Deutsche Welle
English Service News
22.02.2005, 16:00 UTC
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Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
Commission Scrutinizes German Intelligence's Role in Iraq
A German parliamentary commission is meeting Wednesday behind closed
doors to examine the role of the country's secret service in the
Iraq war.
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internet address below:
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1912622,00.html
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Blast damages holy Shi'ite shrine in Iraq
Tens of thousands of people have staged protests across Iraq after a
bomb attack heavily damaged one of the holiest sites in Shi'ite
Islam. Police believe Sunni militants planted the two bombs that
destroyed the golden dome of the al-Askari shrine in Samarra. Dozens
of Sunni mosques have subsequently been targeted in revenge attacks.
Iraq's top Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, has appealed
for calm and called for a week of mourning. Iraqi President Jalal
Talabani warned that extremists were trying to push Iraq toward
civil war.
Sectarian violence escalates in Nigeria
At least 19 Nigerian Muslims have been killed by Christian rioters
at the entrance to the south-eastern city of Onitsha. The bodies
were scattered by main road into the city, where soldiers set up a
roadblock to hold back hundreds of armed Christian youths. Rioting
broke out on Tuesday when members of the Igbo tribe launched revenge
attacks in response to the massacre of Christians in the north of
the country over the weekend. A police official said earlier that
five more Muslims had been killed in the neighbouring city of Asaba,
where thousands had fled after the Onitsha riots began.
Del Ponte says Mladic still at large
The head of the war crimes tribunal at The Hague has denied media
reports that one of the world's most wanted war criminals has been
arrested. At a news conference in The Hague, Carla Del Ponte said
that former Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic was still at large in
Serbia. Her statement followed earlier media reports that he was
being held in custody in Bosnia. Mladic has been on the run for the
past ten years. He and another former Bosnian Serb President Radovan
Karadic are wanted for the massacre of around 8,000 Muslim men and
boys in the Bosnian town of Srebenica in 1995.
EU approves bird flu vaccination
The European Union has given France and the Netherlands the green
light to vaccinate millions of birds against bird flu, the first
time it's approved preventive vaccination plans. The two countries
are the bloc's largest poultry producers. This comes as the German
parliament's agriculture committee met to discuss further preventive
measures against the outbreak of bird flu in the north-eastern state
of Mecklenburg-West Pommerania. The number of dead wild birds
confirmed with the H5N1 strain of the disease has risen to 103. In
Austria the deadly strain has reportedly been detected in two
chickens in the southern city of Graz.
Hamas to talk to Fatah about coalition
The radical Palestinian Hamas group says it plans to hold talks with
the ruling Fatah party about the formation of a new coalition
government. Hamas emerged as the clear winner of last month's
parliamentary election. Designated prime minister Ismail Haniyeh
said the Independent Palestine party had already accepted an offer
to join a Hamas-led government. This comes after President Mahmoud
Abbas formally asked Haniyeh to form a new government.
German cabinet approves 2006 budget
Germany's cabinet has approved a draft budget for 2006. Finance
Minister Peer Steinbrueck said the plans included more than 38
billion euros in new debt. He said Germany would again breach the
European Stability and Growth Pact, which sets a deficit ceiling of
three percent of gross domestic product. But he also predicted that
Germany's deficit in 2007 would be back under the ceiling, in part
due to an increase in the value added tax that takes effect next
year. This will see the VAT rise from 16 to 19 percent on January 1.
German soldier injured in Afganistan
In Afghanistan, at least one person has been killed in an attack
apparently targeting German peacekeepers. A spokesman for Germany's
armed forces, the Bundeswehr said one peacekeeper and several
civilians were injured when a bomb went off near a German military
vehicle in the northern town of Kunduz. Afghan police said the
person killed was an Afghan civilian who apparently had an explosive
device on his bike. He said though, that it wasn't clear whether it
was a suicide attack. Germany has more than 2,000 troops in
Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led International Security
Assistance Force.
Germany tops Olympic medals table
In sports: Germany has won another medal at the Winter Olympics in
Turin. Claudia Kuenzel took the silver medal in the women's cross
country skiing sprint. Germany leads the medal standings, ahead of
Austria and the US. In the Champions League on Tuesday, Bayern
Munich drew one-all with last season's finalists AC Milan. Later
this Wednesday, Werder Bremen play host to Juventus. The return
matches in the round of the final 16 are to be played in two weeks'
time.
Grand Coalition marks first 100 days
Germany's Christian Democrats and Social Democrats say they're
pleased with what they've achieved since their grand coalition
government took office 100 days ago. The leader of the Christian
Democrats' parliamentary party, Volker Kauder, told reporters in
Berlin that the government had come to grips with a number of
issues. Among other things, he pointed to a 25-billion euro
investment plan aimed at boosting economic growth and reducing
unemployment. His Social Democrat counterpart, Peter Struck,
emphasised harmonious relations between the coalition partners. He
said he was optimistic that the government would successfully tackle
its next major project, reforming Germany's health system.
Sri Lankan peace talks underway
Peace talks are underway in the Swiss city of Geneva between Sri
Lankan government officials and Tamil Tiger rebels. The negotiations
are an attempt to stop the country sliding back into civil war.
Observers say the two days of talks, brokered by Norway, are the
last chance to maintain a fragile truce signed in 2002. Just before
the meeting started a rebel Tamil Tiger group accused the government
of killing one of its members in an attack in the eastern district
of Batticaloa. The war between the sides has claimed over 60,000
lives.
Bush defends ports deal, threatens veto
President George W. Bush has vowed to veto any attempt to block an
Arab company's takeover of management of major US seaports, defying
members of Congress who insisted the deal posed security risks. Bush
brushed aside objections from Republicans and Democrats to reassert
his backing for a takeover covering six shipping terminals. Bush
said the Dubai firm would not be in charge of security, that the
deal had been thoroughly reviewed and the country would be no less
safe as a result of the transaction. Critics fear an increased risk
of terrorist attacks, pointing out that the United Arab Emirates was
the home of two of the hijackers involved in the 11 September 2001
attacks on the US.
German nurse gets nine-year jail term
A court in Bonn has sentenced a nursing assistant to life in prison
for killing nine women at a nursing home here over a two-year period
from 2003 to 2005. The court convicted the defendant of four counts
of murder, four of manslaughter and one of mercy killing. Most of
the victims, who were aged between 79 and 93, were suffocated.
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