DEUTSCHE WELLE/DW-WORLD.DE Newsletter English Service News 25. 04. 2006 16:00 Uhr UTC ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Today's highlight on DW-WORLD: EU Approves E.On Bid to Buy Spain's Endesa In a blow to Madrid, the European Union has given the green light to German energy firm E.On to buy Spanish power company Endesa. Spain has tried to block the takeover and faces possible disciplinary action. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=1hlbkeIfcha79I0 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- On April 26, 1986, the meltdown of a nuclear reactor at Chernobyl power plant in the Soviet Union shocked the world and reminded people of the potential dangers of nuclear energy. Twenty years later, DW-WORLD.DE looks back at the catastrophe with a special section that includes flash-animated graphics, interviews and background analysis. To find out more, please go to http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=1hlbkeIfcha79I1 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 arrested after Egyptian resort bombings Egyptian security forces say 10 people have been arrested in connection with the suspected triple suicide bombing at the Sinai tourist resort of Dahab that killed at least 23. 60 people were also wounded. A restaurant, a supermarket and a cafe were targeted in Monday's attacks. No group has yet claimed responsibility, but state media said preliminary investigations pointed to links between the attacks in Dahab and two previous strikes in the Sinai peninsula over the past 18 months. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak condemned it as a "wicked terrorist act". The German government has also condemned the bombings. Sri Lanka attacks rebel positions Sri Lanka's military has launched air strikes against Tamil Tiger rebel positions in the country's volatile northeast. This comes in response to an attack by a suspected Tamil Tiger suicide bomber inside a military headquarters that left an army chief critically wounded and killed at least eight of his bodyguards. Officials said Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka's convoy was targeted as it drove past the army hospital within the high security zone in the capital Colombo. Fonseka has since had surgery and is said to be in a stable condition. Fonseka is known as a hardliner and has advocated a tougher stance against the rebels in the ongoing peace process. Last week, the Tigers pulled out of Norwegian-brokered peace talks which were scheduled to be held this week in Geneva. Koirala is Nepal's new PM In Nepal hundreds of thousands of people have held a victory rally in the capital Kathmandu close to King Gyanendra's palace, calling on the king to leave the country. Earlier the seven-party opposition alliance named former Prime Minister G.P. Koirala as the head of the country's new government. This comes a day after King Gyanendra announced he was reinstating the dissolved parliament following nearly three weeks of pro-democracy protests. However, Maoist rebels who have been fighting a decade-long insurgency, rejected the king's announcement. Rebel leader Prachanda urged people to continue peaceful protests for a new constitution. The parliament was dissolved in 2002 and a multi-party government was suspended in February 2005 when Gyanendra assumed absolute rule. Iran warns against military attack Iran's chief nuclear negotiator has said that his country will stop acting transparently over its nuclear programme if it comes under military attack. Ali Larijani's warning came at a conference on nuclear issues in the capital Tehran on Tuesday. Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday rejected a UN Security Council demand to halt nuclear work. At a rare news conference for international journalists, he said he did not expect the UN to impose sanctions. Friday is the deadline set by the Security Council for Iran to freeze uranium enrichment. Rice says Iran in isolation US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said America favours a diplomatic solution to the nuclear standoff with Iran. At a press conference with her Greek counterpart Dora Bakoyannis in Athens, Rice said the latest hardline statements out of Iran only served to isolate it further from the international community. Earlier, Greek police fired tear gas at hundreds of protesters who marched on the US embassy in Athens to protest against Rice's visit. Demonstrators threw petrol bombs and stones as they tried to break through a police blockade. UN investigator questions Syria's Assad The UN's chief negotiator Serge Brammertz and his team have met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus to question him over the government's alleged role in the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri. Al-Hariri was the target of a bomb attack in Beirut in February 2005 which also killed 22 other people. A UN report released last year by Brammertz' predecessor, German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis, implicated senior Syrian government officials in the killing and accused Syria of blocking the investigation. EU agrees to extra aid for bird flu farmers EU agriculture ministers have approved additional funds for farmers hit by the bird flu crisis. Ministers in Brussels agreed that that the EU Commission would pick up the tab for half of the costs incurred as a result of a 70-percent drop in poultry and related sales. Here in Germany the government has said that the poultry market has suffered a 20-percent slump. Romanians flee as Danube swells In Romania, hundreds of people are facing evacuation as rescue teams are struggling to shore up dykes holding back the swollen Danube river. Heavy rain and melting snow have inundated vast tracts of land in Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia and Hungary this month, making thousands of people homeless. Romania has been worst-hit and tens of thousands of hectares are submerged. 4,000 people have moved to high ground since Sunday after earth-made dykes near southern villages collapsed. Some 10,000 people have been evacuated across the Balkans in the last four weeks. The Danube originates in Germany and flows through 10 countries in its way to the Black Sea. 15-year high for German business Business confidence in Germany has risen to its highest level in 15 years. The Munich-based economic research institute, Ifo, has calculated that the German index for April has risen to a record high of 105.9 up from 105.4 in March, a level last achieved during the reunification boom in April 1991. This was much better than expected and the numbers will be of benefit to share prices. The news pushed the euro to it highest level against the US dollar since September last year. Jews remember Holocaust Thousands of Jews, Poles and Holocaust survivors have marched from the Auschwitz death camp to its twin camp of Birkenau to mark Holocaust remembrance day. Around 1.5 million Jews were killed by the Nazis at the two camps during World War II. Earlier in Jerusalam survivors laid wreathes and lit candles outside the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum in memory of the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis. Vietnam's leader gets second term Vietnam's ruling Communist Party has re-appointed top leader Nong Duc Manh for a second five-year term. The announcement to give 65-year-old Manh another term was made during the closing session of the eight-day long National Party Congress in the capital Hanoi on Tuesday. Manh pledged to speed up economic reforms and fight rampant corruption. EU backs E.On offer for Endesa The EU Commission has approved a bid by German energy giant E.On to buy its Spanish rival Endesa. In a statement, the Commission said the potential transaction would not violate the market's competition rules. Spain wants to block the proposed deal but the government now faces an EU infringment procedure for attempting to derail the takeover. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=1hlbkeIfcha79I2 Here you'll find out what's happening in Germany, Europe and the rest of the world. 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