Deutsche Welle
English Service News
30. 11. 2005 2005, 17:00 UTC
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Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
Merkel Urges Recovery and Resolve in First Speech
Angela Merkel gave her first speech to parliament as German
chancellor Wednesday and spoke of a strong Germany full of
opportunities and a country that would stand firm on the issues of
justice and equal rights.
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http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1797233,00.html
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Merkel aims for economic growth
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has given her first parliamentary
address since assuming office last week. She presented her
government's agenda in the next four years and thanked her
predecessor Gerhard Schroeder for his reform efforts. One major goal
of the current grand coalition between Merkel's conservatives and
the Social Democrats is to make Germany into one of the three
fastest growing economies in Europe in the next ten years. Merkel
also plans to tackle unemployment, which stands at 11 percent, and
to strengthen relations with the US, which were strained by
Schroeder's vehement opposition to the Iraq war.
Bush justifies US presence in Iraq
In a speech at the United States Naval Academy, US President George
W. Bush has told cadets that the US will continue to fight
terrorists in Iraq. He said that insurgents had nothing to offer the
Iraqi people and that they would fail. The president also referred
to a newly-unveiled "blueprint for victory" in the country,
including a long-awaited exit strategy. But he emphasised that the
US would not set a deadline. Bush said that before any US troop
pullout, Iraqi security forces must be strong enough to take the
lead against the insurgency. The speech comes amid growing domestic
criticism of Bush's handling of the Iraq war.
Merkel condemns Iraq kidnapping
Berlin says it will make no concessions to the captors of a German
aid worker and her Iraqi driver in Iraq. In her first speech to
parliament since becoming chancellor, Angela Merkel condemned the
abductions and said Germany could not be blackmailed. Susanne
Osthoff, the only German to be abducted in Iraq, has lived in the
country for many years. Her captors have threatened to kill her if
Germany does not stop cooperation with the Iraqi government. A
previously unknown militant group says it is holding four foreigners
it claims were spies. The abducted men, who were seized about the
same time as Osthoff, include two Canadians, a Briton and an
American.
US Sec. of State Rice's deputy in Berlin
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's top deputy has arrived in
Berlin for talks with German leaders. Robert Zoellick was expected
to meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel and others behind closed doors
ahead of Rice's own trip next week to Berlin. New German Foreign
Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier met with Rice in Washington on
Tuesday, where reports of secret US prisons abroad for terror
suspects was a topic between the two. The US said it would
investigate the reports and called the concerns "legitimate."
Meanwhile, Britain's Foreign Minister Jack Straw, on behalf of the
EU, has asked Washington to respond to the allegations.
Nine die in Iraq minibus attack
In Iraq, gunmen have attacked a minibus north of Baghdad, killing
nine people and wounding two others. A police official said ten
masked gunmen carried out the attack near the town of Baquba, about
65 kilometres from the Iraqi capital. Local residents said the
killed and wounded were all Shi'ite Muslims. Iraqi and US officials
expect a surge in guerrilla violence in the run-up to national
elections on December 15.
Barroso warns Blair on EU budget
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has urged Britain
not to force poor eastern member states to pay for the EU's
long-term budget. Barroso had a long discussion with British Prime
Minister Tony Blair who is working on a budget proposal for a
mid-December summit. He warned that Britain, which currently holds
the EU presidency, should not take from the poor and give to the
rich when presenting a budget for 2007-2013. The EU has been drowned
in a debate about Britain's annual rebate and agricultural
subsidies. In Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel told
parliament that Germany, a net contributor, was prepared to
contribute to a compromise that served all of Europe.
Britain enthrones black archbishop
The Church of England has enthroned its first black Archbishop. To
the sound of African drums, Uganda-born John Sentamu traveled by
boat from his official residence, Bishopthorpe Palace, along the
River Ouse to York Minister, to become the second-highest cleric in
the Anglican Church. In his sermon, Sentamu urged Britons to return
to what he called the "long tradition of Christian wisdom which
brought to birth the English nation".
UN court convicts one in Kosovo trial
The UN court in The Hague has convicted a former member of the
Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and acquitted two others. In its first
trial of Kosovo Albanians, the International Criminal Tribunal for
the Former Yugoslavia has sentenced Haradin Bala to 13 years for
torture, cruel treatment and murder in a KLA-run prison camp in June
and July of 1998. The other two co-defendants were released
immediately. All three had proclaimed their innocence and denied the
existence of the camp.
Clashes in West Bank raid
Israeli soldiers and Palestinian militants have clashed in the West
Bank, after about 20 military jeeps rolled into the town of Nablus.
Troops surrounded several Palestinian homes and shots were exchanged
between armed Palestinian militants and Israeli soldiers. Around ten
Palestinians were injured. The Israeli army said it conducted the
raid to arrest suspected militants but gave no further details.
Retrial possible for "Caliph of Cologne"
A Turkish appeals court has ordered the retrial of Islamic radical
Metin Kaplan, known as "The Caliph of Cologne", due to procedural
errors. Kaplan was sentenced to life in prison in June, after being
convicted of trying to overthrow Turkey's secular regime and
planning to crash a plane into the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal
Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey. Kaplan admits opposing the
Turkish secular state, but has denied planning any terrorist acts.
He lived in Cologne, Germany, until he was extradited to Turkey in
October 2004.
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