Deutsche Welle English Service News 09.10.2005, 16:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
German Aid Groups Offer Quake Relief In the aftermath of the massive earthquake in northern Pakistan, German non-profit organizations are scrambling to follow the government's lead and send money and supplies to the disaster zones. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1735330,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Only two days left to play! 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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Thousands die in huge Asian quake The death toll in South Asia is continuing to rise after Saturday's massive earthquake which struck Pakistan, India and Afghanistan. Pakistani authorities say nearly 20,000 people have been confirmed dead so far, and more than 42,000 others were injured. Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf is appealing for help from the international community as well as from Pakistani communities abroad. Rescuers are still trying to reach thousands of people trapped beneath landslides and in collapsed buildings. The tremor, measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale, was centred about 100 kilometres north of Islamabad in the disputed Himalayan Kashmir region. World offers help after South Asia quake Countries around the world are sending rescue teams and aid to South Asia to help with earthquake relief operations. Germany has donated 55,000 euros in emergency aid funding and will be sending a 15-member team to assist in the search for survivors. The European Commission said it had earmarked 3 million euros for medical services and aid supplies. Japan, Britain, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates were among other countries dispatching immediate help. Meanwhile, the United Nations has set up three emergency centres in Pakistan to coordinate international relief efforts. Pakistan has called the earthquake the biggest disaster in its history. Huricane Stan death toll surges In Central America, mudslides and floods triggered by the aftermath of last week's Hurricane Stan have killed hundreds of people. Worst hit has been Guatemala, where 800 victims died when a massive landslide hit the village of Panabaj. Rescue services said 1,400 people are still missing. The storm also devastated Mexico and El Salvador, leaving tens of thousands of people in the region homeless. Rescue workers are rushing aid to isolated areas where food, water and medicine are scarce. Heavy rains are expected to continue in Central America throughout the weekend. Zanzibar police fire on opposition Police in Tanzania's politically volatile island of Zanzibar have fired on a crowd of opposition supporters, wounding at least 18. The latest violence comes three weeks before semi-autonomous Zanzibar elects its own president and legislature in a national vote. Witnesses said the clashes erupted when members of the opposition Civic United Front (CUF) marched on police lines blocking the road, as officers ordered them to disperse. Azerbaijan opposition clash with police In the former Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan, dozens of opposition protesters have been injured and arrested in clashes with riot police in the capital Baku. Police have broken up two previous demonstrations in the last three weeks, arresting dozens of activists ahead of November 6 polls. Opposition leaders in the oil-rich state have said they strongly doubt the parliamentary elections next month will be fair, and have rallied their supporters for pro-democracy protests virtually every weekend. Presidential vote underway in Poland Voting is underway in Poland for the first round of a presidential election. Some 30 million voters are eligible to choose a successor to outgoing President Aleksander Kwasniewski, a former communist who is barred by the constitution from running again, having already served two terms. Opinion polls have shown Donald Tusk of the centre-right Civic Platform (PO) party to be in the lead of the election, with around 40 percent of the vote, followed by Lech Kaczynski of the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, with around 35 percent. Party heads to choose German leader German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and his conversative challenger Angela Merkel are due to hold coalition talks this evening to decide who will be the next chancellor. A decision is not expected to be officially announced until Monday. Schroeder, Merkel and the other two participants, Social Democrat Chairman Franz Muentefering and Edmund Stoiber, head of the CDU's Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), will meet again on Monday morning. Parliamentary elections three weeks ago left neither major German party with a ruling majority, resulting in negotiations over forming a so-called Grand Coalition government. NYPD probing if subway plotter in US New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly has defended the decision by local authorities to boost security on the city's subway system despite scepticism over the credibility of a bomb threat announced by federal authorities last Thursday. Speaking to the US television network Fox News, Kelly said New York authorities had a responsibility to the city's 8 million residents. Media reports have said three people were arrested in Iraq in connection with the alleged plot to bomb New York's subway system. Kelly said the city would remain in a heightened state of alert until US intelligence authorities in Iraq can pin down the credibility of the threat. ESA satellite crashes on liftoff A European satellite designed to measure how fast the polar ice caps are melting crashed into the Arctic Ocean after its launch from northern Russia on Saturday afternoon. The European Space Agency announced that its Cryosat satellite was lost when the rocket's booster system, a converted inter-continental ballistic missile, failed to fire. The 150 million euro satellite was to have provided information on global warming trends and remain in orbit for 3 years. Raeikkoenen wins Japanese Grand Prix Finland's Kimi Raeikkoenen has won the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzaka. The McLaren-Mercedes-Pilot crossed the winning line ahead of Italian Giancarlo Fisichella, driving for Renault with third place going to his Renault teammate Fernando Alonso from Spain. Germany's Michael Schumacher came 7th, and his young brother Ralf, who started in pole position took 8th place. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. News and background reports from the fields of current affairs, culture, business and science. 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