Deutsche Welle English Service News 09.11.2005, 17:00 UTC ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Today's highlight on DW-WORLD: German Government's Economic Experts Cautious on Growth Germany is set to breach the EU's budget rules for the fifth year in a row in 2006 as growth remains sluggish, the government's so-called "Five Wise Men" said in their latest forecast published on Wednesday. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1771551,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Only two days left to play! DW-WORLD's "Click Back" monthly review quiz for November 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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rioting in France continues The nightly rioting in France has decreased for the first time in nearly two weeks. More than 600 cars went up in flames in France on Tuesday night, but this is about half as many as were torched the night before. This came after the government invoked rarely used emergency powers to allow local authorities to impose curfews, ban public meetings and allow police to search houses without warrants. But the measures were only imposed in one municipality. Three other towns used a different law to impose night-time curfews for minors. Meanwhile, in Germany, nearly a dozen vehicles were set ablaze on Tuesday night in the cities of Berlin and Cologne. Brown and Straw recalled for terror vote In Britain, two senior cabinet ministers have been called back from foreign trips to bolster numbers for a vote on anti-terrorism measures. Observers say the recall of Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and the chancellor of the exchequer, Gordon Brown, is a sign that Prime Minister Tony Blair is worried he may not have the numbers to pass the controversial law. The bill would allow police to hold terror suspects for up to 90 days without charge. Rebels in Prime Minister Blair's Labour Party have refused to support the bill, saying the measures would breach human rights. Azahari believed killed in Indonesia In Indonesia, several terror suspects cornered by police have blown themselves up. After a gun battle with police in east Java, an explosion rocked the house, killing at least three suspects. An Indonesian television journalist reported that police believe one of those killed in the incident is one of Asia's most wanted terrorists, Azahari Husin. Azahari is a leading member of the Jemaah Islamiyah extremist network. He is believed to have played a key role in a number of terrorist attacks, including the October 2002 Bali bombings, in which more than 200 people died. Azeri opposition to demand poll re-run In Azerbaijan, thousands of people are marching through the streets of the capital, Baku. They're responding to a call by the main opposition movement to take to the streets to demand fresh parliamentary elections. This follows reports of widespread voter fraud by President Ilham Aliyev's party in last Sunday's election. So far, election officials have said they will annul the results in just two of 125 constituencies, and do a recount in a third. Syria offers UN co-operation on Hariri Syria has invited the man leading a United Nations probe into last February's killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri to Damascus. A Syrian news agency said the letter invited German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis to sign a co-operation accord. The agency reported that the letter did not refer to a request by Mehlis to question six Syrian officials in Lebanon. Last month Damascus dismissed an interim report that Mehlis presented to the UN Security Council, which implicated Syrian officials in al-Hariri's assassination. Syria claims the report was politically motivated. A UN Security Council resolution has called on Syria to co-operate fully with the inquiry. Egyptians vote for new parliament Egyptians have gone to the polls to choose a new parliament. Election officials said that preliminary estimates showed the turnout was higher than in the September presidential polls, but still low overall. Opposition groups need at least 23 seats to have the right to field a candidate against President Hosni Mubarak's ruling National Democratic Party in the next presidential election. But the ruling NDP, which had more than 85 percent of the seats in the old parliament, is expected to win a large majority. New suicide bomb attack in Iraq A suicide bomb attack in Iraq has killed at least seven policemen. At least nine other people were wounded in the attack in Baquba, north-east of the capital Baghdad. In Baghdad, meanwhile, a driver for the Sudanese Embassy was shot dead as he left the Palestinian mission. The attack followed the abduction last month of two employees of the Moroccan Embassy. In New York, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a one-year extension of the mandate for US-led forces in Iraq until December 2006. German coalition talks continue In Germany, the Social Democrats and Christian Democrats are continuing their talks aimed at forming a grand coalition government. The two sides have agreed to lower mandatory employee contributions to the unemployment insurance scheme. The parties also agreed to relax labour market regulations, to make it easier for companies to fire workers within the first two years of their being hired. The two sides say they expect to reach a coalition agreement before Saturday, which is their self-imposed deadline. Night of Broken Glass remembered Memorial services are to be held across Germany later in the day to commemorate Kristallnacht, or the night of broken glass. On the night of 9th November 1938, Nazis in Germany and Austria torched synagogues, ransacked Jewish businesses and houses, and sent many Jews to concentration camps. The day is also the sixteenth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. About 150 people have gathered around one of the largest remaining sections of the wall to mark the event with a candle-lighting ceremony. Germany to breach EU rules: report Germany's so-called "Five Wise Men" panel of economic experts has predicted in a report that the public deficit next year is likely to be 3.3 percent of output. This means that the country would breach the European Union's budget rules for the fifth year in a row. Under the terms of the European Stability and Growth Pact, eurozone members are not allowed to chalk up deficits in excess of 3.0 percent of Gross Domestic Product. Macedonia recommended for EU membership The European Commission has recommended that the EU accept Macedonia as a candidate to join the 25 member bloc. It gave no set date for the former Yugoslavian republic to begin talks. The move comes one month after Croatia opened membership talks with the EU. Hanover sack Lienen, Klitschko retires In sports: Bundesliga club Hanover have sacked their head coach, Ewald Lienen. This comes after Hanover managed to win just one of their last eight matches. Meanwhile, bottom of the table Nuremberg have appointed Hans Meyer as their new head coach. The 63-year-old Meyer replaces Wolfgang Wolf, who was sacked last week. And in boxing, the Ukrainian world heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko has announced his retirement. This comes just days after the German-based fighter was forced to pull out his WBC title defence against Hasim Rahman due to a knee injury. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DW-WORLD is looking for the best Weblog. Our International Weblog Awards are in full swing and now it's time for you to cast your vote. Choose your favorite from more than 100 finalists and win an iPod Shuffle with a bit of luck. DW's "The BOBs -- The Best of The Blogs" is sponsored by Maritim Hotel Bonn. Fore more, go to http://www.thebobs.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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/
