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Deutsche Welle English Service News March 6th, 2001, 16:00 UTC ---------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD: Social Democrats Win Portugal Elections Portugal swung to the right in Sunday elections, giving the opposition Social Democrats a narrow win over the ruling Socialists. They now face the difficult task of turning round the lagging economy. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1430_A_478598_1_A,00.html ----------------------------- Deutsche Welle English Service News March 18th , 2001, 16:00 UTC Israel Signals Pullouts as Cheney Arrives Palestinian officials say Israel has agreed - conditional on Palestinian security guarantees - to pull its forces promptly out of recently occupied areas, noteably Bethlehem. The news coincided with the arrival in Israel of U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney. He was met by U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni who'd earlier hosted Israeli-Palestinian security talks aimed at reaching a ceasefire after weeks of carnage. Cheney then met Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. U.S. officials said Cheney was not due to meet Palestinian leaders - a stance criticised by Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat as one-sided. Israeli Defence Minister Ben Elizier said if security terms were agreed, Israel could pull out Tuesday night. The Palestinians want a full withdrawal before negotiating a truce. Israeli troops arrested seven Palestinians early on Monday. Stoning Sentence Adjourned An Islamic appeals court in northern Nigeria has delayed for a week its ruling on a death-by-stoning sentence faced by a woman whose case has drawn world-wide protests, including an EU call for clemency. Last year, a lower Sharia court had found Safiya Hussaini, a divorced mother aged 33, guilty of adultery. She in turn accused a man of rape. Her lawyers appealed while rights campaigners highlighted her case. Last weekend, EU summit leaders in Barcelona urged Nigeria to rethink the sentence. EU law rules out capital punishment. Today, the appeals court in Sokoto city adjourned the case until March the 25th. Swing to Right in Portugal Latest results from Portugal's Sunday election put the Social Democrats and their leader Jose Burao Barroso narrowly ahead, ready to form a centre-right coalition after six years of Socialist rule. Durao Barroso's Social Democrats are on 40.1 percent. So far, he's declined to say whether he will form a coalition with the conservative Popular Party. It got 8.75 percent. A spokeswoman for President Jorge Sampaio said Barroso would be offered the role of prime minister. Portugal's shift to the right left the Socialists on 38 percent, with loss of 20 seats. Their ex-premier Antonio Guterres quit in December, embarrassed by Social Democrat gains in communal elections. Durao Barroso has vowed to slash taxes and state spending in a bid to kick-start Portugal's slowing economy. Operation Anaconda to end today The top commander of U.S.-led coalition troops in Afghanistan, U.S. General Tommy Franks has said "Operation Anaconda" would be completed by late Monday. The last of the major battles ended last Wednesday when U.S., Canadian and Afghan troops stormed rebel caves and trenches near Gardez, about 150 kilometres south of Kabul. Military officials said they discovered a significant amount of ammunition, false passports and other "sensitive documents". Coalition officials have refused to make any statements regarding the number of Taliban and al-Qaeda forces killed during the operation. N. Korean refugees arrive in Seoul Twenty-five North Korean asylum-seekers who took refuge in the Spanish embassy in Beijing on Thursday have arrived in Seoul, South Korea, completing their flight to freedom. The six families and two orphaned girls arrived at Seoul's international airport after a four-hour flight from Manila. Although China, is a major ally of North Korea and normally returns defectors, the People's Republic allowed the group to fly to temporary refuge in the Philippines on Friday. The 25 new arrivals will spend their first three months at Hanawon, a government centre where they will undergo what is officially known as adjustment education. The programme aims to help defectors overcome the stress of their escape and counsels them on adjusting to South Korean culture. Robinson to Leave UNHCR in September Mary Robinson, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights has announced that she will not seek another term when her appointment ends in September. The former Irish president, in an address to the annual session of the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva ended any speculation that she was interested in staying at her post. Human rights groups, whose support had been a factor in Robinson's decision to reverse her wish to stand down last year, were disappointed but not surprised at her decision. Burma's Junta Interrogates 100 Burma's military government says it has interrogated more than 100 people in connection with an alleged coup involving the former dictator, Ne Win. Military officials told a news conference that they had hired a black magic expert as part of their investigation. Some foreign diplomats have questioned the legitimacy of the charges saying the allegations and arrests instead stem from disagreements within the military junta. Ship with Migrants Taken in Tow An Italian frigate has been towing a ship carrying some 1,000 Kurdish migrants to the east Sicilian port city of Catania. Navy officials said the ship was first sighted by a French navy vessel in the eastern Mediterranean, and had been taken in tow by the Italian frigate Perseo when it entered Italian waters. Truck Hits Bus in France, Eight Dead A bus carrying 60 Dutch tourists collided with an Italian truck in eastern France early Monday morning, killing eight people and injuring at least 27 others. Local authorities said the accident occured when the truck inexplictably crashed through the median guard-rail slamming head on into the northbound bus. DW to Re-position Broadcasts Deutsche Welle's Director-General, Erik Bettermann, announcing new guidelines, has said DW-Radio and DW-TV will focus more on broadcasts to potential EU enlargement nations and intercultural dialogue. Another trend, he said, would be a closer interaction with the Islamic world. He also spoke of a stronger regionalisation of broadcasts, for example, a planned DW-Television programme for Afghanistan in Dari and Pashto. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
