Deutsche Welle English Service News 01. 10. 2005, 17:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
Schröder, Merkel in Final Campaign Battle As coalition talks continued, Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and rival Angela Merkel hit the campaign trail one last time ahead of Sunday's delayed vote in Dresden, attacking each other as unqualified to lead the country. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1727215,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Time to play again! DW-WORLD's "Click Back" monthly review quiz for September is waiting for you and will test your knowledge of stories we've written. If you answer all questions correctly, you can also win a great prize. To play, please go to: http://www.dw-world.de/english ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Explosions on Bali kill at least 2 tourists On the Indonesian island of Bali there have been a number of casualties following a series of simultaneous explosions at popular beach resorts. Hospital officials have confirmed at least two deaths and said at least 35 foreign tourists injured in the blasts had been taken to hospital. Police have not confirmed local radio reports that eight people were killed, including four tourists. An Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman said it was too early to say whether the blasts were terrorist attacks. The first of at least three explosions occurred at 1200 GMT in the Jimbaran area of Bali in front of beachside coffee shops, according to police. Minutes later another blast also took place in front of coffee shops at the Matahari Square shopping center in the popular beach resort area of Kuta. In October 2002 Islamic militants bombed two nightclubs in the Kuta area, killing 202 people. 13 killed by rebels in Iraqi attacks Thirteen people, including a Sunni imam and two US soldiers, have been killed in attacks in Baghdad and northern Iraq. Security sources and the US military said the soldiers were killed in separate bomb attacks, one in central Baghdad and the other near Baiji, some 200 kilometres north of the capital. The latest deaths brings to 1,921 the number of US military personnel killed in Iraq since the US-led invasion of March 2003. Another five civilian Defence Department employees have also been killed, according to Pentagon figures. Meanwhile the US military has launched a major offensive against insurgents in western Iraq, involving up to a thousand troops. Solana confident on Turkey talks EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana says he is confident that agreement will be reached in the current row over Monday's planned accession talks with Turkey. Speaking to the German newspaper "Bild am Sonntag", Solana said the EU had always taken decisions on Turkey at the last minute. He stressed that accession talks were no guarantee that Turkey would be allowed to join the bloc. Austria is insisting that the talks should provide for the option of offering Turkey a special partnership instead of full membership. Turkey says it will accept no less than full EU membership. The EU's 25 foreign ministers are to try to iron out their differences at emergency talks in Luxembourg on Sunday. Report on Hariri death will spare Syria The UN investigation into the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri will not directly implicate chief suspect Syria, according to German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung. Detlev Mehlis, the German judge heading the probe into Hariri's death in a Beirut bombing in February, is due to deliver his report to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on October 21. UN sources in Beirut said Mehlis would not point the finger directly at Syria's President Bashar al-Assad. Lebanese authorities earlier this month arrested four former Lebanese security chiefs in connection with the killing following recommendations from the UN inquiry. French riot police storm ports French security forces have moved into ports in Corsica and southeastern France to expel striking union workers. In the Corsican port of Ajaccio, police removed trucks, trailers and several workers who had been blocking access to the only cargo vessel in the port. No injuries were reported. Shortly afterwards, police stormed two petrol terminals near the southeastern mainland city of Marseille that have been blocked since Monday. Union members have been protesting for several days at the planned privatisation of the state-run ferry operator SNCM. Pakistani forces attack militants Pakistani forces have attacked al Qaeda-linked militants in mountains near the Afghan border for a third day. A military spokesman said five Pakistani troops had been killed since the latest fighting began on Thursday. Pakistani troops began operations to rid the area of militants early last year. Many al Qaeda extremists and their Taliban allies are believed to have slipped into Pakistan after US-led forces ousted the Taliban government in Afghanistan late 2001. Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his top deputies are also believed to be hiding out in the region. Annan slams violence in Darfur UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has strongly condemned the escalating violence in Sudan's Darfur region. Annan said he was particularly appalled by Wednesday's attack by an Arab militia on a camp that reportedly claimed 34 lives. The raid was the first armed attack on a camp for displaced people in more than two years of fighting in Darfur. The fighting in the region between ethnic minority black Darfurians and government troops supported by Arab militia has killed up to 300,000 people and displaced more than two million. Fatah defeats Hamas in local vote Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas's ruling Fatah faction has easily defeated Islamist group Hamas in the latest phase of West Bank municipal elections. Final results showed Fatah as having secured 51 councils against just 13 for Hamas in the third round of four-phase elections. The rest of the 104 councils up for grabs went to independent candidates and minor groups. The result is seen as a first indicator of voter opinion on the main Palestinian factions ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for January 2006. The next round of minicipal elections is due to be held in West Bank cities and the Gaza Strip in December. German chancellor issue still unresolved The question of who is to become the next German chancellor remains unclear. Both Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and his challenger, Angela Merkel, have again claimed the post in the run-up to elections in the eastern German city of Dresden. Voting in one constituency there was postponed until this coming Sunday after the death of a far-right candidate. Observers say the outcome of the vote is unlikely to change the balance of power between Schroeder's SPD and Merkel's CDU, which currently leads by three seats. Neither party received a working majority in elections two weeks ago. NY Times reporter testifies to grand jury New York Times reporter Judith Miller has testified before a grand jury investigating the leak of CIA information. This came after she had spent nearly three months in jail for refusing to name the source who told her who had leaked the name of a CIA agent. Speaking to reporters in Washington following her release from prison, Miller said she'd agreed to testify, after her source gave his permission. Lawyers close to the case said her testimony appeared to clear the way for prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald to wrap up his two-year-old inquiry into who in the administration of US President George W. Bush had leaked CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity and whether any laws were violated. Miller never wrote a story about the leak but Fitzgerald thought she had information that would help his case. New Zealand PM gains third term New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark has secured a historic third term in power. Final results from the September 17 poll have confirmed her Labour Party as the biggest political force in parliament with 50 of the 121 seats available. The rival National Party trailed by only two seats. Clark is the first Labour leader in New Zealand to win three terms in office. She is to begin coalition talks on Monday with minor parties to form a working majority. US 'space tourist' blasts off A 59-year-old American millionaire has become the third so-called "space tourist". Greg Olsen is now on his way to the International Space Station after blasting off in the Soyuz rocket from Kazakhstan. The trip has cost Olsen 20 million dollars. He is accompanied by a Russian cosmonaut and a US astronaut. Olsen will spend eight days in the ISS before returning home with the space station's current occupants. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. For more information, please visit http://www.dw-world.de/dw/0,1595,8733,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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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