DEUTSCHE WELLE/DW-WORLD.DE Newsletter English Service News 27.12.06, 17:00 Uhr UTC
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' 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=evu5eqIfcha79I0&req=l%3Devu5epIfcha79I0 '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' Today's highlight on DW-WORLD: Competing Visions for Historic Airport's Future The closure of Berlin's Tempelhof airport by 2008 has fueled speculation over its future. Ideas include locating Berlin's universities on the site, building an amusement park or creating a "green lung" for the city. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=evu5eqIfcha79I1&req=l%3Devu5epIfcha79I1 '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' Taiwan quake cuts phone, Internet Telecommunications have been disrupted across Asia after a powerful earthquake damaged undersea cables near southern Taiwan. In parts of Taiwan, China, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore, telephone calls could not be connected and Internet traffic slowed to a crawl. Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan's largest telecom company, said Tuesday's magnitude 7 earthquake damaged two of seven cables used to process Internet traffic for several Asian countries. The company said it would take two to three weeks to repair the cables. Two people died in the quake, and dozens of others were hurt. Sumatra rescue efforts hampered by floods Emergency rations and medicine have been airlifted to the hundreds of thousands people displaced by more than a week of torrential rains on Indonesia's Sumatra island. The rains triggered flash floods and landslides, killing at least 109 people and leaving hundreds missing. Relief officials said transporting the tonnes of food, water, tents and medical supplies to the worst hit areas of Northern Sumatra and Aceh was still difficult because of the flood waters. Some 1,000 troops, five helicopters and two Hercules transport aircraft have also joined the rescue effort. Arab League wants Ethiopia out of Somalia African Union chief Alpha Omar Konare has said Ethiopian troops waging war against rival Islamists in Somalia should leave the country immediately. The Arab League also called on Ethiopia to withdraw from Somalia. After an emergency meeting of permanent representatives in Egypt, the 22-member body warned the conflict could "threaten the peace and stability of the Horn of Africa." On Tuesday the UN Security Council failed to agree on a resolution to call for the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Somalia. Ethiopian troops near Mogadishu Ethiopian-backed government troops have come within 50 kilometres of the Somali capital Mogadishu. Earlier, they took the last remaining large town, Jowhar, as Islamist troops retreated to the capital. The Red Cross said it was treating some 800 casualties in hospitals in south-central Somalia. The UN's World Food Program said it had temporarily suspended flights into southern Somalia for security reasons. Saddam's death penalty is final Following the Iraqi appeal's court decision to uphold Saddam Hussein's death sentence, the German government has said it rejects the use of the death penalty. Thomas Steg, a spokesperson for Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed that the death penalty is banned in Germany and all European Union member states. He said, however, that it was necessary for Iraq to "legally come to terms" with its past. In contrast, the US administration called the ruling a "milestone" for the development of Iraq. Saddam and two officials of his regime were convicted on November 5, after a court heard they ordered the deaths of 148 Shiite men from the village of Dujail. Iran votes to review IAEA cooperation Iran's parliament has voted to urge the government to revise ties with the UN's nuclear watchdog in a move seen as likely to reduce the country's cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency. The vote came four days after the UN Security Council decided to impose limited sanctions on Iran for its refusal to cease enrichment of uranium. Nepal sets curfew after ethnic clashes Officials have reimposed a curfew in a western Nepalese border town to prevent more clashes between residents and rural migrants. The curfew was initially impose in Nepalgunj on Tuesday after street battles left one person dead and at least 25 injured. The ethnic clash flared up after a minority party in the ruling Seven Party Alliance organized a general strike to protest the proposed interim constitution. The party said the charter does not address the problems of ethnic peoples in southern Nepal, known as Medesis. Tensions mount in Belarus gas row The Belarus government has suggested it won't allow Russian energy giant Gazprom to send gas to Europe through its pipelines if Gazprom cuts deliveries to Belarus next week. Gazprom wants to more than double the price Belarus pays for gas in 2007, and has threatened to cut supplies from Monday if no deal is reached. About 20 percent of Russian gas to Europe passes through Belarus. However, an EU spokesperson said Germany, Austria, Britain, and the Netherlands had sufficient stocks of gas to deal with any problem that might arise. Germany calls Ford a great American German President Horst Köhler has hailed the late US President Gerald Ford as a great American who served his country in difficult times. The 93-year-old Ford died earlier in the day at his home in California. In a statement send to US President George Bush, Köhler said Ford did a great deal to bolster transatlantic ties and was also "a founding father" of what is today the Group of Eight club of industrial nations. Ford was the only US president who was not elected to either the presidency or vice-presidency. Following Richard Nixon's resignation over the Watergate affair in 1974, the former Congressman served as the country's 38th president until he lost the 1976 presidential election to Democrat Jimmy Carter. Nigeria buries dead from pipeline explosion Hundreds of victims of the pipeline fire in Nigeria's biggest city, Lagos, have been given a mass burial. The victims burnt to death after a vandalized pipeline exploded. It is still unclear how many people died as they scooped oil from the pipeline. Officials put the death toll anywhere between 250 and 850. Israel to respond to rocket fire from Gaza Israel has responded to ongoing rocket fire from the Gaza Strip by ordering the army to target Palestinian militant cells. The Israeli military will 'pin-point' their attacks against militants who launch Qassam rockets from Gaza into Israel. The decision was made following a security meeting with army chiefs and defence officials convened by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Wednesday morning. It came after militants launched rockets in the southern Israeli town of Sderot on Tuesday night, which seriously injured two 14-year-olds. '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' 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=evu5eqIfcha79I2&req=l%3Devu5epIfcha79I2 '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' For more information please turn to our internet website at http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=evu5eqIfcha79I3&req=l%3Devu5epIfcha79I3 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. 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