Deutsche Welle
English Service News
14. 10. 2005, 17:00 UTC
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Week in Germany: The best from German culture, business and
politics in a convenient weekly wrap-up. Read and subscribe at
www.germany.info/twig
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
Germany's New Face Abroad
Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a close ally of outgoing chancellor
Schröder, is set to be Germany's new foreign minister.
Not much is known about the "silent star in Schröder's team,"
who largely acted behind the scenes.
To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the
internet address below:
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1741310,00.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dutch arrest 7 on terrorism suspicion
Police in the Netherlands have arrested six men and a woman
suspected of planning a terrorist attack. Shots were heard as police
raided several locations in Amsterdam and The Hague on Friday. Among
those arrested is a 19-year old man who in April was acquitted of
charges of planning terrorist attacks due to insufficient evidence.
Dutch security forces also sealed off government buildings in The
Hague including the historic castle Binnenhof where members of
parliament normally meet.
Remaining hostages freed in Nalchik
Russian security forces are searching for suspected Chechen rebels
after ending a hostage drama in the Caucasus city of Nalchik.
Heavily armed Russian forces stormed a police station and a souvenir
store on Friday morning, freeing the remaining hostages held there.
At least eight more rebels were killed in that operation. An
estimated 150 to 300 Islamic militants attacked government and
police buildings in Nalchik on Thursday. Authorities say over 100
people were killed including more than 70 rebels, 12 civilians and
20 security force members.
UN says aid rush could be disastrous
The United Nations has urged aid organisations to coordinate better
in the wake of last Saturday's earthquake in South Asia. The UN
emergency relief coordinator, Jan Egeland, said the rush of help
could cause what he described as, "a disaster within a disaster,"
with the various organisations getting in each other's way.
Pakistani authorities meanwhile say they've ended efforts to find
survivors from the quake, and will now focus on other tasks. This
comes after the UN voiced concern at the desperate situation faced
by tens of thousands of Pakistanis who are spending nights out in
the freezing cold. The European Union has approved a further 10
million euros in aid for the earthquake victims.
Alarm in Europe over lethal bird flu
European Union health experts meeting in Brussels are expected to
support additional measures being taken to prevent the spread of
bird flu which has reached Europe's borders. EU foreign ministers
are due to hold emergency talks on the outbreak next Tuesday. It
comes after the deadly strain of the disease was confirmed in
Turkey. Health officials are also waiting to hear whether the strain
of bird flu found in ducks and other birds in Romania is the deadly
H5N1 type. EU governments have been urged to stockpile anti-viral
drugs. Strict controls have also been put in place at airports and
borders. In addition, the EU has imposed a ban on the import of live
birds from Turkey and Romania.
ICC issues first-ever arrest orders
The International Criminal Court in The Hague has issued its
first-ever arrest warrants. The ICC said it had unsealed the
warrants for five Ugandan rebel leaders, among them Joseph Kony, the
leader of the Lord's Resistance Army. The world court was set up to
try suspects for genocide, war crimes and human rights abuses.
European Parliament warns Ethiopia
The European Parliament has called for an end to harassment of
opposition groups in Ethiopia. In a statement, it also warned of
possible cuts in aid if what it called the "persecution and
intimidation" of such groups did not stop. Political tensions in
Ethiopia have grown since a disputed parliamentary election on May
15, with opposition parties accusing the government of fraud. In
June, security forces cracked down on protests, killing 37 people
and arresting thousands of opposition supporters. The European Union
is one of Ethiopia's major donors, giving the country around 407
million euros in development aid each year.
Merkel's CDU meets on cabinet posts
The leaders of Germany's conservative Christian Democrats have been
meeting to line up their ministerial candidates for a grand
coalition government with the Social Democrats. The CDU, led by
chancellor-designate Angela Merkel, together with its Bavarian
sister party, the CSU, will hold eight cabinet posts. The final
decisions are to be announced on Monday. Earlier this week the CDU
and SPD reached a deal under which Merkel would become chancellor in
exchange for the Social Democrats securing eight posts, among them
the key finance and foreign ministries.
Big US chip factory opens in Dresden
The American company Advanced Micro Devices, or AMD, has opened a
2.1 billion euro chip factory in Dresden, one of the largest foreign
investments in eastern Germany. Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder
attended the opening of the plant, which will create around 1,000
new jobs by 2007. The state of Saxony subsidized the project with
550 million euros. With increased production capacity at its Dresden
plant, AMD hopes to capture a 30-percent market share for PC
microprocessors worldwide.
2005 is the 2nd or 3rd hottest year ever
The British Meteorological Office predicts that the year 2005 will
be the second or third warmest year on record globally. The office,
which measures both land and sea temperatures, says whether it's the
second or third year depend on how Siberia reacts between now and
the end of the year. The meteorological office warns that global
warming will have the greatest impact on people living in polar and
low-lying areas as well as insurance and energy industries. 1998 was
the warmest year on record.
Daniel Craig to be new James Bond
British actor Daniel Craig has been given the licence to kill as the
new James Bond. The announcement was made in London on Friday,
ending months of speculation about who would follow in the footsteps
of Pierce Brosnan as the world's most famous spy. The 37-year-old
Craig was the favourite from a short-list that included Clive Owen,
Jude Law and Hugh Jackman. The next Bond movie is to be called
"Casino Royale" and will be released next year.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
