Deutsche Welle
English Service News
22. 09. 2005, 17:00 UTC
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Germans have voted, but political parties are not scrambling to find
a majority in parliament to form a governing coalition. Get all the
news and background analysis on DW-WORLD'S election site:
www.dw-world.de/election05
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Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
Rivals Vow More Talks to Break Deadlock
First coalition talks between Germany's two biggest parties
broke up Thursday with conservative leader Angela Merkel saying
there were "clear differences" between her and Chancellor
Gerhard Schröder's ruling party.
To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the
internet address below:
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1719068,00.html
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Hurricane Rita heads for US Gulf Coast
US President George W. Bush's administration has declared Hurricane
Rita a national emergency two days before its expected landfall in
Texas. More than a million people have been instructed to leave
coastal areas in the states of Texas and Louisiana. Rita is
currently over the Gulf of Mexico, packing winds of more than 275
kilometres per hour. It's been upgraded to a catastrophic Category
Five storm. Landfall is expected early on Saturday. Forecasters say
Rita could be the most intense storm on record ever to hit Texas.
Coalition talks continue in Germany
Germany remains in a post-election stalemate after talks in Berlin
between Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and opposition conservative
leader Angela Merkel. They agreed to negotiate further next week and
again each laid claim to the post of chancellor in a potential grand
coalition. Merkel says her parliamentary group, comprising Christian
Democrats and Bavarian Christian Social Union deputies, has more
seats. The chairman of Schroeder's Social Democratic Party, Franz
Muentefering insists that Schroeder should led such a coalition. The
liberal Free Democrats, who came third in Sunday's election, say
they have settled a wrangle. FDP leader Guido Westerwelle had
challenged his rival Wolfgang Gerhardt for his job as head of the
liberals' group in the Bundestag. The liberals, and the Greens, are
among several parties which could end up in a future coalition.
Fishermen rescued after cyclone
Police in eastern India say 13 Bangladesh fishermen have been
rescued after their trawler capsized in the cyclone that swept the
Bay of Bengal on Tuesday. The storm claimed at least 64 lives.
Floodwaters and winds destroyed nearly 10,000 homes and damaged
crops. Rainfalls have eased in affected Andra Pradesh state. But
fresh downpours in adjoining Maharastra state have swollen rivers.
Basra suspends co-operation with British
The authorities in the southern Iraq city of Basra say they have
suspended all contact with Britain. Basra governor Mohammed al-Waili
told reporters that there would be no more co-operation until
British officials apologise and pay compensation for an incident
that occurred on Monday. That's when British troops stormed a prison
in Basra looking for two British soldiers who had been arrested by
Iraqi police. They later found the men in a private house in Basra.
They said the soldiers were being held by militants, after being
taken to the house by police. Iraqi officials have denied the claim,
saying the arrested British troops never left police custody and
were not handed over to militants.
Terrorist suspect extradited to UK
A suspect in the failed July 21 London bombings who was arrested in
Rome, has arrived back in England after being extradited from Italy.
27 year-old, Ethiopian-born Briton, Hamdi Issac, who's also known as
Osman Hussein, was flown to RAF Northolt, a military airport
situated some 80 kms west of London. London's Metropolitan Police
said he was arrested while still on board the aircraft on suspicion
of conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder and explosive
offences. He was apprehended in Italy under an international arrest
warrant on July 29.
Five killed by two blasts in Lahore
In the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore two bicycle bombs exploded
minutes apart killing at least 5 people and injuring more than 30,
according to police. Security forces said that they were probing
various leads, including links to Islamic hardliners angered by
President Pervez Musharraf's recent crackdown on extremist groups.
No group has claimed responsibility for the blasts.
EU backs off on Iran nuclear issue
The European Union has backed off from a demand to have the United
Nations nuclear watchdog report Iran to the Security Council over
its nuclear programme. A draft resolution to be presented to the
International Atomic Energy Agency at its board of governors meeting
in Vienna this week, calls on it to declare Iran in non-compliance
with the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. But it doesn't call for
Iran to be brought before the Security Council. It dropped the
demand in the face of opposition from at least a dozen of the IAEA's
35 members. Washington accuses Iran of seeking to produce nuclear
weapons. Iran insists that its nuclear programme is for peaceful
purposes only.
Ukraine parliament selects new PM
Ukraine's parliament has confirmed President Viktor Yushchenko's
nominee for prime minister. Yury Yekhanurov, an ally of Mr
Yushchenko, was notably supported in the vote by Ukraine Regions,
the party led by Viktor Yanukovich, the man Yushchenko defeated
during last year's bitter "orange revolution" presidential election
campaign. Yekhanurov, a 57-year-old technocrat, takes over the post
from Yulia Tymoshenko, Yushchenko's "orange revolution" partner who
was fired on September 8 amid a deepening corruption scandal and
cabinet infighting.
Italy's economcs minister resigns
Italian Economics Minister Domenico Siniscalco has resigned.
Siniscalco said he was standing down barely a year into the
job because of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's unwillingness to
oust Bank of Italy Governor Antonio Fazio over a banking scandal.
Siniscalco had called on Fazio to resign over the scandal, but Fazio
has denied any wrongdoing and has refused to step down. Observers
say Siniscalo's resignation will come as a blow to Berlusconi's
coalition government, with a general election due to be held next
May.
Sony to cut 10,000 jobs world-wide
Electronics giant Sony Corporation has announced that it intends to
cut about 7 percent of its global work force. In addition to
reducing its workforce by some 10,000 world-wide, Sony has also said
it will close 11 plants and shrink or terminate 15 unprofitable
operations in an ambitious restructuring bid to revive its faltering
electronics business. The new plan comes after the appointment in
March of Howard Stringer as chief executive of the Japanese
electronics and entertainment company. Stringer, who holds dual
British-American citizenship, is the first foreigner to head Sony.
Fiat and India's Tata study project
The Italian carmaker Fiat and Tata Motors of India say they're
looking into a joint venture. It could include the development of
new models, purchases of components, and sales of vehicles in India.
The Indian publication "Business Standard" says Tata might also use
Fiat's distribution network in western markets. The two companies
said a working group was studying the proposals.
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