Deutsche Welle English Service News September 24th 2005, 16:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
UN Body to Decide on Iran's Nuclear Plans The UN atomic watchdog is to meet Saturday to decide on an EU proposal that sets Iran up for referral to the UN Security Council, in what would be a sharp escalation of the West's confrontation with the Islamic Republic. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1720766,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Hurricane Rita hits Texas, Louisiana Hurricane Rita has been downgraded to a category one storm after making landfall on the southern US Gulf Coast, lashing the states of Texas and Louisiana with heavy rain. The storm is now said to be losing power, however fears of flooding are increasing as meteorologists predict days of rain. Its left a wake of destruction knocking out power in many towns in both states leaving an estimated 650,000 people without electricity. At a press conference, President George W. Bush urged people to stay away from the affected areas. There's also been extensive flooding again in the city of New Orleans, which bore the brunt of Hurricane Katrina three weeks ago. Most of the area affected by the storm is said to be completely deserted after more than two million people fled in a mass evacuation. IAEA adopts resolution on Iran The board of the UN's nuclear watchdog has passed an EU resolution that could see Iran being referred to the UN Security Council at a later date. The resolution finds Tehran in breach of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. But it would only see Iran referred to the Security Council after the International Atomic Energy Agency's director general, Mohammed ElBaradei, completes another report on the country's nuclear programme. The EU and the United States have accused Iran of seeking to build nuclear weapons, however Tehran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only. Four militants killed in Israeli air strike The Israeli army has confirmed that it carried out an attack in Gaza City killing at least four Hamas militants. Nine other people were wounded in the air strike after a helicopter fired at two cars driving through the city. This comes shortly after a series of air strikes that the army said had come in response to Palestinian rocket attacks on Israeli territory overnight. Five Israelis were injured after more than 20 rockets hit the Israeli town of Sderot. The Israeli army has now deployed an artillary unit along the northern Gaza border. The attacks are the first since Israel withdrew from the territory last week. UK protesters demand Iraq pullout Thousands of people are taking part in a protest march in London demanding the pullout of British troops from Iraq. One of the organisers said the recent events involving UK forces in the southern city of Basra had highlighted the need for a swift withdrawal. This comes after a judge there had issued an arrest warrant for two British soldiers who were forcefully freed from Iraqi captivity a few days ago. The two men, believed to be undercover officers, are accused of killing a civilian and wounding a policeman. They were first arrested last Monday after clashing with local forces. IMF meeting gets underway The annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank is underway in Washington. The talks are expected to focus on the impact the high oil prices could have on the global economy and on the implementation of a debt relief plan for the world's poorest nations. The finance ministers of the Group of Seven industrialised nations called for an increase in oil supply and for further exploration into new sources of energy. On debt relief, ministers reaffirmed their pledge to cancel 40 billion dollars worth of debt owed by mostly African nations. The plan was first agreed at the G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland in July. Power games continue in Germany Here in Germany the countries main parties are continuing to vie for the best position ahead of next week's talks on possibly forming a grand coalition. The opposition conservative Christian Democrats, who narrowly won last Sunday's election, are demanding that Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of the Social Democrats step down. Leading CDU politicians said that their leader, Angela Merkel, should be chancellor in a grand coalition. However the Social Democrats are insisting that Schroeder should lead any such coalition. Armenian conference begins in Istanbul Dozens of Turkish nationalists have been staging a demonstration outside an Istanbul university to protest against a conference on the massacre of Armenians in 1915. Turkey categorically denies claims by Armenians that up to 1.5 million of their people were slaughtered in systematic killings. The conference, the first of its kind, is going ahead despite a court decision to ban it, following complaints by nationalists who said the organisers were traitors. The European Union has sharply condemned the court's decision, just days before the EU is to open accession negotiations with Ankara. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DW-WORLD offers you a special service for the Bundesliga. 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