Deutsche Welle English Service News 30. 04. 2005, 17:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Place your bets on the World Cup qualifiers at DW-WORLD in our multilingual betting game, where you can win attractive prizes. Whether you want to compare your soccer knowledge with fans worldwide as an individual or in a team, this is the right address. Plus, DW-WORLD provides the results and tables for all continental groups: http://www.dw-world.de/qualifiers ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
Iran May Defy EU Nuclear Suspension Deal Iran is unhappy with the progress of nuclear negotiations with the European Union and may resume uranium conversion activities next week in defiance of a key agreement, senior officials warned Saturday. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1569905,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- One killed in Cairo bombing One person has been killed and several others injured in an explosion near a popular tourist attraction in central Cairo. Security sources initially said the explosion was the work of a suicide bomber. But now there are reports that the bomb was thrown from a bridge. An Italian, a Russian and two Israeli tourists are said to be among those injured. In a separate incident, two veiled women are said to have shot at a tourist bus in Cairo, but they missed their target. Cairo's security director, Nabil el-Azabi, said one of the women had then been shot dead, and the other wounded. Mass grave in Iraq examined Investigators in southern Iraq have uncovered a mass grave believed to contain as many as 1,500 bodies. A US official said most of the victims appeared to be Kurds, and most of them were women and children. The official said they had been lined up in front of the pit and then shot. The site is near the town of Samawa. That's about 300 kilometres south of Baghdad. Former President Saddam Hussein cracked down on people there following an uprising in 1991. The grave was first identified by the US Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq early last year. But it was only examined over the past month. Evidence gathered there is to be used in a trial against Saddam. Iraq's neighbours meet in Istanbul Turkey has urged Iraq's other neighbours to support the new government in Baghdad in order to promote stability and keep the country together. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a meeting of foreign ministers and other officials in Istanbul, that Iraq's stability was a regional concern. Erdogan also said he wanted to see international organisations like the United Nations, the European Union and the Arab League take on a more active role in Iraq. Representatives from Iraq's six immediate neighbours, Turkey, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria as well as from Egypt and Bahrain took part in the meeting. Guilty plea in Iraq abuse case Lynddie England, a US soldier who posed before naked Iraqi prisoners as they were being abused at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison, is to plead guilty to seven of nine charges against her. The 22-year-old reservist became the face of the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal after photos of her posing with humiliated Iraqi prisoners were published last year. One showed her holding an Iraqi detainee on a dog leash. According to her lawyer, England agreed to plead guilty to reduced charges. This means that if convicted, she could face a maximum sentence of 11 years in prison. Germans advised to leave Togo German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer has called on the government of Togo to do what's necessary to protect German citizens and property from attack. This follows the firebombing of the Goethe Institute in the capital Lomé on Friday. The Foreign Ministry in Berlin meanwhile has advised the estimated 300 Germans in Togo to leave the country. The Togolese government has accused Germany of supporting the opposition in the aftermath of last Sunday's disputed presidential election. The election commission declared Faure Gnassingbe the winner, but opposition candidate Emmanuel Akitani Bob says the vote was rigged. Up to 100 people died in the ensuing violence and about 6,000 others have fled the country. Vietnam remembers Saigon's fall Celebrations are underway in Vietnam marking the 30th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam war. Tens of thousands of people gathered in the streets of Ho Chi Minh City to commemorate the fall of the city then known as Saigon to communist forces on April 30, 1975. The city's liberation spelled the end of the US-backed South Vietnamese regime. People gathered in front of what's now known as the Reunification Palace to watch the celebrations attended by Vietnamese and foreign leaders. Prime Minister Phan Van Khai said his country still faced many challenges but should look forward and strengthen relations with its former enemies. Iran threatens to resume nuclear work Iran has threatened to resume its uranium enrichment activity as early as next week after talks with EU negotiators in London failed to achieve a breakthrough. The two sides are due to meet again next week. France, Germany and Britain have been trying to persuade Iran to permanently end its nuclear ambitions in exchange for economic and political incentives. Tehran has temporarily suspended its nuclear enrichment programme to show that it is willing to find a solution. However the government wants assurances that it will be allowed to carry on with a limited and monitored uranium enrichment programme. Iran has always denied US allegations that it is secretly developing nuclear weapons. UN Khmer Rouge trials to go ahead The Cambodian government has welcomed an announcement by the United Nations that legal requirements had been met for trials of surviving Khmer Rouge leaders to go ahead, nearly three decades after Cambodia's genocide began. An estimated 1.7 million Cambodians, around a third of the country's population, died of starvation, forced labor, disease or execution during the Khmer Rouge so-called killing fields regime from 1975 to 1979. The UN also said that enough money had been raised to fund the so-called Extraordinary Chambers, which will have international judges and prosecutors working alongside their Cambodian colleagues. Mixed reactions to China-Taiwan talks Reactions to Friday's historic meeting in Beijing between Chinese president Hu Jintao and Taiwan's opposition leader Lien Chan have been mixed. China's press hailed the encounter as a major step forward in relations between the two sides, but said there was still a lot of work to be done. This comes after Lien and Hu had agreed to work together to end more than 50 years of hostilities. Taiwan's independence-leaning government said it was very disappointed by Lien's visit to Beijing, adding that China's military still posed a threat to the Taiwanese people. China regards Taiwan as a renegade province and Beijing says it will take military action if the island ever declares formal independence. Unlike the present Taiwanese leadership, Lien is in favour of unification with a democratic China. Nepal ends state of emergency Nepal's King Gyanendra has ended a state of emergency. The King will retain extra powers he seized in February's royal coup. King Gyanendra assumed most of those powers when he sacked the government and suspended democracy on Feb. 1 in a bid to end a long-running Maoist rebellion against the monarchy. Constitutionally, the three-month state of emergency granting the military extra powers of search, arrest and curfew had to end or be formally extended by midnight on Sunday. Bayern Munich clinch Bundesliga title In sports: Bayern Munich have clinched the Bundesliga title with a 4-0 victory over Kaiserslautern. This, coupled with second-placed Schalke's 3-3 draw at home to Bayer Leverkusen, gave Bayern an unassailable 11-point lead with three games left in the Bundesliga season. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- We'd like to introduce you to our latest newsletter: "Germany Light" give you a weekly look at Germany's cultural, peculiar and sometimes odd happenings. 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