DEUTSCHE WELLE/DW-WORLD.DE Newsletter English Service News 20. 10. 2006 16:00 Uhr UTC
---------------------------------------------------------------------- The Bundesliga is in full swing again! Follow all the German soccer action with DW-WORLD.DE in our special section: http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=1hm2wvIfcha79I0&req=l%3D1hm2wuIfcha79I0 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD: EU Leaders to Press Putin on Energy The 25 EU heads of state or government assemble in the Finnish town of Lahti on Friday for a meeting focused on energy policy and relations with Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin will join them for dinner. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=1hm2wvIfcha79I1&req=l%3D1hm2wuIfcha79I1 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- N. Korea plans no further tests: Yonhap South Korea's Yonhap news agency reports North Korean leader Kim Jong Il told a visiting Chinese envoy that Pyongyang plans to conduct no further nuclear tests. Kim made the statement in Pyongyang on Thursday during talks with Chinese State Councillor Tang Jiaxuan, the agency quoted an unidentified 'informed diplomatic source' as saying in Beijing. Japan's Foreign Ministry said it could not confirm or deny the report, which came as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was in Beijing to rally support for UN sanctions against North Korea in response to its nuclear test on October 9. Amarah taken over by al-Sadr Shiite Iraqi security forces are positioned on the outskirts of Amarah getting ready to try and retake the southern city after Mahdi Army fighters seized control of it earlier on Friday. Hundreds of al-Sadr Shiite militia, run by the anti-US cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, stormed and demolished three main police stations during the morning. British troops had returned the city to Iraqi military control in August. Meanwhile, the US military has said it will review its strategy for Baghdad amid a sharp rise in attacks and killings by insurgents. With 74 US troop casualties, October is the deadliest for US forces in nearly two years. Gunmen fire on Hamas PM's convoy Gunmen opened fire on security vehicles escorting Palestinian prime minister Ismail Haniyeh's convoy in southern Gaza on Friday. Witnesses say neither the car was hit nor was the Hamas leader hurt. The attack happened in the Nusseirat refugee camp. Just before the shooting Haniyeh had delivered a sermon during which he said he would reject any moves by President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah to oust his government. Tensions are high between the rival Fatah and Hamas Palestinian factions, sparking fears of a civil war. Haniyeh's government took office in March. More violence in Afghanistan In Afghanistan, a suicide bomber has killed an Afghan soldier and wounded seven more in Khost near the Pakistan border. Several hours earlier, US-led coalition forces and Afghan troops killed a militant and captured four in the same province. Late on Thursday, eight labourers working at a US base were shot and killed in the eastern province of Kunar. The police blames that attack on Taliban extremists. Meanwhile the Dutch cabinet agreed to deploy 130 more ground troops to southern Afghanistan boosting its numbers to 1,530. The Dutch take over the lead role in the south from Canada on November first. France says it is reviewing the deployment of 200 commandos but there is no word on whether they are to be withdrawn. EU discuss energy with Putin European Union leaders are meeting in the Finnish town of Lahti for talks expected to focus on global warming, pollution and security. Finland, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, has invited Russian president Vladimir Putin to discuss long-term cooperation on energy with the 25 EU leaders. But the Europeans are also expected to bring up the issue of democracy in Russia and Moscow's treatment of Georgia as well as the recent murder of a popular investigative journalist, who was a vocal critic of the Kremlin. EU reacts angrily to Ethiopian expulsions The European Union has slammed Ethiopia for expelling two EU diplomats, calling it an 'unacceptable' act that violated diplomatic rules. Swedish EU official Bjoern Jonsson and his Italian colleague Enrico Sborgi were given 24 hours to leave Ethiopia after being caught allegedly trying to take two fugitives to Kenya. The wanted pair were Ethiopians who worked for the European Commission. Ethiopia said they were arrested over "serious crimes", but gave no further details. UN suspends refugee convoys to Sudan The United Nations has suspended the repatriation of refugees from camps in northern Uganda to southern Sudan after a series of deadly massacres. The decision came after at least 40 people were killed by unknown gunmen on Wednesday and Thursday in southern Sudan. The UN refugee agency said it would not resume the transfers until security situation improved. The attacks are believed to be related to peace talks between the Ugandan government and the Ugandan rebel Lord's Resistance Army. There are currently 350,000 south Sudanese refugees in camps in Uganda and neighbouring countries, and another four million who remain displaced internally in Sudan from the 21-year war. OPEC agrees to production cut The oil producers' cartel OPEC has approved plans to cut crude output by 1.2 million barrels per day. The cut, agreed at a meeting in Qatar, sets production at 26.3 million barrels per day from November 1. It is the first time the 11-nation organisation has agreed on a group-wide production cut in more than two years. OPEC is trying to shore up global crude prices, which have fallen 20 percent since they hit record highs of 78 dollars a barrel during the conflict in Lebanon in July. NASA reports biggest-ever ozone hole US scientists say this year's ozone hole over Antarctica is bigger and deeper than any other on record. Gaps in the ozone layer, which blocks much of the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays, expand and contract over time but are blamed primarily on human activity that releases chlorine and bromine gases that destroy ozone. Depleted ozone patches are especially exposed at Earth's poles. The ozone hole reported over the Antarctic is larger than the surface area of North America. Ahmadinejad predicts Israel will not survive Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has warned Europe it was stirring up hatred in the Middle East by supporting Israel and said it "may get hurt" if anger in the region boils over. Ahmadinejad predicted that Israel would not survive and that its allies would face the anger of the people if they continued to support the Jewish state. Ahmadinejad reiterated that the aftermath of the World War II should no longer have an impact on today's world, and that Palestine should not pay the price for 'whatever happened within the Holocaust.' Indian forces kill militants in Kashmir Indian security forces have killed two Islamist militants after a day-long gun battle in the Kashmiri city of Srinigar. Officials say the gunfight lasted more than eight hours. It began when police and paramilitary forces surrounded a house, believed to be a militant hideout, near the city's agricultural university. Seventeen years of separatist revolt has killed more than 45,000 people in Kashmir, which is split between India and Pakistan. Authorities say violence has steadily decreased since the two countries began a peace process in 2004. But people are still killed in daily shootouts and occasional grenade attacks. Burmese dissident gets three years jail A pro-democracy activist in Burma has been sentenced to three years in jail for collecting signatures for a petition. Win Ko, a student member of Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition party, was arrested two weeks ago in possession of some 400 signatures calling on the country's military rulers to release political prisoners. His sentencing follows Tuesday's announcement that prominent Burmese dissident Thet Win Aung died in prison. Amnesty International said he was a victim of torture. Bachelet in Germany to attract investors Chilean President Michelle Bachelet is continuing her state visit to Germany. On Thursday she held talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel and other politicians. Merkel gave assurances that Germany would support Bachelet's ongoing efforts to bring more equality and social justice to Chile. Bachelet said her trip was aimed at attracting German investment in Chile. Funeral of murdered DW reporters The funeral of the two Deutsche Welle journalists killed in Afghanistan on 7 October has taken place in Leonberg in south-western Germany. Karen Fischer and Christian Struwe were attacked while camping at the side of a road in northern Afghanistan. The funeral was attended by family, friends and some 50 members of Deutsche Welle staff. The Afghan authorities are still investigating the murders and are believed to be holding two suspects although no charges have been made. Germany is one of the largest donors of aid to the reconstruction effort in the country. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Need a good laugh? 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