Deutsche Welle English Service News December 11th 2005, 16:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
EU's Nuclear Negotiations With Iran Enter Diplomatic End Game Iran said Sunday that a planned meeting later this month with the Britain, France and Germany on its disputed nuclear program will be decisive for the future of diplomacy over the crisis. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1811633,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- UK fire "biggest in Europe peacetime" Millions of liters of foam are being transported to London to put out a massive fire following powerful explosions at one of the UK's largest aviation fuel depots this morning. Smoke is billowing from 20 burning fuel tanks and health authorities have asked the public to stay indoors to avoid inhaling the smoke. Hertfordshire's Chief Fire Officer Roy Wilsher told a news conference."We have been informed by experts that this is possibly the largest incident of this kind in peacetime Europe." The fire brigade said that it could take another 24 hours to bring the inferno near Luton Airport, 40 kilometres north of London, under control and warn of more explosions. Police say they are treating the fire as an accident and deny reports that a plane had crashed into oil storage tanks. 43 people were injured in the massive blaze, none seriously. Nigerian plane crash toll rises to 107 The death toll of Saturday's aircrash in Nigeria has risen to 107, including 75 school children. Two of the dead were reportedly French and American health specialists from the aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres. The Sosoliso Airlines jet had been on a flight from the capital, Abuja, to the southern oil city of Port Harcourt when it crashed while landing during a thunderstorm. Authorities said the plane veered off the runway immediately after landing, hit a drainage ditch, and then tumbled over, ripping apart and bursting into flames. It's the second fatal commercial aviation accident in Nigeria in seven weeks. Tough security measures in Iraq The Iraqi government has announced it will close all borders, extend curfew hours and ban travel ahead of this week's elections. The strict security measures will come into force on Tuesday in an effort to control violence. On Sunday, assailants blew up an election center near Sammara while gunmen fired shots at a political party office in Mosul. Meanwhile, the US military has announced that 240 Iraqis have been freed from coalition jails, although it said their release was not connected to demands by the kidnappers of four Western peace activists. Two Canadians, an American and a Briton, have been threatened with death by a group calling itself "Swords of Truth". Iraqi police say an Egyptian translator working for the US military in Tikrit, who was kidnapped on Friday, has been killed. No word on fate of kidnapped German There has been no word on the fate of Susanne Osthoff, a German archaeologist kidnapped with her driver in northern Iraq two weeks ago. Her abductors have threatened to kill them unless Germany ends its co-operation with the Iraqi government. A vigil for the German woman was held in Munich on Saturday evening. Earlier, a crisis management committee under Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier met to discuss the case but a spokesman said later that there were no new developments to report. 35 die in Pakistan wedding party bus fire At least 35 people, including women and children, were killed in Pakistan on Sunday when a bus carrying a wedding party caught fire. The bus caught ablaze when fire crackers to celebrate marriages were set off in front it and ignited the fuel tank. Five injured people were pulled out of the bus. Police expect the death toll to climb. Israeli defence minister joins Sharon Another leading Israeli politician has left the Likud party to join Arial Sharon's new Kadima party. Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz is the seventh cabinet member to join the prime minister in less than three weeks. All prominent politicians have now left the Likud Party with the exception of Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom and former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Rallies over Croatian war criminal arrest Tens of thousands of Croatians rallied across the country on Sunday in support of former general Ante Gotovina who was detained at the UN war crimes court in the Netherlands this week after more than four years on the run. In protests at Zagreb, Split and a number of other cities, Croatians called Gotovina a hero, and criticised the UN's chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte. Spanish authorities detained Gotovina in Tenerife this week and handed him over to the war crimes court on Saturday. The former general is accused of killing 150 Serb civilians in 1995. Uzbekistan: Germany military bases stay After months of uncertainty, the government in Uzbekistan has allowed Germany to maintain its military base in Termez near the border with Afghanistan. The agreement comes despite an earlier request by the Uzbek government for all NATO members to withdraw all troops and stop flights over the former Soviet country once their contract to stay runs out on December 31. Uzbekistan ordered NATO members to leave and evicted a US military base following criticism over its crackdown in the city of Andijan this year during which, witnesses say, government troops killed hundreds of protestors. The German hub is used to transport supplies to German ISAF troops in Afghanistan. 6.8 quake jolts Papua New Guinea A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 has hit the coast of Papua New Guinea. The US Geological Survey said the quake was located in waters north of Australia and east of Indonesia. There are no reports of damage or casualties. Several quakes higher than magnitude 6 have hit Papua New Guinea in the past three months but none has caused serious damage or casualties. Papua New Guinea lies on "the Ring of Fire", a zone of volcanic activity which accounts for 75 percent of the world's active and dormant volcanoes. The town of Rabaul was destroyed in the September 1994 eruption of Tuvurvur volcano. WTO meeting begins Tuesday Several thousand anti-globalisation protesters marched through Hong Kong on Sunday demonstrating against the World Trade Organisation meeting that starts on Tuesday. Trade ministers from around the world will meet for six days of talks on liberalising global trade. However, the US and the European Union are deadlocked over the key issue of farm subsidies, making major progress unlikely. Washington is ready to slash farm subsidies by up to 90 percent, the EU appears willing to cut tariffs by only 60 percent. Both blocs stress they should come to some agreement to help the world's poorest countries compete fairly in global markets. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DW-WORLD offers you a special service for the Bundesliga. Get all the action on your mobile device and you'll never miss out on important news. 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