Deutsche Welle English Service News December 16th 2005, 16:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
Britain Claims Progress as Germany Leads Call for Rebate Cut Britain claimed progress Friday towards resolving the European Union's budget row while Germany, backed by France and Spain, called for the British rebate to be slashed. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1822993,00.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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Germany suggests bigger EU budget At the European Union summit in Brussels, British Prime Minister Tony Blair is to present revised budget proposals after behind-the-scenes talks. Blair met French and German leaders to try to reconcile eastern European states' demands for more aid with a cut in the British rebate and put a review of farm spending on the agenda. EU diplomats say German Chancellor Angela Merkel, attending her first summit of the 25-nation bloc, has suggested increasing the EU's budget by some 13 billion euros. This attempt to break the deadlock would set spending level at the mid-point between EU president Britain's proposal and the unsuccessful package offered by Luxembourg last June. Failure to reach a deal would damage the credibility of the bloc, already reeling from its failure to agree a proposed EU constitution earlier this year. EU concern about direction of trade talks Leading developing countries and major food exporters are urging delegates at World Trade Organization talks in Hong Kong to refocus on agriculture issues, rather than development aid. They said the European Union and United States needed to do more to cut government support for their farmers. Meanwhile, EU trade chief Peter Mandelson said that the direction of the WTO talks was worrying and questioned whether progress toward a global trade pact could be achieved during the Hong Kong meeting. US trade officials have expressed frustration over the talks, saying the European Union was holding negotiations hostage by refusing to cut farm tariffs. Free Osthoff, urge German leaders A group of German elder statesmen and publicists have urged kidnappers in Iraq to free the German hostage Susanne Osthoff and her Iraqi driver. The appeal in English and Arabic has been sent to Arab news agencies and the TV channel Al Jazeera. Those appealing for Osthoff's immediate release include three former German presidents, Johannes Rau, Roman Herzog and Richard von Weizsaecker; and the former chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. The list also includes the former United Nations coordinator in Iraq Hans von Sponeck, the writer Guenter Grass, and publicist Peter Scholl-Latour. They describe Susanne Osthoff as an "extraordinary person" who has often helped Iraqis, for example by delivering medicines amid raids in 2003. Osthoff was abducted three weeks ago between Baghdad to Arbil. Iraqi election wins praise The German government has praised Iraq's parliamentary elections as an important step toward stabilizing the country and praised its citizens for taking the fate of their country into their own hands. While it was too early to give a final verdict on Thursday's parliamentary elections, Berlin said it was pleasing that the elections were largely peaceful and saw high turnout of all groups in the population. As many as 11 million votes have to be counted in Iraq after the election, the first for a full-term government since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003. Official results are not expected until later this month. EU and Bundestag condemn Iran Recent anti-Israeli remarks by Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have been condemned by the EU heads of state at their Brussels summit, and by Germany's parliament. EU leaders described as "wholly unacceptable" Ahmadinejad's denial of the Holocaust and his call that Israel be "wiped off the map". Summit leaders said Iran had also failed to "build confidence" by showing that its atomic programme was solely for peaceful purposes. In Berlin the Bundestag parliament passed a unanimous resolution condemning the Iranian president's remarks and reaffirming Israel's right to exist, free from anxiety. The opposition Greens party called on the parliament to review Germany's diplomatic and economic ties with Iran. Trial of Turkish author Pamuk postponed One of Turkey's best known writers Orhan Pamuk has appeared in court on charges of "insulting Turkey's national identity",- but the proceedings have been adjourned until February 7th. An Istanbul judge said the prosecution could not proceed until it had been approved by the ministry of justice. Pamuk has been charged over his references to the mass killing of Kurds and Ottoman Armenians in World War I, deaths Turkey insists cannot be classed as genocide. EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn has warned the trial raises doubts over free speech in Turkey, which only started membership talks with the European Union in October. Criminal probe after radiation alert Prosecutors in Chechnya are looking into how very high levels of radioactivity were recorded at a factory in the Russian republic. Russian media reports that radioactive levels at the plant were half those recorded at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant after the 1986 explosion. Investigators said the radiation posed a danger to people living near it in the region's capital, Grozny. The case has raised fears militants could use radioactive waste to build a crude nuclear bomb. For years, rebels in the region have been fighting a separatist struggle against Russian forces. Radioactive materials have a variety of uses in the manufacturing industry. If not disposed of properly, radioactive waste can pose a serious threat to people nearby. Germany extends army mandate in Sudan The German parliament has extended the mandate of the country's armed forces in Sudan's Darfur province until June of next year. The Bundeswehr is providing logistical support for the African Union in its peacekeeping mission in the province. Some 200 German troops are deployed in Darfur in a support capacity. A 6,000 strong African Union force is trying to prevent ongoing violence widely blamed on pro-government militias, that has left tens of thousands of people dead and more than two million homeless in the region. White House backs torture legislation President George Bush has withdrawn his opposition to legislation banning cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of terrorist suspects. He said it would show the world that the US did not use torture. Sponsored by Republican Senator John McCain, the law on torture has been the subject of months of negotiations between Congress and the White House. Bush had threatened to veto the measure, saying it would constrain the military and intelligence agencies. He changed his stance when both the Senate and the House of Representatives came out overwhelmingly in favour of the legislation. Blaze at Chinese hospital kills dozens A fire that swept through a hospital in northeastern China has left at least 39 people dead. Some 24 others are unaccounted for. It took fire fighters several hours to put out the blaze in Liaoyuan city's biggest hospital. China's Xinhua news agency said the fire started in a power distribution room. A total of 152 patients were evacuated, 15 of whom died on their way to other hospitals. There were no doctors or nurses among the victims. German business climate best in five years The German business climate is the best it has been since the summer of 2000. The IFO business index reported on Friday that business confidence rose 1.8 points to 99.6 in December. The Munich-based Institute for Economic Research questioned 7,000 firms about their current and future business prospects. Draw pitches Bayern against Milan In European soccer the draws have been for both the quarterfinals of the Champions League and the knock-out round of the UEFA Cup. In the Champions League, German champion club Bayern Munich plays against AC Milan. Werder Bremen meets Italy's champion Juventus Turin. Among 32 UEFA Cup survivors, Schalke 04 plays Espanyol Barcelona. Hamburg meets the Swiss side Thun. And, Stuttgart plays the English club Middlesbrough. The French club Lille, after its shock Champions League ouster of Manchester United, faces Shakhtar Donetsk. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 where Chinese Bayern ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. 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