Deutsche Welle English Service News 13. 06. 2005, 16:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
A Bank Merger With the East in Mind The merger of Germany's HypoVereinsbank with Italy's Unicredit over the weekend marks the biggest takeover in European history. The fusion thrusts the bank into the lead position in the growing Eastern European market. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1612920,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DW-WORLD values your opinion: We look forward to hearing from you about stories we write and regularly post your letters in our reader response section. Check them out at: http://www.dw-world.de/english or write us an e-mail yourself: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- EU argues over budget funding European Union nations represented in Luxembourg by their foreign ministers are still arguing over how they will finance the EU's budget until 2013. Ahead of a crucial summit in Brussels on Thursday, Britain is refusing to give up a rebate that reduces its contribution. France and Germany have rejected Britain's call for big cuts in EU agricultural subsidies that benefit French and German farmers. The Netherlands, whose voters recently rejected the EU constitution, no longer wants to be the top per capita net contributor to EU coffers. Luxembourg, who holds the current EU presidency, says each EU nation should contribute one percent of its Gross Domestic Product. That would amount to 870 million euros between 2007 and 2013. ElBaradei relected as UN nuclear head The board of the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency has unanimously reelected Mohamed ElBaradei as the agency's head. ElBaradei's reappointment was approved by the all 35 nations of the International Atomic Energy Agency, including the United States. The United States reversed its opposition to ElBaradei last week, despite past policy disagreements over both Iraq's and Iran's nuclear programs. Christian exile winner in Lebanese vote A former Lebanese Christian general who returned from exile just weeks ago has secured a surprise victory in the third round of Lebanon's parliamentary elections. Michel Aoun and his allies have won 16 seats in parliament. It was unclear what his victory would mean for efforts by Lebanon's anti-Syrian opposition to take power of the parliament from allies of Damascus. But Aoun appears to have thwarted the opposition's quest for a majority. Nearly half of parliaments 128 seats were at stake in Sunday's elections in central and eastern regions of the country. The future shape of the parliament will be clear after the final round of voting next Sunday where 28 seats are being contested in northern Lebanon Italian-German bank merger The Italian bank Unicredito is poised to take over Germany's second largest bank HypoVereinsbank after approval by their supervisory boards. The merged bank would acquire 16.4 million customers in fast-growing regions of central and eastern Europe. The deal will cost the Italians 15 billion euros. Unicredito chief Alexandro Profumo said 9,000 jobs would be cut over the next three years to reduce overlapping activities, mainly in eastern Europe. In Poland, especially, the move has been criticised by trade unions. The bank merger still hinges on approvals by shareholders and anti-cartel agencies. If completed, it will become Europe's nineth-largest bank. Saddam questioned about killings An Iraqi judge has questioned ousted President Saddam Hussein about the killings of dozens of men north of the capital Baghdad. It is alleged that Saddam ordered over 100 executions in the village of Dujail in 1982 after he survived an assassination attempt there. Meanwhile, insurgents attacked an Iraqi police checkpoint on the main road between Baghdad and the town of Baquba, killing four policemen and injuring 10. A series of suicide car bombings mainly in northern Iraq has also left at least 10 people dead and more than 20 wounded. Earlier, Iraqi police found six more bodies in Baghdad. Most of the men had been tortured before being executed. Bomb blast rocks Kashmir At least twelve people have been killed and 70 others injured following a powerful bomb explosion outside a school in Indian-administered Kashmir. No one has yet claimed responsibility for the blast in the town of Pulwama, south of Srinagar, Kashmir's summer capital. However, the army has blamed the blast on Islamic militants. The region's main militant alliance, the United Jihad Council has denied involvement in the attack. The blast comes as moderate Kashmiri separatists are paying a rare visit to Pakistan, where they are holding talks with politicians and calling on Kashmiri militants to lay down their arms. Italian fertility referendum fails A referendum on easing Italy's stringent fertility law has failed to reach the necessary 50 percent turnout to validate the poll. According to preliminary figures released by the interior ministry, less than 30 percent of Italians voted in the two-day referendum. None of the five referendums of the past decade have reached quorum. Although analysts said the low turn out was due to voter apathy, the Vatican had also urged Italians, who are predominantly Catholic, to abstain from voting on moral grounds. Orders for rivals at Paris Air Show The Paris Air Show has begun with a large order for the European planemaker Airbus. Qatar Airways says it wants up to 60 of Airbus's proposed medium-size jet, the A350. Qatar also said it would buy at least 20 larger 777s from Boeing. The two planemakers are currently embroiled in a row over subsidies at the World Trade Organisation. Chinese state media, meanwhile, say China's aerospace sector is considering building a smaller 200-seat commuter airliner by 2020 to meet a boom in travel between major Chinese cities. On show in Paris this week are 200 aircraft and helicopters. One star is Airbus's 555-seat A380 which made its maiden flight recently. US troops killed in car blast A car packed with explosives has hit a US military convoy in southern Afghanistan. There were conflicting reports over casualties. The US military said four of its soldiers were wounded and taken for treatment. Afghan police earlier reported that five US soldiers had been killed. The military convoy was travelling down a main road west of Kandahar city when it was hit. Taliban guerrillas claimed responsibility for the suicide bomb attack. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. 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