DEUTSCHE WELLE/DW-WORLD.DE Newsletter English Service News 03.12.06, 17:00 Uhr UTC
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' Brush up on your language skills with DW-WORLD.DE's new interactive German courses. Check out the link at http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=1hmbzcIfcha79I0&req=l%3D1hmbyxIfcha79I0 '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' Today's highlight on DW-WORLD: Steinmeier to Visit Damascus for Talks with Assad Four months after abruptly axing a trip to Damascus, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier will travel to Syria Monday to hold talks with President Bashar al-Assad and Foreign Minister Walid Muallem. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=1hmbzcIfcha79I1&req=l%3D1hmbyxIfcha79I1 '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' Palestinian militants threaten Israel In Gaza, the radical Islamic Hamas movement has said it is breaking off talks with other Palestinian factions on ways of enforcing a ceasefire imposed in the Gaza Strip. The movement said in a leaflet sent to reporters that "ongoing (Israeli) violence in the West Bank 'threatened' the fragile Gaza truce." The Hamas statement came as Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz repeated Israel's refusal to expand the ceasefire to the West Bank and said Israeli military activities there would continue. Meanwhile, the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad has also threatened attacks on Israel in retaliation for what is says is Israel's repeated violation of the ceasefire. At least five Palestinians have been shot dead by Israeli troops since the truce was struck, but the incidents have occured in the West Bank, not in Gaza. Iraqi president rejects UN peace conference In Iraq, a suicide car bomb has killed two people and wounded four. In Baghdad, a US military spokesman said a US airstrike has also destroyed a Sunni stronghold west of the city, killing five insurgents, two women and a child. Three US soldiers were killed in two separate roadside bomb attacks in Taji, near Baghdad, and in Al-Anbar province. Meanwhile, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has rejected UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's idea of an international peace conference on Iraq in a bid to find a way to end the bloodshed. In other news, former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein has appealed a death sentence he received on November 5 for ordering the execution of Shiites in 1982. He is also standing trial in a separate genocide case involving the massacre of over 180,000 Kurds in northern Iraq in 1988. Lebanon forges on with battle of wills Lebanon's political crisis is showing no signs of easing, with thousands of the pro-Syrian opposition pressing on with a protest campaign aimed at toppling the Western-backed government. The Shi'ite Muslim group Hezbollah and its allies in the opposition, including some Christians, have held a third day of protests at a tent city in central Beirut, within earshot of the office-turned- residence of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. Siniora, who again vowed on Saturday that he would not be forced out of office by the protests, called for calm. Hezbollah is demanding a national unity government. Hundreds die in typhoon in Philippines Philippine President Gloria Arroyo has declared a "state of national calamity" after huge mudslides triggered by typhoon Durian have killed hundreds of people. Many devastated villages have been busy burying their dead. The Red Cross says about 400 people are confirmed dead with another 400 still missing. There are fears the final number could be much higher. Nearly 30,000 people have been left homeless and entire communities isolated as power lines and phone links were knocked out, bridges washed away and roads blocked. Durian has since moved into the South China Sea and is expected to weaken into a tropical storm before hitting Vietnam on Monday. Chile's Pinochet receives last rites Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet has received the last rites from a Catholic priest. 91-year-old Pinochet suffered a life- threatening heart attack overnight and was rushed to hospital. An official statement released by Santiago Military Hospital said he was in "stable condition" following a heart by-pass operation. Pinochet was accused of murdering and kidnapping political opponents during his 17 years in power. He has been arrested several times for the crimes allegedly committed during his rule, but has never been tried. About 3,000 people were killed or disappeared during the former general's reign and some 28,000 were tortured after he came to power. Polls open in Venezuela Polls have opened in Venezuela where left-wing incumbent president and outspoken critic of the United States Hugo Chavez is seeking 6 more years in power and a strong mandate for his self-styled revolution. His main challenger Manuel Rosales, a state governor, wants to maintain a market-based system. Chavez is widely expected to win as most poor and working class voters like his anti-poverty programme. However, Rosales has been gaining in popularity and leads the opposition that seems more united than it did a year ago. More than 125,000 soldiers have been deployed to provide security during election. FBI now looking into Litvinenko poisoning Doctors in London are continuing to monitor the condition of Mario Scaramella, an Italian security expert who met with Alexander Litvinenko on the day he was poisoned. The 36-year-old Scaramella is undergoing further examination after testing positive for polonium 210, the substance which killed Litvinenko. He has, however, shown no symptoms of radiation poisoning from the isotope. Meanwhile, the US federal crime agency FBI has launched its own investigations into the poisoning death of the Russian ex-spy. The British newspaper Observer reported Sunday that the FBI focus was on a potential key figure in the case, a former KGB agent now living in the US. The paper reported that Litvinenko believed to have been in possession of secret documents with which he could have blackmailed people. First German troops return home com DRC The first German troops have returned home following their Eufor mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Some 100 of the 780 Bundeswehr soldiers stationed in Congo landed early Sunday at Cologne-Bonn Airport. Since the mandate for Eufor expired last Thursday, all 780 Bundeswehr troops are expected to return to Germany by December 23rd. The troops had the mission of monitoring Congo's first free elections in decades. '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' Answer questions on the past week's articles for a chance to win a prize! The weekly quiz comes out on Fridays. Check the homepage: www.dw-world.de. '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' For more information please turn to our internet website at http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=1hmbzcIfcha79I2&req=l%3D1hmbyxIfcha79I2 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. 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