Deutsche Welle English Service News June 23th, 2002, 16:00 UTC Iran earthquake death toll revised down to 230 The official death toll from Saturday's earthquake in northwestern Iran has been revised down to 230, with 1,500 people injured. The quake, measuring six-point-three on the Richter Scale, destroyed dozens of villages in Iran's Qazvin and Hamedan provinces, leaving over 25,000 people homeless. The earthquake prone region, which is situated on a major earth fault is famed for its seedless grapes that grow on mountainsides. China and South Korea resolve row over North Koreans China and South Korea said on Sunday they had agreed to permit the North Koreans holed up in Seoul's consulate in Beijing to travel to South Korea via a third country, ending a month-long diplomatic standoff. A statement said the 23 North Koreans in the consulate and the one North Korean man who was dragged away by Chinese police would leave as soon as possible. China's official Xinhua news agency said that the North Korean asylum seekers would be allowed to go provided they had not committed a crime in China. Ratsiraka returns to Madagascar A defiant Didier Ratsiraka has returned to Madagascar, after a 10-day overseas trip, insisting he is still the divided island's rightful ruler. The veteran ruler also denied allegations he had hired mercenaries to try to topple his opponent Marc Ravalomanana, his rival in a six-month-old power struggle on the giant Indian Ocean island. Mr.Ravalomanana has accused Mr. Ratsiraka, ruler Madagascar for over 20 years, of hiring two teams of mercenaries, one from France and another from South Africa. Madagascar has been in crisis since disputed December elections. Mr.Ravalomanana was declared the winner after the High Court recounted the vote last month, but Mr. Ratsiraka refused to accept the ruling. Papua New Guinea election death toll rises to nine The death toll in Papua New Guinea's chaotic election rose to nine after police on Sunday confirmed seven more deaths in the South Pacific nation's remote highlands, local media reported.The national election has been marred by deaths, violence, stolen ballot boxes, multiple voting and incomplete electoral rolls, since voting started on June 15th. And with voting continuing until June 29th, police and election officials told reporters on Sunday they feared more violence between supporters of rival candidates. Tribal wars are common in Papua New Guinea's mountains where most of the country's 5 million population live subsistence lifestyles and cling to traditional beliefs like black magic. Cameroon postpones parliamentary elections Parliamentary and municipal elections in Cameroon that were scheduled to begin today, were postponed for a week, the government said. An official statement said it had discovered late on Saturday because of lapses in organisation, not enough ballot papers had been printed and distributed and urged people in the central African country to remain calm. The voting had been expected to tighten President Biya's grip on power, but the campaign had also highlighted political conflicts within Cameroon. At least 10 people were hurt in clashes in the run-up to the elections. Colombian mayors resign in the face of FARC threats In Colombia the mayors of 23 towns and 90 local politicians have resigned saying they feared for their lives after threats from FARC, the leftist rebel militia. They made the announcement in the war-torn province of Antioquia. Already this year, eight rural mayors have been killed. Many say they're being targeted for backing hard-line President-elect Alvaro Uribe and have demanded police protection. The government has urged the mayors not to be intimidated and to remain in office. The 17,000 strong FARC says it wants social reforms for Colombia's poor. But increasingly it's been linked to cocaine traffiking, murder and kidnapping. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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/
