Deutsche Welle English Service News 22.04.2004, 16:00 UTC ----------------------------------------------------------------------
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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD: Verheugen: EU Expansion Brings Peace and Profit On May 1, the EU will grow to a 25 member bloc of states. DW-WORLD content partner Tagesschau.de spoke to G�nter Verheugen, who has been responsible for designing the current round of EU expansion. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1433_A_1176893_1_A,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Thousands of casualties reported in Korean train blast According to South Korean media reports thousands of people are either dead or hurt after two fuel trains collided and exploded in a North Korean train station. The YTN news network said the number of casualties could reach 3,000. The Yonhap news agency said the explosion took place at Ryongchon about 20 kms from the Chinese border. The trains were said to have been carrying oil and liquefied petroleum gas. It's also being reported that North Korea's president, Kim Jong-il, had passed through the station hours earlier on his way back from China. Gunman shoots Spaniard in Baghdad supermarket In Iraq, a gunman has killed a South African civilian in an attack at a Baghdad supermarket. Police had earlier said the victim was a Spaniard. In the mainly Shi'ite southern city of Basra about 800 supporters of radical cleric Moqtada al Sadr protested against British troops stationed there. Seventy-three people were killed in Basra and nearby Zubeir in Wednesday's attacks by suicide bombers. Speaking at a press conference in London, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, said such attacks must not be allowed to de-rail Iraq's reconstruction. He also said the United Nations was the right authority to move the process forward. Meanwhile, witnesses said the mainly Sunni city of Fallujah was calm. Earlier, a US general warned that insurgents had "days not weeks" to hand over their arms or face a renewed offensive. Swiss nationals in Iraq reportedly freed Two Swiss nationals who had been held hostage in Iraq for the past 48 hours have been freed. Both the Swiss Foreign Ministry and the Arab al Arabiya TV network confirmed their release. The pair worked for a non-governmental organisation and were kidnapped by an unknown group on Tuesday. Around 50 foreigners have been abducted in Iraq over the past few weeks, most have been released unharmed. EU's Prodi heads to Moscow for sensitive talks European Commission President Romano Prodi is in Moscow today for talks with President Vladimir Putin focusing on Russian concerns about EU expansion and other sensitive topics, like Chechnya. Russia has voiced concern that EU expansion on May 1st with 10 mostly ex-communist nations could hurt its economic interests and citizens' travel rights. Moscow has balked at extending a partnership and cooperation agreement with the EU and the two sides are locked in tense negotiations. Bilateral relations also have been strained over EU demands that Moscow raise its domestic energy prices to world levels as a condition for joining the World Trade Organization. Alarmed at Kosovo riots, NATO reviews mission Alarmed by recent violence, NATO members have gathered in Kosovo to review their five-year-old peace mission in the U.N.-administered province. NATO is considering appointing its own political representative to Kosovo, as the European Union has done, following last month's deadly riots. Some 2,600 NATO reserves rushed to Kosovo to reinforce the alliance's 18,000-strong force when ethnic Albanian violence against Kosovo's Serb minority spread out of control, resulting in 19 deaths and hundreds of injuries. Serbia has called on the U.N. to fire its Kosovo governor, Harri Holkeri. Veteran U.S. Balkans troubleshooter Richard Holbrooke said the former prime minister of Finland "did not understand the situation". Russia vetoes Security Council resolution on Cyprus Russia has used its veto in the United Nations Security Council to block a resolution on Cyprus. The United States and Britain had sponsored the resolution that would have encouraged Greek and Turkish Cypriots to adopt a UN plan to unify the Mediterranean island. Russia accused Washington and London of trying to rush the resolution through, without sufficient time for deliberation. This came three days before referendums are to be held on both sides of Cyprus, in which voters are to decide whether to support the UN plan to unite their island. If they vote no, only the Greek part of Cyprus will join the European Union on May 1st. British draft law would electronically tag terrorist suspects The British government has proposed amending its anti-terrorism laws to enable police to tag suspects with electronic bracelets. Legislation passed after the September 11 terrorist attacks already allows British police to detain any foreign resident for an unlimited period, without being charged, on suspicion of having ties to terrorism. Fischer visits Armenia, Georgia German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer has called on Armenia and Azerbaijan to resolve their dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh through peaceful means. Fischer made the statement following a meeting with Armenian President Robert Kocharian, in the capital, Yerevan. He said no major economic upswing could be expected in the region, until this dispute had been resolved. The enclave in Azerbaijan has been separated from the country and under the control of ethnic Armenians since a separatist war in the 1990s. Later this Thursday, Fischer is to travel on to the Georgian capital, Tiblisi. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DW-WORLD.DE on Your Desktop. 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