Deutsche Welle English Service News 30. 09. 2005, 17:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
Foreign Media Warm Up to Grand Coalition Most foreign media painted a bleak picture of Germany's prospects after the country's inconclusive poll. But with a grand coalition likely to take power, many foreign correspondents feel it may not be the worst option. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1726169,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- There is only one day left so you'll have to hurry if you still want to suggest your favorite blogs and podcasts to the Deutsche Welle's Best of the Blogs Awards, sponsored by Bonn's Hotel Maritim. http://www.thebobs.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Iraqi car bombs death toll rises to 110 The death toll from four car bomb attacks in Iraq since Thursday has risen to 110. Doctors said 25 of them were young children. One bomb ripped through a crowded market square in the southern town of Hilla on Friday, killing at least 12 people. The attack came less than a day after three car bombs killed nearly 100 people in a mainly Shi'ite neighbourhood in the town of Balad, just north of the capital Baghdad. More than 150 people were wounded in the blasts. It's the latest surge in violence just two weeks before Iraqis vote in a referendum on the country's new constitution. The document has fueled sectarian violence between the Shi'ite majority which backs the constitution and the opposing Sunni minority. UN warns millions could die of bird flu United Nations health experts have warned that millions of people could die from a bird flu pandemic if it mutates and spreads quickly among humans. The UN's new coordinator for avian and human influenza, Richard Nabarro, said in Geneva that a mutation of the virus currently affecting Asia could have dire consequences. The warning comes as Southeast Asian nations agreed to create a regional fund to fight bird flu. Agricultural ministers meeting in the Philippines said the fund would be used to find ways of effectively detecting and eradicating the virus and to improve communication among countries. Algerians approve peace plan Algeria's interior minister has said voters in his country have overwhelmingly approved a controversial peace plan in a referendum aimed at putting an end to a civil war that has left more than 100,000 people dead. Officials said the reconciliation plan was backed by 97 percent of voters, with almost 80 percent of the country's roughly 18 million voters taking part. The Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation will grant an amnesty to many Islamic rebels involved in the killings. Human rights organisations say that Algeria's president is attempting to use the amnesty to whitewash the atrocitites by militants, as well as crimes by security forces. EU, Turkey talks up in the air It's still unclear whether accession talks between Turkey and the European Union will go ahead as planned on Monday. Austria remains intransigent about its position that a framework for the talks should include the option of offering Turkey a special partnership instead of full membership. The other 24 member states, however, are against the idea. The EU's 25 foreign ministers will try to iron out their differences at emergency talks in Luxembourg on Sunday. Turkey remains adamant that it be offered nothing less than full EU membership. Fatah gains clear win in local vote Final results in the third round of West Bank municipal elections give President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party an unexpectedly clear victory against its key rival, Hamas. The electoral commission said Fatah had won 54 percent of the vote compared to 26 percent for Hamas. These are the first municipal votes in the Palestinian territories for nearly three decades. The polls were marred by further violence with Israeli troops killing two Palestinian militants and a teenager in the West Bank. Israel has waged a week-long offensive against Palestinian militants triggered by rocket fire from Gaza on Israeli towns. Merkel, Schroeder campaign in Dresden Two weeks after most of Germany's voters went to the polls in a general election, the two people hoping to lead the country's next government are back on the campaign trail. Both Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and his challenger, Angela Merkel are trying to drum up votes in the eastern German city of Dresden. Voting in one constituency there was put off until this Sunday after the death of a far-right candidate. Observers say the outcome of the vote in Dresden is unlikely to change the balance of power between Schroeder's Social Democrats and Merkel's Christian Democrats, who currently have three more seats. Following the main election two weeks ago, both claimed to have a mandate to lead the next government. Indonesian police break up protests Indonesia's president has called on thousands of demonstrators to refrain from violence, as police fired several rounds of tear gas at students protesting a fuel price hike. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said that anarchy would only deter investment as he defended the unpopular price increase which takes effect on Saturday. Indonesian police fired tear gas at some 200 students protesting in the capital Jakarta. Indonesian media reported that police also shot into the air to dispel the students who were throwing rocks and blocking traffic. The price increases could be as high as 50 percent. The government wants to cut crippling fuel subsidies that eat up about a fifth of the country's budget. Spain to investigate Ceuta deaths Spain has promised an inquiry into the deaths of five would-be illegal immigrants after hundreds of people stormed a Spanish enclave in northern Africa on Thursday. Two of them were shot dead, although it is still not clear who fired the shots. Spanish officials said two of those killed died on Spanish territory, while three more bodies were recovered from the Moroccan side of a three-meter-high razor-wire fence. In recent weeks, thousands of Africans hoping to reach European territory have repeatedly tried to enter two Spanish outposts on the north Moroccan coast, across from Gibralter. Ukraine's PM to visit Russia Ukraine's new Prime Minister is headed to Russia for talks aimed at improving bilateral ties between the two countries damaged during Ukraine's orange revolution last year. Yuriy Yekhanurov will meet his counterpart, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov. The visit is Yekhanurov's first foreign trip since he was appointed. The talks are expected to focus on Russia's supply of gas to the eastern European country. Yekhanurov replaced Yulia Tymoshenko after she was sacked along with her entire government earlier in the month. Tymoshenko refused to visit Moscow while she was in power, as she faced an arrest warrant on corruption charges. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The Bundesliga is in full swing 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. 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