Deutsche Welle English Service News 23. 08. 2005, 17:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
Flood Waters Causing Havoc in Bavaria Parts of the German state of Bavaria were declared danger zones after floodwaters on Alpine rivers caused chaos and destruction, cutting off access to several towns, including the resort of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1688454,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Germans will likely head to the polls to elect a new parliament on Sept. 18. Chancellor Gerhard Schröder is fighting an uphill battle to remain in office while his conservative challenger, Angela Merkel, has her eyes set on the chancellery. Get all the information about Germany's 2005 election at DW-WORLD. To find out more, go to http://www.dw-world.de/dw/0,1595,6591,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Israel completes West Bank pullout Police in Israel say the evacuation of the West Bank settlements of Sanur and Homesh has been completed. Israeli security forces had faced defiant resistance from hardline settlers and anti-pullout activists, but there was no serious violence. The West Bank pullout follows Israel's evacuation of all 21 Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip. Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas telephoned Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to congratulate him on the completion of the Gaza pullout and to express hopes for renewed Mideast peace efforts. Europeans call off nuclear talks with Iran The French Foreign Ministry says European powers have called off August 31 talks with Iran on incentives to persuade it to stop sensitive nuclear activities. French Foreign Ministry spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei said the talks would not go ahead now because Iran had resumed uranium enrichment-related work, in breach of a promise to freeze it while talks went on. The European Union and the United States suspect Iran of secretly trying to build nuclear weapons. Iran says it wants nuclear technology only to generate electricity. Iraqi PM confident on constitution Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari has said he's confident that an agreement will be reached on a new constitution. Mr Jaafari said many issues had been settled, including the key problem of federalism. His comments came a day after Kurdish and Shi'ite officials submitted a draft document to parliament. However a vote has been delayed until the outstanding differences are resolved. Negotiators have been given three more days to iron them out and ease the fears of the Sunni minority politicians who say that further devolution would lead to the break-up of the country. Although Shi'ites and Kurds have enough votes to push the draft through parliament, Sunni officials have warned that its passage could spark a civil war. Zarqawi group claims Jordan attack An Al-Qaeda linked group has claimed responsibility for a failed rocket attack aimed at US warships in the Jordanian port of Aqaba. In an Internet statement, the group, led by Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, also said those who carried out the strike last Friday had fled to safety. Jordanian state television said on Monday three attackers had escaped across the border into Iraq after the strike, but that police arrested a Syrian accused of helping them. Portuguese wildfires continue to rage Thousands of firefighters are continuing to battle wildfires raging across Portugal, including 11 which remain out of control. Fire-fighting equipment and personnel from four European Union nations, including Germany, are on site or on the way. Most of the fire damage has been in the thick-wooded interior of the country, one of the EU's poorest regions. The fires have killed more than a dozen people. Portugal is suffering one of the biggest waves of wildfires in memory as a result of a record heatwave and drought. Alpine floods spread across 3 countries As many as six people have died and hundreds of others have been evacuated from their homes to escape floods triggered by days of torrential rain in the northern Alps. Rivers in Switzerland, Germany and Austria have burst their banks and mud slides blocked roads and railway tracks. Villages have been cut off as roads were swept away and railways stopped services. In Germany, parts of southern Bavaria have been declared disaster zones. In Austria, over 100 houses were evacuated in the Tyrol village of Pflach after a dam broke. German economic confidence surges A leading economic confidence index in Germany has picked up sharply this month, beating analysts' expectations. The ZEW economic research institute said its economic expectations index, based on a poll of 294 analysts and institutional investors, rose by 13 points to plus 50.0 points in August. The ZEW indicator represents the balance between positive and negative expectations for the economy over the next six months. If most analysts and institutional investors polled believe the economy will improve, the index shows a plus. If most are expecting a deterioriation, the index shows a minus. Vivaldi manuscript discovered? A music manuscript found by an Australian researcher at a German library in Dresden could be the composition of Antonio Vivaldi. Experts say they are awaiting confirmation by the Vivaldi Institute in Venice and it could be performed early next year. The library says the Australian Janice Stockigt worked out that the manuscript had been sent from Venice in 1754 but disguised as the work of another Venician Baldassarre Galuppi. It's an eleven-part rendition of the 110th Psalm for solo voice, choir and chamber orchestra. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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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