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Deutsche Welle English Service News 25th December, 2001, 16:00 UTC Sri Lankan Ceasefire Holding Sri Lanka's first bilateral ceasefire in seven years - endorsed by both sides on Christmas eve - appears to be holding. The island nation's new government said it no reports of clashes in contested eastern and northern regions. And, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, on a visit to India, said he believed the month- long ceasefire could extend beyond January the 24th. The news agency AFP says rebel leader Verlupillai Prabhakaran has reduced the Tamil Tigers' demand for a separate homeland to one of political autonomy. Three decades of conflict have claimed at least 60,000 lives. Fresh Gunfire in Kashmir India and Pakistan have exchanged more mortar and small arms fire across their disputed border in mountainous Kashmir, with India saying two of its soldiers and a civilian had been killed. It said it had also told hundreds of civilians to leave local villages. Pakistan has demanded that India prove its claim that Pakistan-based Kashmiri separatist groups were behind the fatal attack on India's parliament two weeks ago. A senior Pakistani army officer warned that continued border clashes could spark an uncontrollable flareup involving the two nuclear rivals. India's ambassador, recalled from Islamabad, has arrived back in New Delhi. Don't Exploit God's Name - Pope Pope John Paul, in his Christmas address from Rome, has renewed calls for peace and tolerance, saying people around the globe, children especially, were distressed by tensions and wars. Christ's message of peace remained valid, he added. He urged Christians, Jews and Moslems to ensure that God's name was not exploited to justify death and terrorism. The 81-year-old Pontiff also celebrated a solemn midnight mass televised to 47 countries. Shoe Checks at Airports Security staff at airports on the both sides of the Atlantic are checking passengers' footwear after Saturday's mid-air scare when a man was found to have explosives hidden in his shoes. The Paris-to-Miami flight was diverted to Boston where the suspect is now in jail pending another court hearing. American Airlines has accused staff at Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport of failing to react to its warning that the man had behaved suspiciously. At Frankfurt Airport, passengers departing on U.S. airline flights are being told to take their shoes off for extra checks. At La Guardia and Miami airports in the USA similar checks are also being made. Pasko Jailed at Russian Retrial At a retrial in Vladivostok, a Russian military court has imposed a four-year jail term on the former Russian navy captain turned ecologist Grigory Pasko for allegedly passing secrets to Japan. Two years ago Pasko had walked free on high treason charges that in 1997 he'd given Japanese journalists evidence that the Russian navy had dumped toxic waste into the Sea of Japan. He had himself sought the re-trial, hoping to clear his name on a remaining lesser charge. Russia's FSB security service said it pressed the case because Pasko - as a former captain - had breached of an oath of secrecy. Israeli soldier killed at Jordan border Unidentified gunmen have killed one Israeli soldier and wounded at least three others in a rare incident on the Israeli-Jordan border. Jordan, which made peace with Israel in 1994, said the shots were not fired from its terrority. The incident occurred in a usually quiet area in the Jordan Valley. Indonesian Train Crash The death toll has officially risen to 42 in Central Java where two packed passenger trains were involved in a fatal crash. The accident occured near the town of Brebes 280 km east of Jakarta. One local official said one of the trains, travelling at high speed, crashed into the stationary train at a small station just outside Brebes. The cause of the accident is under investigation. However, a spokesman for the railway company has said he suspects human error. Australia battles Christmas Day bush fires Dozens of summer bushfires blazed out of control in Australia's eastern state of New South Wales on Christmas Day, forcing residents to flee and destroying a handful of homes evacuated earlier. Fanned by hot, strong winds of up to 90 kph , fires jumped containment breaks and officials said homes and camp sites had to be evacuated on the outskirts of the main city Sydney and in towns close to the capital Canberra. Thousands of firefighters, backed up by helicopter and fixed wing water-bombers, battled up to 70 fires in different parts of the state. Off-duty firefighters recalled from Christmas celebrations in the Sydney metropolitan region swelled the number of those tackling the flames to around 5,000. Germany Gripped by Winter Snowfalls and snowdrifts continue to hamper traffic in eastern and southern Germany but in western regions around Frankfurt and Cologne a white Christmas is turning into a wet thaw. To the east, in the states of Thuringia and Saxony, snow again trapped motorists in cars and and caused train delays. Berlin's airports were closed briefly. To the south in Bavaria, authorities warn of fresh snow storms and avalanches in the Alps. 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