Deutsche Welle English Service News January 10th 2005, 16:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
German Watchdog Warns World Cup Stadiums Unsafe A German consumer protection group has pinpointed "serious deficiencies" in safety at four of the 12 stadiums to be used during the soccer World Cup finals in June. German soccer officials have rejected the accusations. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1852211,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Germans are funnier than most people think. Here's 12 months of quirkiness to prove it: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1838347,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Iranian resumption sparks outcry Iran has resumed nuclear fuel research by breaking seals at its Natanz enrichment plant, prompting international condemnation. The United States has warned Iran that it risks a "serious escalation" that could result in UN Security Council sanctions. Russia says it trying to persuade Iran to return to its previous pause in research. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Iran had "crossed a line", adding that he would discuss with Britain and France whether to continue so-called EU-3 negotiations with Iran. They were suspended last August but had been due to resume on January 18. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the issue had to be resolved by diplomacy and what he called "non-military means". Iran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only. Sharon's life no longer in danger The doctors treating Ariel Sharon say the Israeli prime minister has shown more slight improvement over the past 24 hours. Sharon's anaesthetist, Yoram Weiss, told reporters at Jerusalem's Hadassah hospital that Sharon's life was no longer in any immediate danger, but that he was still in critical condition. He said most of the medication that they had been using to keep the prime minister in an induced coma had been withdrawn, but that it could take a couple of more days for the process to be completed. Doctors had placed Sharon in a coma to help him recover from three emergency operations to stop bleeding in his brain. This came after the prime minister suffered a major stroke last Wednesday. Turkey confirms 15th bird flu case Preliminary results indicate that another person in Turkey has tested positive for bird flu. This brings the total number of people infected with the virus in the country to 15. The suspected new case is one of eight patients who were being tested in the central province of Sivas. Last week at least two children in Turkey died from the H5N1 strain of bird flu. These were the first deaths from bird flu outside of Asia. The United Nations special co-ordinator on bird flu, David Nabarro, says all of the victims in Turkey appear to have caught the H5N1 virus directly from infected birds and not from other people. More than 70 people have died from the H5N1 strain of bird flu in Asia since 2003. German cabinet agrees spending package German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Deputy Chancellor Franz Muentefering have outlined a 25-billion euro spending package aimed at spurring economic growth. To encourage parents back into the workforce, there will be parental leave from 2007 for those with newborns and more tax relief for childcare of youngsters up to 14. Correctives for low wage earners are to be drafted by a committee by late this year. Six billion euros will flow into research. Merkel said an extra 20 billion would be sought from industry, and four billion more from Germany's 16 regional states. The aim is to lift research spending to three percent of Germany's Gross Domestic Product. A summit on Germany's energy needs is to be held in April. The package was agreed at special cabinet talks near Berlin. Ukraine's MPs fire gov't over gas deal The parliament of Ukraine has voted to sack the government of Prime Minister Yuri Yekhanurov. The no-confidence motion was brought over the deal Kiev signed with Moscow last week, under which Ukraine agreed to pay nearly twice as much for its gas imports from Russia as it did last year. The motion was backed by 250 deputies in the 450-seat parliament. Yekhanurov is to stay on as acting prime minister until President Viktor Yushchenko names a replacement. Ukraine is due to hold a parliamentary election in March. Spanish police arrest terror suspects Spanish police said they have arrested several people suspected of having links to Islamic terrorism. Media reports said the detainees had been recruiting volunteers to fight in Iraq. Spanish national radio reported that at least 17 people, some of Moroccan origin, had been detained in raids carried out in Madrid, in the northeastern region of Catalonia and in the northern Basque Country. Blast in Utrecht shop blamed on gas In the Netherlands there's been an explosion at a shopping centre in the city of Utrecht. It was probably caused by gas, according to a fire service spokeswoman. Three people were injured, one seriously. The blast occurred in an empty shop which was being renovated. World Cup organisers say stadiums safe Organisers of this year's World Cup of soccer here in Germany have rejected a report in which a German consumer watchdog organisation raises safety concerns about the venues that are to host the matches. The vice president of the World Cup organising committee, Horst Schmidt told a press conference in Frankfurt that all the venues were safe. This came just hours after inspectors from the consumer watchdog Stiftung Warentest reported safety flaws in all 12 stadiums hosting World Cup matches. They said four of the venues, in Berlin, Gelsenkirchen, Leipzig and Kaiserslautern had serious deficiencies, including inadequate emergency exits and poor fire protection. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Receive DW-WORLD headlines and news reports straight on your desktop as RSS feeds: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1137115,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. 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