DEUTSCHE WELLE/DW-WORLD.DE Newsletter
English Service News 24. 03. 2006 17:00 Uhr UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD: EU Trumpets Energy Deal, Plays Down Discord European Union leaders hailed an agreement on a new joint energy strategy Friday and played down discord on resurgent protectionism, but a sense of unity was palpably missing. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1943544,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- "Kicking News" -- DW-WORLD's Soccer Newsletter: Get all the news about the World Cup and Germany's Bundesliga on DW-WORLD.DE at the end of every month. To subscribe, go to: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1170241,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- EU and US slap sanctions on Belarus The United States and the European Union have both announced they plan to impose new sanctions on Belarus and its authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko. These are likely to include travel bans and financial restrictions on top officials. Speaking on behalf of the EU in Brussels, Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik called on Lukashenko to release hundreds of protestors arrested overnight. They were rounded up when riot police broke up a five-day-old demonstration in the central square of the capital Minsk. Opposition leaders have called for protesters to gather again on Saturday to demand a re-run of last Sunday's election, which saw Lukashenko take more than 80 percent of the vote. EU summit wraps up with services deal European Union leaders have ended their summit in Brussels. They approved an outline for a common energy policy put forward by the European Commission, which includes moves to increase energy efficiency, bolder targets for renewable energy and biofuels, and a common policy for foreign suppliers. German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned however against allowing Brussels to regulate the bloc's energy strategy. EU leaders also backed a bill designed to make it easier for services companies to operate in other EU countries. But they backed a watered-down version of the bill to allay fears that workers from new EU states in the east would take jobs in the west. 17 die in Iraqi violence A series of attacks in Iraq have resulted in the deaths of around 17 people. A bomb planted outside a Sunni mosque in the city of Khalis, north of Baghdad killed five people and wounded several others. Six people were killed by drive-by gunmen in west Baghdad. In the south part of the city gunmen murdered four employees of a pastry shop. The killings on Friday occurred as American and Iraqi troops launched a major sweep of the oil-rich area around Kirkuk. Dozens of insurgents have been arrested. Also on Friday, Baghdad police said they had discovered 13 bodies of people who had been blindfolded and shot. Indonesia recalls Australia envoy Indonesia has recalled its ambassador to Australia in a diplomatic wrangle over Canberra's decision to grant temporary visas to 42 asylum seekers from the restive Papua province. Indonesia's foreign ministry says a formal protest has been lodged, and that the envoy was being temporarily recalled for "consultations." The Papuans arrived by boat in Australia's north in January, and include pro-independence activists who have accused Jakarta of "genocide" in Papua, a former Dutch colony taken by Indonesia in the 1960s. The Australian government has sought to diffuse the row, saying it does not support independence for Papua. Japanese court shuts down nuclear plant A Japanese court has ordered the shutdown of the country's second largest nuclear reactor over fears the plant may not be able to withstand earthquakes. The decision followed a lawsuit from 135 local residents. The reactor began commercial operations last week after gaining approval from the country's nuclear safety agency. But the court said the design of the reactor underestimated possible damage from an inland quake. The power company pledged to appeal the shutdown, and said it would keep operating the reactor. Japan is located in an area of intense earthquake activity, enduring some 20 percent of the world's powerful quakes. It relies on nuclear generation for about 30 percent of its electricity. First woman prime minister for S. Korea South Korea's new Prime Minister is to be a woman for the first time. Han Myung-Sook has been nominated for the post by President Roh Moo-Hyun, according to official sources. 61-year-old Han served as minister of gender equality in 2001 and environment minister in 2003. The appointment is subject to parliamentary approval. The post of prime minister was vacated last week by Lee Hae-Chan, who stepped down in disgrace after apologising for playing golf during a major national strike. Pope installs new cardinals Pope Benedict XVI has installed his first group of new cardinals in a ceremony in St Peter's Square in the Italian capital, Rome. The 15 new cardinals come from 11 different countries, including South Korea, the Philippines, Venezuela, and Italy. Vatican observers say the biggest surprise was the elevation of Hong Kong Archbishop Joseph Zen, who is an outspoken critic of religious restrictions in China. The cardinals are the first to be elevated by the German pope, who was elected almost a year ago. Cardinals not only advise the pontiff, but are responsible for nominating a new pope. Poll: Spaniards support talks with ETA In Spain, the historic ceasefire announced by the armed Basque separatist group ETA has come into effect. Earlier, ETA called on all Basques and the Spanish government to support the fragile peace process. A new opinion poll says that 80 percent of Spaniards think Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero should explore negotiations with ETA to bring a permanent end to violence. Some 800 people have died in ETA's forty-year-long campaign for an independent state between northern Spain and southern France. The European Commission has called the ceasefire an important development, but said it was up to individual governments to decide whether to remove ETA from an EU terror blacklist. No advance in French labour law talks In France, talks to diffuse week-long mass demonstrations over a controversial youth labour law have ended with no signs of a breakthrough. Union leaders said they would press ahead with a one-day national strike on Tuesday, after Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin refused to withdraw the First Employment Contract, or CPE. In Brussels, French President Jacques Chirac also ruled out withdrawing the CPE, but stressed that Villepin was ready to adjust it to take account of the concerns of opponents. The CPE would allow companies to fire workers under the age of 26 during their first two years of employment, without having to state a reason. Explosion at French university kills 1 At least one person has been killed in an explosion at a French university in the eastern city of Mulhouse. Fire-fighters are still searching for several people who were said to have been inside the building at the time of the blast. The explosion caused several fires in the three-story building at the Superior National School of Chemistry. Thick smoke poured from the research centre, but the fire department said it was not toxic. The reason for the blast, which was heard across much of the city, was not immediately known. Bayer in Schering take-over bid The German pharmaceutical and chemical company, Bayer AG, has unveiled a 16.3 billion euro bid for Schering, against an earlier hostile take-over effort from Merck KgA. Bayer said that the Schering management had already given preliminary agreement to the offer. The Leverkusen-based company, Bayer, said in a statement that it would offer 86 euros per share, topping a Merck offer of 77 euros already rejected by the Schering management. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- signandsight.com signandsight.com is the English version of the prize-winning online cultural magazine perlentaucher.de. Providing free access daily reviews of Germany's cultural press, it translates keynote articles and reviews the season's best publications. www.signandsight.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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/
