Deutsche Welle English Service News 12. 10. 2005, 17:00 UTC ----------------------------------------------------------------------
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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD: Crisis Squad Convenes Over Bird Flu It's just a matter of time before the deadly bird flu virus is transmitted between people, the UN says. As the flu reached Turkey and Romania, a German national task force is meeting Wednesday to discuss safety measures. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: hhttp://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1738892,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Schroeder will not be part of cabinet German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has confirmed that he will not be a part of the next German government, to be led by Angela Merkel of the conservative Christian Democrats. Schroeder, who has led Germany since 1998 agreed to step down, but only after brokering a deal giving his Social Democrats a majority of the 14 cabinet posts, including the key jobs of foreign affairs and justice. The Christian Democrats will have six posts, including economy, interior, defence, as well as the speaker's chair. On Monday the CDU and Schroeder's Social Democrats announced that they had agreed in principle to form a so-called Grand Coalition government. Syria's interior minister commits suicide Syria's official news agency SANA has reported that the country's Interior Minister Ghasi Kanaan has committed suicide. The news comes a few days before the United Nations is expected to release the results of its investigation into the assassination of Lebanon's Prime Minister Rafik Hariri earlier this year. Kanaan was repeatedly questioned about Hariri's death. Kanaan was intelligence chief in Lebanon from the 1980s until 2003. US, British journlists abducted in Gaza A Palestinian official has announced that two foreign journalists, an American and a Briton, have been kidnapped in the Gaza Strip. Palestinian Interior Ministry spokesman Tawfiq Abu Khoussa said the two were kidnapped near the town of Khan Younis on Wednesday. He said Palestinian security forces have mounted a search for the journalists. Witnesses said the two were abducted by Palestinian gunmen as they drove down a road on the outskirts of Khan Younis. No other information has been made available. Concern about earthquake relief Relief operations in the earthquake-hit Pakistan-controlled Kashmir have moved into top gear with the help of US and German helicopters, but hundreds of thousands of survivors were still desperate for help. The city of Muzaffarabad bore the brunt of the 7.6-magnitude earthquake which struck on Saturday, killing at least 23,000 people in Pakistan and making some 2.5 million homeless. A UN report on the international aid operation estimated that the about 1,000 hospitals were "completely destroyed" by the quake. Aid is pouring into regions affected by the earthquake, after relief efforts were temporarily suspended because of bad weather, but correspondents say there is concern about a lack of co-ordination, with supplies yet to reach remote areas. Changes agreed to Iraqi draft constitution In Iraq negotiators have agreed to last-minute changes to the country's draft constitution and urged Iraqis to vote "yes" to it in Saturday's referendum. Shiite and Kurdish negotiators agreed to demands by Sunni Arabs that changes could be made to the charter after December's Parliamentary elections. Sunni Arabs make up a powerful minority of Iraq's population and had threatened to block the referendum. They ruled the country for decades under Saddam Hussein, and are believed to be behind much of the insurgency in Iraq. Meanwhile, a suicide bomber has blown himself up among a crowd of Iraqi army recruits in Tal Afar in the north, killing at least 30, the second such attack in the city in as many days. Rice Afghan visit amid violence US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice says the US-led coalition in Afghanistan needs to be on the offensive against insurgents. But speaking to reporters following a meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul, Rice highlighted the country's political progress. Rice's visit came on a day during an upsurge of attacks. As many as 21 people have been killed in separate attacks in Kabul and the southern city of Kandahar. Casualties were reported on both sides. Protestors storm Bali bomber prison In Indonesia, around 500 protestors surrounded a jail early Wednesday morning where three inmates on death row over the 2002 Bali bombings had been held. Several protestors climbed the outer fence and broke down a steel door of Kerobokan prison demanding that the three be executed immediately. Security officers however had already moved the three inmates to another jail on Tuesday, citing security concerns. Today marks the third anniversary of the nightclub attack on Bali, in which 202 people, including many Australian tourists, were killed. Over 30 militants have been arrested and tried in connection with the attack. EU ministers discuss African immigrants European Union justice ministers are meeting today to explore ways of dealing with a recent surge in Africans trying to enter the EU through two Spanish enclaves on Morocco's northern coast. Eleven Africans have died in recent weeks while trying to scale the barbed-wire fences around the borders of Melilla and Ceuta. Morocco has been critised for deported hundreds of would-be immigrants, many from Senegal, in desert areas near the Algerian border. On Monday, Morocco had sent 280 Senegal citizens home. China launches manned rocket into space China has launched its second manned rocket into space. Two Chinese astronauts blasted off into orbit around Earth early Wednesday morning from a remote base in China's Gobi desert. The launch was broadcast live on Chinese state television. China is the third nation in the world to launch a manned spacecraft into orbit, after Russia and the United States. China first sent a manned rocket into space in October 2003 in mission lasting 21 hours. This time, both the astronauts are to spend five days in space to carry out research, including medical experiments. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. News and background reports from the fields of current affairs, culture, business and science. And of course the DW website also has information about DW-RADIO and DW-TV programmes: topics, broadcast times and frequencies. You can even listen to all programmes as audio-on-demand. Serbian News Network - SNN [email protected] http://www.antic.org/
