Deutsche Welle English Service News 18.08.2002, 16:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
Saving Dresden's Treasures Dresdeners turned out in force this week to save the city's historic treasures and made saving local museums from the flooding Elbe River a community effort. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1441_A_612308_1_A,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Elbe River falls below 9 meter mark in Dresden Despite gradually receeding water levels in Dresden and a number of other municipalities along the Elbe River, the flooding further down the river has worsened. Dikes have broken near the Saxony town of Torgau as well as near Wittenberg in Saxony-Anhalt. Tens of thousands of residents have been forced to leave their homes, and in Saxony the body of a 12 victim of the flooding has been recovered. In Bitterfeld, a spokeswoman for the local crisis centre said half of the town is under water, however so far, a chemicals complex,is said to be unaffected. In Dresden, the Elbe fell below the 9 meter mark, a drop of 40 centimeters from the peak reached early Saturday. Flood waters now threatening Budapest. Flood waters from the Danube are now threatening the Hungarian capital, Budapest. Death toll rises in South Asia floods The death toll from flash floods and mudslides in south Asia continues to rise. Over a thousand people have been killed since mid-July in Nepal, India and Bangladesh. On Sunday, officials in Vietnam said flash floods killed at least 20 people in northern provinces, as thousands work to reinforcement dykes in preparation for a further rise in waters. Landslides and floods earlier this week forced 22,000 people to leave their homes in the coffee-growing provinces of Lam Dong and Dong Nai, where 5,500 houses are under water. Weather reports said a major storm was approaching the southeast coast of Hainan island in the South China Sea, which could bring torrential rains to northern Vietnam if it made landfall. Zimbabwean police arrest more defiant white farmers A farmers' group in Zimbabwe on Sunday said police have arrested more than 130 white farmers over the last three days. They are some of the almost 1,000 white farmers who have been defying government orders to leave their land for redistribution to landless blacks. Earlier this month, President Robert Mugabe's government ordered 2,900 of the country's remaining 4,500 white commercial farmers to quit their land without compensation. Mugabe, who has been in power since the country gained independence from Britain in 1980, has said his land drive is aimed at correcting colonial injustice. Russia confirms trade deal with Iraq Russia on Sunday confirmed it would sign a 40-billion-dollar economic and trade agreement with Iraq. A top Russian official confirmed the deal was being prepared despite concerns expressed by Washington, and U.S. President George W. Bush in particular. The Bush administration has been soliciting international support for its stated goal of toppling Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Schroeder again says no to military strike against Iraq Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has again stressed Germany's opposition to any U.S. led military strike against Iraq. Speaking at a conference of his Social Democratic Party in Berlin, Schroeder noted that peace and stability was still to be achieved in the Middle East, Afghanistan, and even the Balkans. Therefore, he said, it would not be prudent to spark a new crisis. Sudan renews detention of Islamist leader Sudan on Sunday renewed the detention of Islamist leader Hassan al-Turabi Sri Lanka plans interim council in peace bid Reports out of Colombo suggest the government of Sri Lanka is considering setting up an interim council to govern the north and east of the country, where Tamil Tiger rebels have been fighting for a separate state. According to Colombo newspaper reports, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe believes the council could play a key role in bringing and end to the conflict, and he is expected to make the offer to rebel leaders during peace talks in Thailand next month. Last December, the two sides agreed to a ceasefire in the civil war that has claimed the lives of 60,000 people since 1983. Barrichello wins Hungarian Grand Prix In sports: Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello won the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday, just ahead of teammate, Germany's Michael Schumacher. The one-two Ferrari finish clinched the Italian Formula 1 team's fourth straight constructors title. Schumacher of course, had long since clinched his fifth drivers' title. And in soccer, two games are on Sunday's Bundesliga schedule, with Wolfsburg playing host to Moenchengladbach and Hamburg travelling to Bremen for a northern derby. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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/
