DEUTSCHE WELLE/DW-WORLD.DE Newsletter English Service News October 2nd 2006, 16:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
Siemens the Fall Guy in BenQ Insolvency Scandal German BenQ employees and politicians have been putting the blame on Siemens for its former mobile phone division's insolvency, but determining whether the fault lies in Munich or Taipeh seems to be a matter of opinion. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=1hlyguIfcha79I0&req=l%3D1hlygtIfcha79I0 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Need a good laugh? Then check out DW-WORLD.DE'S From the Fringe Special, which regularly brings you quirky stories from and about Germany. To find out more, go to http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=1hlyguIfcha79I1&req=l%3D1hlygtIfcha79I1 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Georgia says Russia is overreacting Four Russian officers accused of spying by Georgia and handed over to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe have been flown out of Tbilisi bound for Moscow. Also on board the Russian plane, according to a Russian emergency ministry spokesman, were two further officers who'd been hiding in a Russian military post in Tbilisi. Georgia had arrested the four last week, sparking the worst crisis in years between the ex-Soviet Georgia and Russia. Despite the handover, Russia says it will suspend aviation, sea and land links with Georgia, including postal services. Georgia's President Mikhail Saakashvili says Russia is overreacting. Russian President Vladimir Putin said the arrests were "an act of state terrorism." Grand coalition talks likely in Austria Austria's Social Democrats who narrowly won Sunday's election say they'll first hold talks on a possible grand coalition with the conservative People's Party of Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel. Social Democrat leader Alfred Gusenbauer, who looks set to become Austria's next chancellor, said he might also talk to Austria's fourth-placed Greens party, but not the far-right. It finished third. Gusenbauer said his moves would depend on 250,000 as-yet-uncounted postal votes. These could decide whether a second of two far-right parties had entered parliament. In Sunday's vote, Gusenbauer's Social Democrats got 35.7 percent with promises to boost education and give tax breaks to lower income earners. Schussel's conservatives, who'd promoted business-friendly tax reforms, slumped to 34.2 percent. Brazil vote headed for run-off vote Brazil's leftist incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva faces a run-off poll after failing to win 50 percent in Sunday's first round of voting in that country's presidential election. He is to face centre-right candidate Geraldo Alckmin in a run-off vote on October 29. Lebanon army raises flag on border with Israel Lebanon has raised its flag on the border with Israel after Lebanese army units were deployed in areas vacated by Israeli forces. This comes a day after Israel completed its pullout under the UN-sponsored truce that ended the 34-day war with Hezbollah on August 14. Around 1,200 Lebanese and 157 Israelis died in the fighting. Some of the areas were last under Lebanese military control 30 years ago. Strikes in Gaza one day after clashes One day after heavy infighting in the Gaza Strip, Hamas has withdrawn its militiamen from the streets of the autonomous region. In a show of force, rival Fatah militiamen of President Mahboud Abbas enforced a general strike in parts of the West Bank on Monday, closing shops and private schools. In protest, the Hamas-led government of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh ordered all ministries to be shut. In heavy infighting on Sunday, eight people were killed and more than 100 were injured. The clashes were the worst since Hamas was elected as to govern at the end of March. Rice embarks on Mideast mission US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is on her way to the Middle East for a week-long trip to assess potential peace developments in the region. Her first stop will take her to Saudi Arabia for talks with King Abdullah, after that she's due in Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian territories. It's her first visit to the region since the end of the war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Three US Marines killed in Iraq In Iraq, as many as 14 people were killed in roadside bombing attacks in and around Baghdad on Monday. The US military says three of its Marines were killed during operations in Iraq's western Anbar province. Two were killed in enemy action, and the third died in a "non-combat related" vehicle accident. In other violence, Baghdad police say they found at least 50 corpses scattered around the capital overnight. Seven were decapitated, all the bodies bore bullet wounds and are thought to be victims of the sectarian warfare in Baghdad between rival Sunni and Shiite armed groups. Italy arrests six Algerian suspects Italian police say they have arrested six Algerians accused of being members of a terrorist cell that supported militants in Algeria. Five of the arrests were made in Milan. One suspect was found in Switzerland. In July, Italian police arrested four suspected members of Algeria's largest outlawed rebel movement, the GSPC. They were allegedly preparing operations in Algeria and Iraq. It's not clear if Monday's arrests were focused on the same group. Oil spill on Danube enters Bulgaria Reports from Bulgaria say a large oil spill is drifting down the Danube river and will reach the cooling-water intake of a nuclear power plant by Tuesday morning. Bulgarian authorities say the slick, 45 kilometres long, came from Serbia. It had been asked to explain the cause and source of the spill. Residents in Bulgaria have been urged not to take water from the river. The spill is currently 100 kilometres away from the Kozloduy power station. Two Americans win Nobel medicine prize Two American scientists have won the Nobel Prize for Medicine. The jury in Sweden's capital Stockholm said Andrew Fire and Craig Mello were awarded the prize for their discovery of a mechanism for controlling the flow of genetic information in a cell. They have found a way to effectively stop faulty genes from functioning. This could lead to new drugs that may be able to control such genes and combat diseases. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Click Back is waiting for you! DW-WORLD invites you to participate in the October version of our monthly quiz and win a great prize. To play, go to: http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=1hlyguIfcha79I2&req=l%3D1hlygtIfcha79I2 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For more information please turn to our internet website at http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=1hlyguIfcha79I3&req=l%3D1hlygtIfcha79I3 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/
