Deutsche Welle English Service News 19 September 2003, 16:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
Schröder, Chirac, Blair to Seek Deal on Iraq The leaders of France, Germany and Great Britain are meeting in Berlin on Saturday. Topping the agenda will be the future of Iraq and Europe's involvement in rebuilding the country. 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_974299_1_A,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- UN General Assembly to debate Israel threat against Arafat The United Nations General Assembly is holding a special debate on the Middle East crisis after Israel threatened to expel Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. The debate could see a resolution passed demanding that Israel withdraw the threat. The United States earlier this week vetoed a UN Security Council motion condemning Israel over the move. But at the general assembly no vetos are possible and motions are passed by a simple majority. The debate was requested by the Arab group of nations at the UN. World leaders honour Lindh Hundreds of dignitaries from around the world have joined Swedish officials at a memorial service in Stockholm for the country's murdered Foreign Minister Anna Lindh. The German, British, French, and Greek foreign ministers were among the mourners, who also included former chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix and Sweden's King Carl Gustaf. A district court has meanwhile ruled that the man suspected by Sweden's public prosecutor for the murder of Lindh shall remain in custody for one week while the police investigation continues. The 35-year-old man was arrested on Tuesday. The man's court-appointed lawyer has said his client denies any involvement in the fatal stabbing. Iraq's ex-defence minister reportedly surrenders Iraq's former Defence Minister Sultan Hashim Ahmed has reportedly surrendered to US forces. A mediator involved in the handover said Ahmed gave himself up early this morning in the northern town of Mosul. He was number 27 on the list of 55 most-wanted officials drawn up by the United States and was often seen at former leader Saddam Hussein's side. Meanwhile three more U.S. soldiers have been killed in an ambush near the town of Tikrit. A US military spokesman said Iraqi guerrillas fired small arms on the troops from the 4th Infantry Division. Two other soldiers were wounded. Guerrilla ambushes have killed at least 76 U.S. soldiers since May 1st, when Washington declared major combat in Iraq over. Schroeder, Chirac to meet Bush Both German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and French President Jacques Chirac are due to meet US President George W. Bush next week in New York for separate talks. For Schroeder Wednesday's meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly will be the first face-to-face talks in over a year. He and Bush fell out over Schroeder's hard-line opposition to the war on Iraq. Chirac is due to meet Bush on Tuesday with talks expected to focus on Iraq, Afghanistan and the Middle East. Blast near Bagram, Afghanistan Reports from Kabul say a house owned by an explosives trader has blown up, killing up to six family members, in a village not far from the Bagram Air Base. A U.S. military spokesman said U.S.-led forces personnel were not involved. Village residents said the trader had bought left-over munitions - widespread in Afghanistan - and extracted the explosives to sell to emerald miners. Indian court dismisses charges against Advani A court in India has thrown out charges against Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani over his alleged role in the destruction of a mosque in 1992. Advani had been accused of inciting a Hindu mob to destroy the 16th century Babri mosque in Ayodhya. It's not known why the charges were dropped, however seven other political leaders are due to be charged over the incident. The mosque's destruction sparked violent riots across India in which more than 3,000 people died. Sequell to Mannesmann takeover Deutsche Bank says a Duesseldorf court has cleared prosecutors to press charges against Josef Ackermann, the bank's board chairman, in a sequel to the takeover three years ago of Mannesmann by Vodafon. Last February, prosecutors filed fraud charges, accusing former Mannesmann board members, including Ackermann and ex-IG Metall union chief Klaus Zwickel, of allowing inflated redundancy payments to six departing managers that allegedly resulted in damage of up to 56 million euros. Today, Deutsche Bank said Ackermann had at the time acted properly. The charge was unfounded, it said. British-based Vodafon took over Mannesmann for a record sum of 190 billion euros. European ministers agree to harmonise university degrees Education ministers from across Europe have committed themselves to harmonising their university degree programmes in line with an internationally recognised standard by the year 2005. The ministers hope to introduce a two-cycle system of a bachelors degree, earned after three years of study, and a masters after an additional two years. The decision came at the end of a two-day conference in Berlin attended by some 300 participants. The conference was aimed at setting directions and priorities for the next stages of the so-called "Bologna Process" on harmonising Europe's higher education system. Zimbabwe paper still off newsstands after court orders it reopened Zimbabwe's sole independent daily, closed by the government a week ago, reportedly remains off the newsstands as police failed to comply with a High Court order to allow the paper to resume operations.High Court justice ruled on Thursday that the Daily News, which was shut down after the Supreme Court ruled it was operating illegally, should be allowed to resume publishing, and equipment seized in police raids be returned. But although the police briefly left the newspaper's offices after the ruling and returned a few of the scores of computers they had seized, hours later they were back occupying the premises and turned away staff who had reported for work. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. 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