Canadians in Iraq to leave. Unprecedented meeting between Koreas North Korean officials have visited South Korea's National Assembly for the first time in a symbolic gesture of reconciliation. The visit took place during joint celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the Korean Peninsula's liberation from Japanese colonial rule. The North's delegation also paid a visit to former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, who was hospitalised last week with pneumonia. The North's main delegate thanked the South for the welcome but made no mention of the current nuclear crisis. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. 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