Deutsche Welle English Service News December 24th 2005, 16:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
Discontent Simmers Over Change in German Farm Policy A row over new Agriculture Minister Horst Seehofer's plans to cut backing for ecological farming and pave the way for genetically modified crops continues in the Christmas season. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1834803,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks to popular demand, we're giving you a few more days to play DW-WORLD's Christmas Click & Win. Get a chance to win fabulous prizes from Playmobil. To participate, please visit our home page at http://www.dw-world.de/english ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Shiites dismiss fraud claims Iraqi Shiites have dismissed allegations by Sunni Arabs that fraud helped them win last week's election and a call for a new ballot. President Jalal Talabani, a Shiite, met disappointed Sunni opponents on Saturday to try to calm sectarian tensions. Preliminary results from the Dec. 15 vote show the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance with a clear lead. Meanwhile, US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld ended a two-day visit in Iraq by meeting American troops in the northern city of Mosul. On a day that saw 11 people in Baghdad killed in violence, Rumsfeld told servicemen and women that the war against extremists would be long but victorious. US calls on Egypt to release Nour The United States has called on Egypt to release opposition politician and former presidential candidate Ayman Nour. White House spokesman Scott McClellan said that the conviction casts doubt on the country's commitment to democratic reform and that it was "deeply troubled" by Nour's five-year prison sentence. A Cairo court handed down the sentence to the liberal politician for allegedly forging documents to form a political party, unleashing protests in the courtroom and on the streets in the capital. Nour was considered the most important challenger to President Hosni Mubarak's re-election bid. Patriarch calls on Israel to remove wall Latin Patriarch Michael Sabbah has called on Israel to tear down its separation barrier as he arrived in Bethlehem to celebrate Christmas. More than 30,000 people are expected to attend mass conducted by the patriarch. The pilgrims are in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ, to attend the service as the city is enjoying its busiest Christmas in years. All visitors have had to enter Bethlehem from Jerusalem via a security terminal in a gap in the eight-foot tall concrete wall built to keep out Palestinian militants. Bethlehem has been the scene of some fierce clashes during the course of the five-year Palestinian uprising. Envoys urge end to Sri Lankan violence Envoys from Asia and Europe have met with the Tamil Tigers top political leader in an attempt to end violence in Sri Lanka. Tiger head S. P. Thamilselvan assured the representatives from Japan, Norway, the US and the EU that the rebels were committed to the peace process. Meanwhile, government troops were scouring the north-west of the island for Tiger rebels after a Friday ambush that left 13 sailors dead which Tamil rebels denied being involved in. On Saturday, two soldiers were injured in further attacks. A truce has been in existence since 2002. German President calls for unity In his annual Christmas address, Germany's President Horst Koehler has called for unity among the country's citizens in order to regain its position as the top European economy. Koehler said the country was on the right path but it would be difficult. He warned that Germany faced a mountain of tasks and that politicians shouldered tremendous responsibility. The German head-of-state said that the effort, however, would create jobs and improve security. UN General Assembly approves budget The UN General Assembly approved a two-year budget late Friday with an 800 million euro spending cap for next year. The limit is intended to help speed up UN management reforms that are a top priority for the United States and the European Union. US Ambassador John Bolton called the measure a victory for the United States. Britain's UN Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry, whose country holds the EU presidency, said the budget is important for the United Nations, as a whole. Jamaica's UN Ambassador Stafford Neil heads the bloc of developing nations and commented that he was "unhappy" with the spending limit but accepted it as necessary. Two Austrians released in Yemen Kidnappers have freed two Austrian hostages three days after seizing them in northern Yemen. The Austrian tourists, a man and a woman, were released in good health and were expected to return to the Yemeni capital, San'a, later Saturday. The two were kidnapped Wednesday while visiting a site known as the Queen of Sheba's throne in Marib. According to the two, they were forced to go on night marches during their captivity but were treated well. Yemeni government officials said tribal gunmen kidnapped the pair. It was the third abduction of Westerners this year in the south-western Arabian Peninsula country. Italy issues EU warrant for CIA team A Milan court issued on Friday a European arrest warrant for 22 CIA agents suspected of kidnapping an Egyptian cleric in 2003 and then taking him to Egypt where he was allegedly tortured. The case is one of several investigations into whether US intelligence agents flew over and landed in Europe to illegally transfer militant suspects to third countries for questioning. A German prosecutor is also involved in the case since the imam, Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, was presumably transported via the Ramstein air base in Germany. The whereabouts of the cleric are unknown since his disappearance in February 2003. Russian spaceship resupplies ISS An unmanned Russian cargo spacecraft, carrying food, water, fuel and Christmas presents for two orbiting spacemen, has successfully docked with the International Space Station. The robot ferry delivered 2.5 tonnes of supplies to Russian cosmonaut Valery Tokarev and US astronaut William McArthur, who have been in Earth's orbit for nearly three months. 23 die in plane crash in Azerbaijan In the central Asian country of Azerbaijan, 23 people were killed late Friday when a passenger plane crashed on takeoff from the capital city, Baku. The Ukrainian-built turbo-prop aircraft of the Azeri national airline was bound for the Kazakh city of Aktau with 18 passengers on board when it disappeared from radar screens. Among the dead were passengers from Australia, Britain, Georgia and Turkey. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The year is almost over and it's time to take a look back at some of the most memorable stories that took place in Germany this year. Join us for a review in pictures 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. News and background reports from the fields of current affairs, culture, business and science. And of course the DW website also has information about DW-RADIO and DW-TV programmes: topics, broadcast times and frequencies. You can even listen to all programmes as audio-on-demand. 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