Deutsche Welle English Service News 20. 12. 2005, 17:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
Germany Releases Hezbollah Hijacker Wanted by US Germany has quietly released a jailed Hezbollah member wanted by the US for killing an American Navy diver. The timing -- just days after the freeing of a German hostage in Iraq -- has raised uncomfortable questions. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1829531,00.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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- German court frees Hizbollah member A German court has released a member of the Lebanese Hizbollah group who had been jailed for life over the hijacking of a TWA jet in 1985 and for the murder of a US navy diver. The Frankfurt prosecutor's office said Mohammed Ali Hamadi, who'd spent almost 19 years in jail, had already been released last week and had left Germany. He's reported to be back in Lebanon despite a US extradition request. The TWA passenger jet was on its way from Athens to Rome when it was hijacked and forced to fly to Beirut. Freed German hostage thanks Berlin The German Foreign Ministry says that a German woman freed in Iraq on Sunday is still in the country. A spokesman said Susanne Osthoff, who had been held captive for three weeks, had thanked the Berlin government for securing her release. She said she was not planning on returning to Germany for the time being but instead wanted to spend some time out of the spotlight with her daughter. Osthoff, who has spent over a decade working on excavations in Iraq, was kidnapped on Nov. 25 along with her Iraqi driver. He is also believed to have been released. UK police arrest bombing suspect Anti-terrorist police in London have reportedly arrested a man in connection with the failed bomb attacks in London in July. Police said the man was arrested at Gatwick Airport as he got off a flight from Ethiopia. Four men were involved in a failed attempt to set off bombs on London's underground system and a bus on July 21. Two weeks earlier four British Islamists killed themselves and 52 others in an identical attack. Srebrenica massacre trial opens in Serbia Five former members of a Serbian police unit called the "Scorpions" have gone on trial in Belgrade for their alleged part in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre. They are the first Serbs to be tried by a Serbian court over the massacre, the worst atrocity in Europe since World War II. It is claimed the men are those who appear in a video shown at the trial of Slobodan Milosevic, in which six Bosnian Muslims are shot in the back. They were among about 8,000 Muslim men and boys killed during the massacre at Srebrenica, when the town fell to Bosnian Serb forces in 1995 near the end of the Bosnian war. They face up to 40 years in jail if found guilty. Sunnis reject partial poll results Iraqi opposition parties have rejected partial election results from last week's poll as flawed. The National Concord Front, which is made up of three major Sunni parties, said there were clear violations and has threatened to demand a new vote. A spokesman questioned the electoral commission's results from Baghdad where the Shiite coalition alliance won 58 percent of the vote with the Sunnis on 18 percent. It was the first time the Sunni parties had competed in parliamentary elections since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. China moves up global economic table China has replaced Italy as the world's sixth largest economy. The Chinese government has revised its gross domestic product for 2004 following the country's first economic census. It shows an economy 17 percent larger than originally reported, now at one point nine trillion dollars. Most of that increase came in the services sector. Economists say that if growth continues at the current pace, China could even finish in fourth position by the end of the year just behind the United States, Japan and Germany. Executives at Tokyo exchange resign Tokyo Stock Exchange president Takuo Tsurushima and other executives at Japan's largest bourse have resigned following two massive computer system failures. The exchange's computer systems failed to cancel a mistaken order to sell 610,000 shares for 1 yen, instead of one share for 610,000 yen, thereby causing massive losses of some 40 billion yen at one brokerage house. It came only weeks after a computer glitch caused the world's second largest market to close for four hours. Train collision south of Rome As many as 20 people have been injured in a train collision south of the Italian capital, Rome. Italy's state railway confirmed the incident, saying a train had stopped at a station in Roccasecca when another convoy coming on the same track slammed into it from behind. But officials said it was too soon to know what caused the collision. Indonesian pilot jailed over murder An Indonesian court has sentenced an airline pilot to 14 years in jail for murdering a human rights activist. Munir Thalib died after being poisoned with arsenic on a flight to Amsterdam two years ago. The pilot denied any wrongdoing and said he was the victim of a conspiracy. But judges said the motivation behind the killing was political. Munir was a prominent and vocal critic of the government and the military. Netanyahu takes over Likud leadership In Israel, former prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu has won the leadership of the right-wing Likud party. He takes over from prime minister Ariel Sharon, who left Likud in November to form a new, centrist party. Israeli media says Netanyahu took nearly 45 percent of votes in the poll of party members. Netanyahu, who is considered a hardliner, called for unity within the party - which split over Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's decision to withdraw from the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu is set to challenge Sharon and his new Kadima party in a general election scheduled for March. Meanwhile Prime Minister Sharon has been released from hospital where he was being treated for a mild stroke suffered on Sunday. He said he would return to work soon. Blair defends EU budget deal British prime minister Tony Blair has issued a staunch defence of a European Union budget deal brokered between the bloc's 25 member nations last week. At a special session of the European Parliament Blair called on lawmakers to support the deal, which he said would set the foundations for much-needed budgetary reform in the long term. He said that the budget represented a real transfer of wealth from richer to poorer member states, and that it would create a favourable climate for process of enlargement to succeed. His address marks the end of Britain's six-month tenure of the EU's rotating presidency, which formally passes to Austria on January 1st. FIFA names "Players of the Year" Brazil and Barcelona star Ronaldinho has been named World Player of the Year by football's governing body FIFA for the second year running. The midfielder was also named European footballer of the year last month. The award for the world's best female player went to Germany's Birgit Prinz. The Germany captain has now picked up the award three years running. Prinz has won almost all major titles in women's football with her team, including the World Cup, the European championship and two Olympic bronze medals. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 Munich fans get a chance to compete against Texan Schalke supporters. You'll find it all at www.dw-world.de/soccer ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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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