Deutsche Welle
English Service News
12. 12. 2005, 17:00 UTC
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Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
Moaning Tops Agenda at EU Wrap-Up
The EU foreign ministers meet for the last time this year, but the
usual end-of-year praise will likely be trumped by dissatisfaction
over Britain's presidency.
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internet address below:
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Syria says it was framed in Tueni death
Syria has said that the assassination of a prominent journalist in
Beirut was timed to make it look as if Damascus committed the crime.
The Syrian state news agency, SANA, claimed that the country is in
fact "pained" by the car bombing which killed Gebran Tueni on
Monday. He published a newspaper, An-Nahar, highly critical of
Syria's presence in Lebanon. A politician from the Lebanese Druze
ethnic group, Walid Jumblatt, suggested that Syria had Tueni killed.
The government in Beirut has avoided any such accusation, however.
Later on Monday the UN security council is due to receive the latest
report on the assassination in February of former Lebanese Prime
Minister Rafik Hariri. Meanwhile, the US embassy in Beirut has
called the car bomb "heinous". Police say four people in total died
and over 30 were hurt when Tueni's SUV exploded in a mainly
Christian suburb east of the capital. Tueni had just returned from
France, where he had gone in fear for his life.
Fire fighters try to put out London fire
In Britain, fire fighters are attempting to put out a huge fire at a
fuel depot north-west of London. The fire is still blazing 36 hours
after a series of explosions sent thick black smoke billowing into
the sky. Fire crews plan to cover the flames with a giant blanket of
foam. More than 40 people have been injured, two of them seriously.
Some residents have been evacuated, and the blaze has also forced
the closure of at least one motorway. Hertfordshire's chief police
constable Frank Whitely said he was currently treating the incident
as an accident but would keep all options open. It's the biggest
fire of its type in Europe since 1945 but oil experts have said that
despite the scale of the inferno, it is not expected to lead to fuel
shortages in Britain.
Gotovina appears at UN court
Former Croatian general Ante Gotovina has appeared before the UN war
crimes tribunal in The Hague. Gotovina pleaded not guilty to seven
charges of crimes against humanity in connection with the murder of
Serb civilians during the Balkans war in 1995. He is number three
on the tribunal's most-wanted list. Spanish police arrested Gotovina
in the Canary Islands last week, ending his four years on the run.
At the weekend, tens of thousands of people held rallies across
Croatia in support of the ex-general, calling him a war hero.
EU foreign ministers discuss budget
European Union Foreign Ministers are meeting in Brussels for final
talks before a major two-day summit starting on Thursday. Top of the
agenda is the next EU budget. Current EU President Britain is under
increasing pressure to make concessions on its budget rebate after a
proposal submitted by London last week was widely rejected. London's
recent proposal offered a modest cut in the British rebate, but only
for the next seven year budget period, and suggested reducing aid to
the new EU members in eastern Europe.
Germany pushes for condemnation of Iran
Germany will ask leaders attending the EU summit this week to sign
up to a joint declaration condemning the latest anti-Israeli
outburst from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The Iranian
leader on Thursday called on Germany and Austria to host a state of
Israel on their soil if they felt responsible for massacring Jews
during World War II. Vice Chancellor Franz Muentefering said at the
weekend that Germany would seek "political consequences" in the
United Nations and the European Union over the Iranian president's
verbal attacks on Israel. Ahmadinejad on Monday stood by his latest
controversial attack against Israel and boldly asserted the world
was "on the verge of change".
Iraq voting starts; EC to open office
Iraq's parliamentary election has begun. Some 300,000 hospital
patients, soldiers, and prisoners have been casting their ballots
since Monday morning; most Iraqis will vote on Thursday. Security
measures for the election are to come into force on Tuesday. They
include night-time curfews, travel restrictions, and the closing of
national borders. Iraqi officials have said the election was an
important step toward political independence, and thus a pull-out of
US security forces. But terror group Al Qaeda in Iraq, and four
Sunni Arab groups, in a joint internet statement, called the
elections unislamic. Also on Monday, the European Commission
announced plans to open a Baghdad office. It said it will try to
encourage European governments to increase trade with Iraq. The
European Parliament is sending a small team to observe Iraq's
elections.
Violence continues in Australia
Racial violence has erupted in Sydney for a second night in a row.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard appealed for calm, as youths
went on the rampage. A number of people were arrested in Cronulla,
the scene of race riots the previous night. The Australian
Associated Press reported that gun shots were heard near Cronulla
beach. Eyewitness accounts said the men involved in the attacks were
of Middle Eastern appearance. The renewed violence appeared to be in
retaliation for Sunday's violence in which a mob of thousands of
white men attacked men of Arab appearance to avenge the beating of
two life guards.
Putin pledges to rebuild Chechnya
Russian President Vladimir Putin has a made a brief visit to
Chechyna to attend the first session of its newly-elected
parliament. Putin pledged to help rebuild Grozny, the war-shattered
regional capital and also urged authorities to combat abductions.
