Deutsche Welle English Service News May 26th, 2002, 16:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD: Pakistan Continues Missile Tests For the second day now, Pakistan has conducted missile testing. Islamabad says the series of tests will continue until Tuesday, and has stressed that they are not connected to the confrontation with India over Kashmir. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1434_A_543830_1_A,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Boeing Disintergrated in Mid-Air In the wake of Taiwan's China Airlines crash on Saturday, a top Taiwanese aviation official has said the Boeing 747-200 broke into four pieces at 9,000 metres altitude without warning. No survivers among 225 occupants of Flight CI-611 have been found. Officials say the plane's two black data boxes have been pinpointed in 60 metre-deep waters off Penghu island. The plane disappeared from radar in clear weather en route from Taipei to Hong Kong. Rescue teams have recovered 78 bodies. U.S. and Boeing experts are due in Taiwan on Monday. The fated plane was 23 years old. Most occupants were Taiwanese. China Airlines said 14 passengers were foreign, including two Singaporeans and one Swiss. Bush Arrives in Paris U.S. President George W. Bush has arrived in Paris for talks with newly elected President Jaques Chirac of France which has been Europe's most vocal critic on a wide range of U.S. policy. Bush came from St Petersburg, where President Vladimir Putin said Russia-U.S. relations had improved. In Paris, Bush and Chirac were due to discuss the U.S.-led war on terrorism and the Middle East. On Monday, Bush will visit a cemetery in Normandy, where U.S. dead from World War Two are buried. Today, 1,500 people protested in Caen, a city nearby, with banners citing "U.S. imperialism". Late on Monday, Bush heads to Italy, where on Tuesday he and Putin will attend a NATO summit to establish a NATO-Russia consultative council. Pakistan Test-Fires Second Missile Despite calls for restraint over Kashmir, Pakistan has test-fired a second missile, prompting a muted response from nuclear rival India. Pakistan said it had launched a short-range Ghaznavi missile. It has a range of 290 kilometres. On Saturday, Pakitan had tested a longer -range Ghauri missile, but said its firings were only "routine". In reaction on Sunday, Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said his nation's patience was limited but he awaited diplomatic efforts. Russia's President Putin has suggested that India and Pakistan hold talks at an Asian summit in Kazahkstan next month. So far, India has declined direct consultations with Pakistan. Its president Pervez Musharraf is due to make a key speech on Monday. U.S. President Bush urged India not to view the Pakistan test-firings as a provocation. Stones as Brakes Blamed for Train Crash In Mosambique, medics are trying to save dozens of severely injured victims from Saturday's train crash that killed at least 196 people - apparently as a shunting manoeuvre went wrong. At the scene, 40 kilometres west of Maputo, Transport Minister Tomas Salomao spoke of possible human error. A railways spokesman, quoted by Associated Press, said passenger carriages had rolled down a hill, smashing into wagons of mainly cement that had just been detached from the train. Heavy stones used as chocks by its crew had failed to hold the passenger carriages. The Portuguese news agency Lusa said the train's brakes had failed. Mosambique is now in three days of mourning. Officials warned that the death toll could rise. Salomao said the main line to South Africa would reopen shortly. Elections in Violence-Torn Colombia Preceeded by months of civil war, Colombia's presidential election is under way, with conservative anti-rebel candidate Alvaro Uribe far in the lead, according to pre-poll surveys. Next among 11 candidates is the social liberal and former interior minister, Horacio Serpa. Whoever wins will replace President Andres Pastrana, who in February scrapped peace talks with FARC rebels after a series of kidnaps. Eligible to vote are 24 million Colombians. Uribe's hard law-and-order policies have been criticised by human rights groups who fear civilians could be abused. On election eve, 17 people died in clashes between troops and rebels. Future Papal Visits in Doubt The Vatican says the ailing Pope John Paul, who on Sunday wound up a visit to Bulgaria, may trim future trips abroad, and could drop altogether visits to Mexico and Guatemala in late July. Vatican spokesman, Joaquin Navarro-Valls, said the only trip now certain was a visit by the Pope to youth celebrations in Toronto. The Pontiff, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, trembled at Sunday's mass in Bulgaria's city of Plovdiv. He honoured three Bulgarian Catholic clerics executed by Stalinists in 1952, and also paid tribute to Orthodox Christians who were persecuted. Pope John Paul has rejected suggestions that he step aside on health grounds. Coulthard Pips Schumacher And briefly sports; Sunday's Formula One Monaco Grand Prix was won by David Coulthard driving for McLaren, with Ferrari's Michael Schumacher finishing second. Schumacher is still far ahead with 60 points in the championship series. Coulthard is back in fourth place, with 20, behind Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya level-pegging on 27. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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/
