DEUTSCHE WELLE/DW-WORLD.DE Newsletter English Service News 01.02.07, 17:00 Uhr UTC
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' Take DW-WORLD.DE's Quiz of the Week starting each Friday! Answer a few questions about this week's news for a chance to win a prize. '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' Today's highlight on DW-WORLD: German Car Lobby Appears to Bend Will of EU Regulators It appears Germany's mighty automobile lobby is getting its way in Brussels, as the EU moves its regulatory focus from emissions standards to biofuel use across the bloc. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=evudnyIfcha79I0&req=l%3DevudnxIfcha79I0 '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' Schröder backs German minister on Guantanamo Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has accepted responsibility for a case involving a German-born Turkish man held at the US military prison Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. The case has put pressure on Germany's foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Schröder said Steinmeier was acting in line with the policy of the time. Steinmeier was a close aide to Schröder in the former government and is now foreign minister in Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition. He is being accused of failing to secure former prisoner Murat Kurnaz's release in 2002. Kurnaz was not freed until last year. Steinmeier is due to testify before a parliamentary committee in early March. Olmert testifies before Lebanon war commission Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has spent hours testifying before a special government commission set up to investigate Israel's war last summer against Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon. The Israeli government and military have come under heavy criticism over the way the month-long war was conducted. Olmert was the last of 70 witnesses called before the commission during a closed hearing. Results of the inquiry are not expected until mid-March. Israel's army chief, Dan Halutz, has already resigned his post. He claimed responsibility for not destroying Hezbollah and returning two Israeli soldiers whose capture by the guerrillas sparked the war. Gaza factional clashes threaten truce At least four Palestinians have been killed and dozens more wounded in clashes between factional rivals Fatah and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The latest violence is threatening a three-day truce between the rival factions that brought a brief period of quiet to the volatile area. The gun battles reportedly broke out after Hamas militants hijacked a convoy delivering supplies to the Fatah-allied security forces. Palestinian sources said the gunmen thought the convoy was carrying weapons that would be used against Hamas in the sporadic clashes between it and Fatah. Afghanistan: Possible amnesty for warlords Afghanistan's parliament has approved a bill on amnesty for those who have fought in wars in the past 25 years. The lower house of parliament has approved the legislation, saying it was in the interests of peace and reconciliation. Human rights groups have criticised the bill as it would grant immunity to those accused of war crimes and abuse. If signed into law, amnesty would also apply to Taliban leader and fugitive Mullah Mohammad Omar, who has been accused of harboring Osama bin Laden. Meanwhile, Great Britain has said it would increase its troops in Afghanistan by 800 -- bringing the number to 5,800. Blair quizzed in cash-for-honours probe British police have questioned Prime Minister Tony Blair for a second time in their probe into political party funding. A spokesman for the prime minister told reporters that Blair was questioned as a witness at his Downing Street office last Friday. Blair was first questioned in December. Police are investigating whether Labour and other parties promised their supporters appointments to the House of Lords in return for millions of pounds in loans. Putin says he won't name successor Russian President Vladimir Putin has stressed that his successor will be chosen in democratic elections. But speaking to reporters at his annual major press conference in Moscow, Putin said he reserved the right to express his support for a preferred candidate during the campaign. The president, who is to leave office next March, also denied suggestions that Russia was using its strength as an exporter of energy resources to further foreign policy goals. Moscow has briefly cut off the supply of natural gas twice within the past year to back up its demands that both Ukraine and Belarus accept huge price increases. This has caused the European Union to question Russia's reliability as a supplier. Chinese leader in war-battered Liberia Chinese President Hu Jintao is in Liberia, the second stop on his eight-nation African tour aimed at enhancing strategic ties between China and Africa. The Chinese leader is to hold talks with Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and the two leaders are expected to sign several bilateral agreements in the areas such as trade, education, and health. Oil-rich Sudan will be Hu's next stop later Thursday. His visit there will be closely watched after calls for more pressure on Khartoum to stop the conflict in Darfur, which has left more than 200,000 people dead in four years. Deutsche Bank achieves net profit Germany's biggest bank has announced record results for last year. Frankfurt-based Deutsche Bank said it reached nearly six billion euros in net profit in 2006. At its annual news conference, CEO Josef Ackermann said the bank had achieved its best-ever fourth quarter results, with net profit having tripled last quarter as compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, Deutsche Bank said it was expanding in Asia and planned to acquire up to a 20-per-cent stake in the Hanoi Building Commercial Joint Stock Bank in Vietnam. Smoking ban takes effect in France A partial ban on smoking in public places has come into effect in France. Smoking is now banned in all French hospitals, schools, offices, sports facilities, and all means of public transportation. Anyone violating the ban can be slapped with a fine of up to 135 euros. The second phase of the ban is to come into effect at the start of next year. That will affect public places that are currently exempt from the new law, including cafés, restaurants, casinos and discos. Barenboim wins prize for peace efforts Israeli pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim has been awarded a peace prize by Germany's state of Hesse for his work in promoting Middle East peace. In particular, Barenboim was honoured for his 'West-Eastern Divan Orchestra', in which young Israeli and Arab musicians play together. Nobel winner Pamuk flies to New York Nobel Prize-winning novelist Orhan Pamuk is on his way to New York to give a series of talks in the US, a day after he called off a promotional visit to Germany. Pamuk has received threats from Turkish nationalists in the past, but he would not comment on reports that he had canceled his trip to Germany over security concerns. This comes after a suspect in the killing in Turkey of prominent journalist Hrant Dink last week shouted what appeared to be a threat against Pamuk. Both Pamuk and Dink spoke about the mass killings of Armenians in the early 20th century, and both have been accused of the crime of "insulting Turkishness." Germany: International toy fair kicks off The International Trade Fair for Toys has opened its doors for trade visitors in southern Germany. Exhibitors from 60 different countries are presenting over 60,000 new toys in Nuremberg. Analysts estimate that toy innovations make up about half of annual turnover in the business. 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