Deutsche Welle English Service News April, 20th, 2004, 16:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
Blair Confirms Brits To Vote on EU Constitution In a major reversal of policy, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Tuesday he will call a British referendum on the EU constitution following months of pressure from the euroskeptic opposition conservatives. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1430_A_1175331_1_A,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Final Round: Go East! The EU Quiz: Europe is expanding East. Embark on a journey through the 10 candidate countries set to enter the EU by playing the fourth and final round of DW-WORLD's Go East quiz. Lots of great prizes are waiting to be discovered. http://dw-world.de/go-east ---------------------------------------------------------------------- BJP ahead in India's first election phase With the first day of voting over in India's phased three-week parliamentary elections, a television channel's exit poll survey shows the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in the lead. Sahara Television said its sampling of voters as they left polling stations indicated that the BJP had won 82 of the 140 seats contested this Tuesday. The opposition Congress and its allies had gained 55 seats. Officials said new technology for voting had been well received, although some elderly people were baffled. Tuesday's vote spanned 16 of India's states and territories, with 175 million people eligible. Four more voting dates are set through to May the 10th so voters can complete their selection of 543 members of India's new parliament. Election-day violence left 15 people dead, including a driver and human rights activist in Kashmir. Their car ran over a landmine. 21 prison inmates killed, says U.S. military The U.S. military says mortar shells have struck a detention centre it runs at Abu Gharib, just west of Baghdad, killing 21 inmates. General Mark Kimmitt said 120 other people had been hurt. Initial information indicated that all victims were prisoners, he said. He gave few other details. The Arabic television station al-Jazeera said unknown assailants had attacked the facility. Iraqi civilians return to Fallujah after deal The first Iraqi civilians have been allowed to return to Fallujah, the day after a deal was struck to defuse tensions following a two-week siege by US marines. The US military says it is allowing 50 families to re-enter the city each day. Iraqi mediators agreed to urge insurgents to surrender arms. In return, American forces have undertaken not to open fire randomly, allowing free movement outside curfew hours for medical treatment, humanitarian supplies and the burial of the dead. Over 600 Iraqis died in the siege, most of them civilians. Honduras like Spain to withdraw from Iraq Following Spain, Honduras has announced it is also withdrawing its military forces from Iraq. Honduras has some 370 troops serving under Spanish command in Najaf. Earlier, the newly elected Spanish Prime Minister, Jose Luis Zapatero, announced that Spain's 1,400 troops in Iraq had already begun preparations for pulling out over the next six weeks. The move fulfills an election promise to withdraw if Spanish troops in Iraq were not placed under a United Nations' mandate. United States Secretary of State Colin Powell expressed regret at the decision, warning that other coalition nations may also withdraw. Thailand has said it will bring its 400 troops in Iraq back home if they are attacked again. Blair makes U-turn on EU referendum British Prime Minister Tony Blair has announced plans for a referendum on a European Union constitution. The move is a U-turn for Blair, who had previously ruled out any public vote on Europe. Speaking in parliament, Blair defended Britain's role in the EU. There is widespread scepticism toward the European Union in Britain, and analysts say voters could well reject any new constitution. The referendum itself is not expected until 2005 at the earliest, after the next general election. EU negotiations on the proposed constitution collapsed earlier this year, but change of government in Spain and Poland - two major objectors - have revived hopes of an agreement. Second survivor testifies at Dutroux trial At the Dutroux trial in Belgium, a second surviving victim, Laetitia Delhez, has testified that six-days' of abusive captivity in 1996 left her mistrustful of men for ever. Delhez also described telephone calls by the alleged multiple kidnapper Marc Dutroux. A leading police investigator said it wasn't clear whether those calls with another accused, Michel Nihoul, amounted to confirmation of Laetitia's kidnapping or related to a car repair. Another survivor, Sabine Dardenne asked the court to silence Dutroux when he implied today that he had kidnapped Laetitia to keep her company. Dutroux denies murder over the deaths of four other girls who perished. Fischer contrast Afghanistan with Iraq On a visit to Afghanistan, German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer has reiterated Germany's commitment to helping it to recover from decades of warfare. In Kunduz, he met German peacekeeping troops assigned to reconstructions teams and said they had established trust. Later in Kabul, Fischer said Afghanistan's stabilisation efforts under United Nations mandate did not amount to occupation. Contrasting this to turmoil in Iraq, Fischer it was not too late to learn, adding that all hopes in Iraq now rested on UN envoy Lakdar Brahimi, who was previously the UN envoy in Afghanistan. President Hamid Karzai thanked Fischer for Germany's recent hosting in Berlin of an international donors conference. Fischer said he was concerned about Afghanistan's cultivation of poppies used to produce heroin. UN team to enter Sudan as crisis worsens A United Nations team is to be allowed into Sudan to probe alleged atrocities by government-backed militia in the west of the country. Khartoum had initially denied the team entry. According to the UN, 1 million people have been displaced in the western Darfur region as a result of ethnic cleansing by Arab militias. Meanwhile, as peace talks continue between the Sudanese government and southern rebels continue in Kenya, there are reports of further attacks on southern villages by pro-government fighters, causing some 50,000 to flee their homes. War crimes trial begins for WW2 massacre in Italy In Italy, the trial has begun of three former SS officers charged with murdering 560 civilians in a Tuscan village during World War Two. The defendants, all in their eighties, will not be in court as they are also under investigation in Germany. Hundreds of German SS troops surrounded the village of Sant'Anna di Stazzema days after British troops liberated Florence in 1944. Witnesses say they rounded up the villagers, mostly women and children, and shot them before burning bodies and houses. Italian authorities only began investigating the massacre 10 years ago when a journalist stumbled across witness statements hidden in the ministry of defence. US and Israel criticised at UN There has been strong criticism of the United States and Israel at an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council. The meeting was called by Arab nations to debate a resolution condemning the assassination of Hamas leader Abdelaziz Rantissi by Israeli forces on Saturday. A previous security council resolution that criticised Israel's killing of Dr. Rantissi's predecessor, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin was vetoed by the United States. The new resolution also condemns Palestinian terrorist attacks, but is once more expected to be blocked by Washington. Jordan's king postpones visit to Washington Amidst the continuing tension in the Middle East, King Abdullah II of Jordan has postponed a visit to Washington for talks with United States President George W. Bush. According to the Jordanian royal palace, a new meeting could take place in May, after Washington had "clarified its position" on the Middle East peace process. Bush recently gave his support for Israel's controversial plan to vacate the Gaza Strip while keeping many Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. Whistleblower Vanunu faces gags The Israeli government has published a list of restrictions to be placed on Mordechai Vanunu, the former nuclear scientist kidnapped and imprisoned for revealing secrets of Israel's atomic weapons programme. Vanunu is due to be freed from prison tomorrow after serving a 18 year prison term, 12 years of which were spent in solitary confinement. Under the terms of his release, he will be denied a passport, and forbidden from approaching ports or airports. His movements, residence, and right to speak to foreigners will also be restricted. The Israeli interior ministry maintains Vanunu is still a threat to national security. Vanunu insists he has no more secrets to reveal, and says he wants to leave Israel. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DW-WORLD.DE on Your Desktop. 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