Deutsche Welle English Service News December 10th 2005, 16:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
Steinmeier Denies Claim of German Complicity in CIA Scandal German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier strongly denied Saturday any involvement by Berlin in the abduction and detention of a German national by the US Central Intelligence Agency. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1811024,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ElBaradei awarded Nobel Peace Prize The International Atomic Energy Agency and its chief Mohamed ElBaradei were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in a ceremony in Oslo on Saturday for their efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear arms. ElBaradei and the chairman of the Board of Governors of the IAEA, Yukiya Amano, were presented gold medals and Nobel diplomas to the applause of 1,000 invited guests. The prize, worth 10 million Swedish crowns or one million Euros, was established by Swedish philanthropist Alfred Nobel. Montreal climate talks end unresolved At the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Montreal, more than 150 nations have agreed to hold formal talks on mandatory reductions in greenhouse gases after 2012. Those discussions will, however, not include the United States, which rejects the emissions cutbacks mandated by the current Kyoto Protocol. The Bush administration did accept a watered-down proposal, though, to join what is termed a global "dialogue" on combating climate change. The dual plans provide a mixed result for the two-week conference, which ends without reconciling differences on how to deal with global warming. Muslim leaders call for hostage release Around the world, Islamic clerics have called for the release of four western peace activists facing death at the hands of kidnappers in Iraq. The head of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood warned that the abductions contravene the principles of Islam. The Iraqi Muslim Scholars Association and the Canadian Islamic Congress also appealed for the captives' freedom. The Christian relief workers, two Canadians, an American and a Briton, were captured two weeks ago by a group calling itself "Swords of Truth". The militants threatened to kill the hostages if US-led coalition forces did not release all jailed Iraqis by Saturday. In the meantime, Iraqi police say that an Egyptian translator working for the US military in Tikrit has been killed by his captors. He was kidnapped by gunmen on Friday. Croatian ex-general in UN custody Former Croatian general Ante Gotovina has arrived at the detention centre of the UN war crimes tribunal in the The Hague. Spanish police arrested Gotovina on the Canary Islands Wednesday after a tip-off from the international police agency Interpol. He has been charged with war crimes over atrocities committed during the 1991-95 war. Troops under his command killed 150 Serbs when Croatian forces won back control of parts of the county held by Serb rebels. Gotovina is one of the top three war crimes suspects indicted by the Hague tribunal. Poland to probe CIA prison allegations Polish Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz has said he will commission an investigation into allegations that the CIA detained suspected terrorists at secret prisons in Poland. Speaking on television Marcinkiewicz said this matter must finally be closed, because it could prove dangerous for Poland. Warsaw has repeatedly denied the allegations and the United States has declined to comment on the reports from US-based Human Rights Watch, which have caused controversy on both sides of the Atlantic. Poland is one of Washington's leading allies in Europe and sent troops to join the US-led war in Iraq. Ahmadinejad's Israel remarks slammed The latest anti-Israel remarks by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have been denounced by the United Nations and countries around the world. The UN Security Council condemned Ahmadinejad's denial of the extent of the Holocaust and his proposal that Israel be moved to Europe. The German Foreign Ministry in Berlin summoned Iran's ambassador to express its displeasure. Ahmadinijad's latest remarks were made at a press conference in Mecca and come barely a month after he called for Israel to be "wiped off the map." Blair: EU budget negotiations "tough" British Prime Minister Tony Blair insisted on Friday he would reject any agreement on a future European Union budget unless it includes a review of agricultural subsidies. Blair is under pressure to strike a deal at an EU summit next week and he admitted that the entire budget could not be changed overnight. Following two days of consultations with EU leaders, Blair, the current EU President, refused to give up any more of the UK's budget rebate without a commitment to cut huge farm subsidies which benefit France most. Schroeder criticised over pipeline post Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder is being strongly criticised for becoming chairman of the board of the firm building a new gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea. Reinhard Buetikofer of the Greens Party questioned the appropriateness of Schroeder apparently profiting from a controversial decision that he actively promoted while in office. The Baltic Sea pipeline will supply Russian natural gas directly to Germany and is being constructed jointly by the Russian energy giant Gazprom and two German firms, E.ON and BASF. Israel kills Palestinian off Gaza shore An Israeli naval patrol killed at least one Palestinian man off the shore of Gaza on Saturday, according to Palestinian and Israeli army officials. The Israeli vessel spotted two men swimming from Egypt towards Gaza before dawn, each with a sack of equipment tethered to their leg. The boat's crew opened fire after the swimmers ignored calls to stop. The body of a 37-year-old Palestinian was recovered by local fishermen while the search continued for a second man. World Cup 2006 draw held in Leipzig In sports: The draw for next year's soccer World Cup has been held in the eastern German city of Leipzig. Three-time World Cup champion Germany will play Ecuador, Poland and Costa Rica in Group A. As the host nation for the championship, Germany is to face Costa Rica in the opening game, to be played in Munich on June 9. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Play DW-WORLD's Christmas Click & Win with a chance to get fabulous prizes from Playmobil! To participate, please visit our home page at http://www.dw-world.de/english ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. 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