Deutsche Welle English Service News March 20th, 2001, 16:00 UTC -------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD: Rallying to Prevent an Execution A 22-year-old German student could face the gallows in execution-happy Singapore following drug seizures at her apartment. She would be the second foreigner hanged by Singapore authorities since 1994. 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_480402_1_A,00.html -------------------------------------------------------------------- Seven Die in another Suicide Bombing in Israel A Palestinian suicide bomber killed seven Israelis on a bus in northern Israel on Wednesday, including four soldiers. Police say at least 27 other passengers were injured. The Islamic Jihad organization claimed responsibility for the attack, which occured just a day after U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney visited Israel. Condemning the attack, the Palestinian Authority called for a halt to the killing of civilians inside Israel, although it said nothing about the occupied territories. Mr. Cheney and the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, called on the Palestinians to end violence and implement a ceasefire. The so-called Tenet Plan provides for a six-week ceasefire and withdrawal of the Israeli army from all areas it has occupied since September 2000. In return, the Palestinians would have to arrest extremists. Guerillas Attack US Army Bases in Afghanistan Two American military bases in eastern Afghanistan were attacked overnight by suspected Taliban and al Qaeda fighters, the U.S. Central Command said on Wednesday. There were no U.S. casualties, but the Afghan news agency AIP said three Afghans had been killed in the attack and eight others wounded. The targets were the airport in the town of Khost and a camp further to the north. The area borders Paktia province where the heaviest groundbattles of the Afghan war took place over the last three weeks. Before the attacks, U.S. military officials had warned that although Taliban and al Qaeda forces had been routed they expected small and agile guerilla groups to continue harassing U.S. positions. Approval of New German Immigration Law Questionable In the political dispute over a new immigration law in Germany, the Federal Interior Ministry said on Wednesday that it was not prepared to provide financial incentives to state governments to defray the cost of integrating foreigners. The announcement in Berlin casts a cloud of uncertainty over whether the new law will be passed by the German upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat, which represents the country's 16 states. Earlier, a prominent German newspaper reported that the government wanted to provide financial aid to the states, if they supported the controversial new legislation. Germany's main opposition parties oppose the law, arguing that it would open the floodgates for more immigration. They also maintain a slim majority in the Bundesrat and could block the bill. U.S., EU spar over aid ahead of Bush U.N. speech The European Union and the United States are touting rival plans to boost foreign aid ahead of President George W. Bush's address to a conference in Mexico on financing poor nations' development needs. An EU official has claimed at the U.N. Conference on Financing for Development that the European proposal would channel more money to poor nations than Washington's. Hours later, the Bush administration then said it would double the size of the program it had announced earlier. The German Development Aid Minister, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, said German taxes would go up to help finance increased development aid. She defended putting an extra burden on taxpayers, saying it was in Germany's own interest when other people improved their lives. Zimbabwe's Opposition Leader Charged with Treason Zimbabwe's opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, has been asked to appear in court on charges of high treason, his party reported on Wednesday. The move is seen as another attempt by President Robert Mugabe to crush all opposition to his government, which claimed victory earlier this month in a controversial presidential election. Zimbabwe has been suspended from the Commonwealth because that vote has been internationally criticized as fraudulent and because of ongoing human rights violations by Mugabe's regime. New Zealand, meanwhile, has called for banning Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth Games and said it would introduce trade and travel sanctions. UN condemns Congo rebels for escalating warfare The U.N. Security Council has demanded that Congolese rebels withdraw immediately from a southeast port city they captured in a major violation of a cease-fire. In a unanimous vote, the 15-member body condemned the Rwandan-backed rebels for seizing last Friday the town of Moliro on Lake Tanganyika, saying that no party to the conflict should make military gains while a peace process is under way. Christians Rally Against Syria in Lebanon Several dozen Christian Lebanese students demonstrated against Syrian influence in central Beirut on Wednesday with a large deployment of police looking on. They waved Lebanese flags and chanted "Freedom, Sovereignty, Independence". Maronite Christians lead the opposition to Syria's de facto control of Lebanon. Damascus sent troops into the country early in the 1975 to 1990 civil war to support Christian militias against Moslem and Palestinian fighters. But Syria later turned on Christian militia leaders after they sided with its arch-enemy Israel. -------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. Serbian News Network - SNN [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.antic.org/
