DEUTSCHE WELLE/DW-WORLD.DE Newsletter English Service News 19. 10. 2006 16:00 Uhr UTC
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD: Questions Arise about the Future of "Sexy But Poor" Berlin Germany's highest court ruled Thursday that Berlin is not getting a helping hand from the federal government to put its financial house in order. What does that mean for the capital? To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=1hm2knIfcha79I0&req=l%3D1hm2kmIfcha79I0 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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=1hm2knIfcha79I1&req=l%3D1hm2kmIfcha79I1 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- US plays down differences over N.Korea US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is on an Asian tour, has played down differences with South Korea and China over North Korea. However, speaking at a news conference with South Korean foreign minister Ban Ki-moon, Rice said the US would like to see sanctions imposed against the communist state. The UN Security Coucil had voted to impose sanctions against the North following claims that it had tested a nuclear bomb on October 9. Meanwhile, a Chinese envoy is back in Beijing after meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il and delivering a message from China's president Hu Jintao. Officials have speculated that China, who is North Korea's closest ally, has urged North Korea to practice restraint over possible further nuclear tests. Suicide car bomb kills eight in Iraq In the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, a suicide car bomb has killed at least eight people and wounded 70 more in a crowded market area. Police said the blast targeted a patrol of the Iraqi Army as soldiers were collecting salaries from a bank in the market square. Elsewhere in Iraq, an attacker driving a fuel truck exploded the vehicle near a police station in the city of Mosul, killing at least twelve people and wounding 20 others. Meanwhile, four US soldiers are to face court-martial over the alleged rape of an Iraqi girl and murder of her and her family. Two of the soldiers could face the death penalty if found guilty. Other personnel are also to face court-martial in different cases. Afghanistan: Two children dead in blast During an attack on NATO troops in southern Afghanistan, a suicide bomber has killed at least two children. The Interior Ministry said ten adults were also wounded, three of whom were British soldiers. The attacker had positioned himself near the British unit in the city of Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province, which is a Taliban stronghold. In a different suicide blast near the southeastern city Chost, police have said one police soldier was killed. Five other officers were injured in the explosion. Germany moves to ban cluster bombs The German government has announced it plans to make disarmament a top priority when it chairs the G8 summit of industrialised nations next year. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he would use the talks to push for tighter controls on nuclear technology, as well as an international ban on cluster bombs. Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch has accused Hezbollah of firing cluster rockets at Israel during this summer's war, though the number of strikes was a fraction of what Israel dropped on Lebanon. The United Nations estimates that Israel fired as many as 4 million cluster submunitions into Lebanon, leaving an estimated one million 'duds' that continue to threaten civilians. Unexploded munitions have killed 20 Lebanese civilians and injured 120 others, mostly children, since the Israel-Hezbollah war ended on August 14. Ukrainian ministers quit over coalition Five Ukrainian ministers from President Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine party have tendered their resignations after months of talks aimed at creating a broad ruling coalition with the pro-Russian Regions Party failed. The five ministries vacated - justice, health, culture, youth and interior - had all been held by Yuschenko's party as part of a coalition deal hammered out in June. But Our Ukraine, currently the third-largest party in the country's parliament, formally quit participation in the ruling four-party coalition on Wednesday. German bus maker sues Chinese copycat A unit of German vehicle giant MAN is suing a Chinese company for copying a bus design in what it called a "landmark" stand for intellectual property in China. MAN's bus making unit Neoplan has filed a lawsuit in a Beijing court accusing Zonda Automotive Group of copying the design of its Starliner highway coach. But the Chinese company has rejected the accusation, saying the similarity of their vehicles was a coincidence. US and European leaders have often accused China of failing to protect intellectual property. German Chancellor Angela Merkel pressed Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to improve protection during Wen's visit to Berlin in September. Berlin's bid for federal help with debt fails Germany's highest court has thrown out a bid by Berlin to force the federal government help it tackle a 60 billion Euro mountain of debt. Mayor Klaus Wowereit complained to the Federal Constitutional Court in 2003 that the capital couldn't solve its financial crisis without help. However, the presiding judge Winfried Hassemer said the court found that the city-state had no entitlement to a federal bailout. German economic growth to slow in 2007 German economic growth will slow down next year, according to a report just released by the nation's six leading economic institutes. In their annual autumn survey the institutes predict that Germany's gross domestic product will grow by 1.4 per cent in 2007 compared to an estimated 2.3 per cent for this year. It said unemployment will drop to 9.9 per cent next year, down from this year's projected average of 10.4 per cent. The six institutes also criticised Chancellor Angela Merkel's grand coalition saying the government's plans for reforms of the labour market, health care system and company taxation were 'far behind the measures needed for a considerable improvement in growth and employment.' Huge explosions rock Serbian army ammo dump Huge explosions have rocked a Serbian army munitions depot, injuring at least 10 people, mostly by broken glass and flying shrapnel. Police said the blasts occurred early Thursday at an army barracks near Paracin, about 150 kilometers south of Belgrade. Police said the cause of the blasts was unknown. Serbian Defense Minister Zoran Stankovic said the barracks, which stored large quantities of ammunition and explosives, were evacuated after the first blast. Nigerian president declares state of emergency Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has declared a state of emergency in the southwestern state of Ekiti following what he said was the unconstitutional impeachment of the state governor on Monday. Obasanjo appointed a retired major-general to run the affairs of the state for the next six months and said the move was to prevent the state from descending into anarchy. State legislators voted on Monday to remove Governor Ayo Fayose after finding him guilty of siphoning state funds into personal bank accounts and receiving kickbacks. Africa's most populous country is due to hold elections in April next year that should mark the first democratic handover of power since independence in 1960. South Africa pays tribute to Machel South Africa is to celebrate the life of Mozambique's independence leader Samora Machel, 20 years after his death in a plane crash, in a ceremony which draws a line under his controversial pact with the former apartheid regime. President Thabo Mbeki will join his Mozambican countepart at the site of the crash in northern South Africa where Machel and 34 others perished in October 1986. There has long been speculation that the crash was caused by sabotage, masterminded by the white apartheid state. The months preceding the crash had been a time of rising tension in southern Africa. Mozambique's civil war was getting worse and South Africa had reneged on non-aggression pact signed by Machel in 1984. Finnish airline cabin crew go on strike Cabin crew on Finnish national carrier Finnair have gone on strike, forcing the airline to cancel long-haul flights to Asia and the US and disrupting domestic and European services. The union representing flight attendants called the action in protest against plans to hire 500 new cabin crew from Finnair's Estonian subsidiary Aero Airlines. Estonian crew members would be offered lower pay than Finnish crew, which the Finnish union said was a breach of contract. Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen earlier expressed concern over the timing of the strike since Finland, the current holder of the European Union presidency, was slated to host an informal EU summit Friday. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. 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