Deutsche Welle English Service News September 30th 2003, 16:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
Germany Proposes Creation of Secure Islands in Afghanistan Germany has put forth a plan for the expansion of the International Assistance Security Force beyond Kabul and the creation of secure islands in Afghanistan’s lawless regions. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1430_A_982670_1_A,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- British PM delivers passionate speech defending his policies British Prime Minister Tony Blair has received a standing ovation after addressing the annual conference of his Labour Party. Blair used much of his speech to focus on what he said were some of his government's greatest achievements in social issues since it took power in 1997. He also addressed Iraq, the issue responsible for his popularity plunge in recent opinion polls. Blair defended his government's decision to go to war, but he said respected the opinion of those in his party who were against it. Blair's approval rating has dropped sharply in recent weeks. One opinion poll, published on the weekend, showed that 41 percent of Labour Party members wanted the prime minister to step down. US Justice Department probes CIA agent identity leak The United States Justice Department has opened an investigation into the leak of a CIA agent's identity. Former US ambassador Joseph Wilson said his wife's cover as a CIA agent was revealed by the White House in an attempt to discredit him for criticising the Bush administration on Iraq. The White House has denied this claim, and President George W. Bush has ordered his staff to fully co-operate with the investigation. A leak of classified information is a serious offence in the US and punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Former footballer sentenced to 10 years for terror plot A Belgian court has sentenced former professional soccer player Nizar Trabelsi to 10 years in prison for plotting a suicide attack at a NATO base housing US soldiers. The court also convicted two other North African-born militants of being accomplices to al Qaeda in the assassination of Afghan rebel commander Ahmad Shah Masood in 2001. A total of 18 accused Islamic militants, mainly of North African origin, were convicted in Brussels on a range of offences. Five suspects were acquitted. North Korea spurns further talks on nuclear ambitions North Korea has said that it was not interested in further talks about its nuclear program and would instead boost its nuclear deterrent force to repel a possible pre-emptive attack by the United States. Pyongyang's comments came after informal talks on the crisis between U.S., Japanese and South Korean diplomats in Tokyo. Meanwhile, in Vienna, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Mohammed ElBaradei, has called on North Korea to return to the negotiating table, insisting that dialogue was the only way to resolve the nuclear crisis. Air France in takeover deal with KLM The French airliner Air France has confirmed a deal to take over the Dutch carrier KLM. The merger would result in Europe's largest airline. Alitalia has indicated that it is also interested in joining the merger once the Italian company, currently 62% owned by the state, is privatised. UN envoy presses for Suu Kyi release in Burma United Nations special envoy Razali Ismail has met with Burma's military junta in a bid to free pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. But diplomats say that Razali's chances of securing Suu Kyi's release will depend on reopening dialogue between the military and her National League for Democracy (NLD). Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for the past four months. Razali played a key role in securing her release from house arrest last year. He is expected to see her during his three-day visit in the country. US troops come under renewed attack; Forces make sweeping arrests One US soldier in Iraq died and one went missing on Tuesday after the vehicle they were travelling in flipped over into a canal near Baghdad. The US military said the soldiers' vehicle had overturned in response to mortar fire. A search for the second soldier was underway. Also in Iraq, the American military has made sweeping arrests north of Baghdad. More than 50 Iraqis were reportedly detained in on-going operations to arrest guerrilla fighters carrying out attacks on coalition forces. US soldier killed, two wounded in Afghan gunfight In Afghanistan, one US soldier has been killed in a gun battle which also left two militants dead. The US military said clashes took place on Monday near Shkin, in the Paktika province, where an operation was underway against suspected fighters of the former Taliban regime. Colombia rebel group ELN say they kidnapped tourists The smaller of two rebel groups in Colombia has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping over two weeks ago of 8 European adventure tourists. The National Liberation Army or ELN sent communiqués to a local radio station and the Internet stating that the abduction was part of 'Operation Allende Lives' to mark the 30th anniversary of the death of the Chilean President who committed suicide during the military coup of 1973. The ELN did not specify demands for the release of the tourists one of whom escaped last week. German taxpayers decry wasteful public spending Here in Germany, a lobby group has accused the government of wasting 30 billion euros of taxpayers' money on useless projects over the past year. In its annual report released in Berlin this Tuesday, the Taxpayers' Association lists more that 100 examples of federal and state bodies squandering money. The head of the association, Karl-Heinz Daeke, said one of the strangest examples of useless spending in the past year came from the state of Saxony-Anhalt. There, the transport ministry spent a million euros to build an overpass over a railway line that has been out of use for more than a year. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For more information please turn to our internet website at http://dw-world.de/english 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.
