Deutsche Welle English Service News 24. 02. 2006, 17:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Win a trip to Germany! "A Time to Make Friends" is the motto of this summer's World Cup in Germany. Tell us what you associate with the host country and you could end up winning a trip for two to Germany. To find out more, go to: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1863969,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD: German Government Under Pressure After Spy Report Released After claiming exoneration in the Iraq spying affair, the German government was again deflecting criticism after the release of the report on alleged cooperation with US forces stated that agents did pass on information. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1915017,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Bomb attack on Saudi oil plant foiled Saudi security officials have foiled a suicide car bomb attack on a major oil refinery in the kingdom's east. The attackers had driven several cars filled with explosives to the oil refinery in Baqiq, one of the world's largest. Early reports suggest that the vehicles exploded outside the refinery compound when security forces fired at them. An Arab television station reports that all the attackers were killed. One pipeline was reportedly damaged but it's not known what impact that may have, if any, on oil production. Philippine military foils 'coup' plot Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has declared a state of emergency after security forces claimed to have foiled a coup attempt. Officials say several high-ranking military officers have been arrested. Political analysts suggest Arroyo's government may be exaggerating the threat to gain support on the 20th anniversary of the ouster of dictator Ferdinand Marcos. However, former President Corazon Aquino was given permission to hold a rally commemorating the peaceful revolution two decades ago. The 73-year-old widow of Marcos' staunchest opponent used the opportunity to call on Arroyo to resign. Earlier on Friday, police in Manila reportedly used water cannon to break up a demonstration by 5,000 anti-Arroyo protesters. EU ministers announce bird flu campaign European health ministers meeting in Vienna have announced they will launch a major public information campaign throughout the EU in response to a growing number of bird flu cases being found in the bloc. Maria Rauch-Kallat, the health minister of Austria who hosted the conference, said the campaign was intended to inform the public and to dispel fears of a pandemic. In Germany, the deadly H5N1 strain has now found in the country's south for the first time. A wild duck found dead at Lake Constance was confirmed to have the H5N1 strain which can be fatal to humans. Until now, all of the over 100 cases of bird flu had been restricted to the northern states of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania and Schleswig Holstein. Baghdad curfew seeks to stem violence An extended curfew imposed in parts of Iraq appears to have helped quell sectarian violence that has killed more than 100 people since Wednesday's bombing of a Shi'ite Mosque. The streets in most districts of the capital were said to be deserted on the Muslim day of prayer. But in the district of Sadr City, people defied the curfew after radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr called on his Mehdi Army militia to attend Friday prayers. Some clashes have been reported in southern Baghdad. The violence was sparked by the bombing of the Golden Mosque in Samarra, which is one of Shi'ite Islam's holiest sites. Greens seek parliamentary BND probe Germany's opposition Green Party is calling for a parliamentary inquiry into the role of two German intelligence agents in Iraq at the start of the US-led invasion two years ago. The Greens' parliamentary party leader, Renate Kuenast made the announcement a day after the government issued a report admitting that the two BND agents provided the United States with intelligence. However the report said the agents had not helped the Americans identify targets for a bombing campaign. The Greens would need the support of the liberal Free Democrats and the Left Party to gather enough votes in parliament to set up an inquiry. The Left Party says it favours the idea, but the FDP says it won't decide until a meeting on March 7. Thai election set for April 2 In Thailand, a parliamentary election has been scheduled for April 2. The announcement was made in a royal decree, just hours after Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said he would seek to dissolve the lower house of parliament to clear the way for an early vote. Thaksin has been facing intense public pressure over allegations of corruption and abuse of power. The move comes two days ahead of what's expected to be a major rally in the capital, Bangkok, to demand that the prime minister step down. President leads in Uganda poll count Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has taken a strong early lead following Thursday's parliamentary and presidential elections. The state electoral commission says that with just under eight percent of the votes counted, Museveni has secured about 59 percent of the vote; opposition candidate Kizza Besigye has about 37 percent. Uganda's main opposition party threatened Friday to reject the polls, alleging "serious irregularities", although observers say the vote was largely fair. Final official results of Uganda's first multi-party elections in a quarter of a century are expected on Saturday. 3 dead, 9 churches torched in Nigeria In central Nigeria, at least three people were killed and nine churches and numerous cars were torched as sectarian violence continued on Friday. The latest outbreak was reported in Kontagora in the central state of Niger. Over 150 people have been killed in sectarian violence in Nigeria in the past five days. In the southeastern city of Onitsha, Christian mobs attacked Muslims this week forcing thousands to flee their homes. Those attacks were in retaliation for Christians being killed in the mostly Muslim north of the country. Moscow roof collapse search ended Authorities in Moscow have now called off the search for survivors in the rubble of a huge market, where the roof collapsed early Thursday morning. 57 people died and another 32 were injured in the collapse. Moscow's chief prosecutor said that that the probable cause of the disaster was either a snow build-up, faulty maintenance or design error. Livingstone suspended over Nazi jibe London Mayor Ken Livingstone is to be suspended for four weeks beginning on March 1 after being found guilty of bringing his office into disrepute. The decision was handed down by the Adjudication Panel of England, which hears and rules on the complaints against local authorities. It ruled that remarks made by Livingstone one year ago, in which he compared a Jewish journalist to a Nazi concentration camp guard, were "unnecessarily insensitive and offensive." Three held in British bank heist Police in Britain have detained three people for questioning in connection with one of the biggest robberies in the country's history. Officials said a man and two women had been taken into custody in London as suspects in Tuesday's raid on a Swedish security depot in Kent that netted 50 million pounds. Police say six armed men carried out the robbery with military precision. A two million pound reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest of the thieves. 50 die in Bangladesh factory fire At least 50 people were killed and more than 100 injured when a fire swept through a textile factory in the Bangladeshi port city of Chittagong. Officials said that up to 250 people, mostly women, were believed to be working in the factory when the fire broke out on Thursday. Bangladesh has over 4,000 textile factories which have been repeatedly hit by accidents due to poor safety standards. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Click Back is waiting for you! DW-WORLD invites you to participate in the February version of our monthly quiz and win a 256 MB memory stick: 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. Serbian News Network - SNN [email protected] http://www.antic.org/