The Kremlin-backed United Russia party won the largest number
of seats in the November 27 poll. Speaking at the session, Putin
hailed the parliamentary election as a landmark in Chechnya's
history.
German union wants 5% higher wages
One of Germany's most powerful labour unions has said it will demand
five-percent wage increases next year. IG Metall represents some 3.4
electrical, engineering, and metal workers. The employers
federation, Gesamtmetall, already has rejected the idea, limiting
salary increases to just over 1 percent. The reason the union
recommended the increase is the favourable economic conditions in
metal working and engineering; analysts say corporate earnings will
rise next year. If the union were to win a large increase it could
cause the European Central Bank concern about the effect it would
have on inflation. That might lead to more rate increases by the bank
that oversees the eurozone. Wage restraint has been one of the key
factors keeping inflation in check in Europe.
Brazil warns WTO talks will fail
Brazil has said that the upcoming World Trade Organistion summit in
Hong Kong will fail if the EU does not make bigger concessions on
farm subsidies. Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said there
was unlikely to be a deal if the EU did not make it easier for
developing countries to compete on world markets. The talks, which
are part of the so-called Doha round, get underway on Tuesday.
Meanwhile Germany's Economics Minister Michael Glos has said there's
no need for the EU to present a new trade offer at the summit this
week. Glos told reporters that it was time for others to make
concessions. The Doha round of trade talks was launched in 2001 and
is due to be completed by the end of 2006.
Uzbekistan lets German troops stay
Uzbekistan has informed the German government that its Bundeswehr
troops will be allowed to stay in the country. Last month the US
pulled the last of its troops out of the central Asian country after
the Uzbek government gave Washington six months to leave. The
government had also told European NATO members they would not be
allowed to use Uzbek airspace for peacekeeping operations in
neighbouring Afghanistan. The Bush administration had criticised the
authorities' crackdown on anti-government protesters in May. German
troops have been using an air base in Termez to fly aid and supplies
to their forces in Afghanistan.
SPD politicians criticize Schroeder
Senior Social Democrat politicians have distanced themselves from a
decision by former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder to accept a top
position with a German-Russian pipeline consortium. The deputy
Bundestag president Wolfgang Thierse and SPD parliamentary party
leader Peter Struck criticized Schroeder and said they would not have
made such a decision. Schroeder will become chairman of the Baltic
Sea pipeline, which will deliver Russian gas directly to Germany.
It's being built jointly by energy gaint Gazprom and two German
companies, E.ON and BASF. While in office Schroeder actively promoted
the pipleline project and took part in the negotiations. Politicians
are now calling for stricter guidelines for former politicians
taking up job positions in industry.
French police arrest 20 Islamist suspects
French police say they've arrested 20 terrorist suspects in an
operation targeting a militant Islamist network just outside the
capital Paris. Police said several of those arrested had previous
terrorism links. The French parliament is currently debating an
anti-terrorism bill which includes closer surveillance and
monitoring of mobile phones and Internet connections.
Fate of German hostage in Iraq unclear
The ambassadors to Germany from several Arab nations have condemned
the abduction of German archaeologist Susanne Osthoff and her driver
in Iraq two weeks ago. The statement, which was published by the
central council of Muslims in Germany, calls for their immediate
release and stresses the fact she was not in any way politically
active. On Sunday evening, hundreds of residents of the Bavarian
town where Osthoff grew up, held a vigil to show their solidarity
with both her and her family. Meanwhile, Iraqi President Jalal
Talabani says he believes Osthoff is still alive. Talabani said in a
German television interview that the kidnappers had no reason to
kill a German hostage, since Germany had not sent troops to Iraq.
ASEAN moves towards charter
The 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have
agreed to draft their first-ever constitution. There are no details
yet on the content of the document but it could include declarations
on human rights and democracy. The draft could be signed in 2007.
There have been calls in the past to include these provisions in an
effort to deal more effectively with Burma's military government
which has a history of human rights abuses. This year's summit is
being held in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.
Bomb attack near ministry in Athens
A bomb has exploded in Athens near Greece's Economy Ministry
injuring two people and causing extensive damage. Authorities said
the time bomb was apparently hidden in a container on the back of a
motorcycle in Syntagma Square. The blast occurred in the early hours
of Mondy shortly after an Athens newspaper received two phone
calls warning of an attack. The bombing coincided with the start of
strikes by Greece's largest unions against plans by the conservative
government to change labour rules across the public sector.
More World Cup tickets
Sports news: FIFA has launched the third phase of ticket sales for
next year's World Cup finals in Germany. 250,000 tickets are on
sale. FIFA says it expects demand to outweigh supply, and the
tickets will be divided by lottery, not on a first come first serve
basis. The World Cup finals run from June 9 to July 9. In total 2.93
million tickets are on sale for the 2006 World Cup finals with
prices ranging from 35 euros to 600 euros.
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