Deutsche Welle English Service News 13th August 2004, 16:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Are you mad about soccer and betting? DW-WORLD's new betting pool lets you match your wits against experts and soccer fans from around the world, game by game. You can play individually or as part of a team. You can test your ability to determine winners and losers, the up-and-coming and the has-beens as well as your general soccer expertise with friends and colleagues. Best of all: We'll be awarding fabulous prizes after each game. http://bundesligatip.dw-world.de/english.do ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
The Flame of Anticipation The arrival of the Olympic flame on the Acropolis has finally set Athens alight in fever. After seven years of hard work preparing for the Games, Greece is proudly looking forward to Friday's opening ceremonies. 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_1296912_1_A,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Najaf assault scaled down Iraqi officials and aides to radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr are trying to negotiate an end to nine days of fighting in the holy city of Najaf. The US army in the meantime says it has suspended offensive operations against al-Sadr's militia. The militiamen are holed up the city's Imam Ali shrine, one of the holiest sites to Shiite Muslims. A spokesman for al-Sadr said earlier that the cleric had been wounded by shrapnel, a claim denied by the Iraqi Defence Ministry. The Iraqi Health Ministry meanwhile says at least 170 Iraqis have been killed since Wednesday. Iraqi captors free British reporter A British journalist held hostage by Iraqi gunmen has been released and handed over to the Basra office of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. The militants had kidnapped James Brandon, from the Sunday Telegraph newspaper, in Basra and threatened to kill him if the United States did not pull troops out of Najaf. A spokesman for Sadr had appealed to Brandon's captors to release him. The men seized the reporter early on Friday from his hotel. Palestinian, Israeli killed in West Bank A Palestinian militant has killed a Jewish settler and wounded another before being shot dead by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank. The Palestinian opened fire on the settlers' car near the settlement of Itamar, in the northern West Bank, fatally wounding one and injuring the other less seriously. Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed offshoot of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, claimed responsibility for the attack. Typhoon Rananim kills 115 in China In China, the death toll resulting from the effects of Typhoon Rananim has climbed to 115. Officials in the province of Zhejiang say more than 1,800 others were injured after the strongest storm of the season slammed into China's southeastern coast. Another 15 people were missing in the province after the storm hit on Thursday. Officials said Rananim was packing winds of more than 170 kilometres per hour. Maldivian capital under curfew Maldivian state radio has announced an indefinite curfew in the capital, Male, after troops fired teargas to break up a pro-democracy demonstration there. Witnesses said dozens of protestors were taken to hospital after being baton charged by members of the National Security Service. The pro-democracy activists had demanded the release of all political prisoners held by President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom's administration. Gayoom has come under increasing criticism from dissidents, who say the reforms he is introducing to quell growing unease are only cosmetic. They are demanding that the president bring about democracy in the Maldives, which has no multi-party system. Philippines army kills 15 kidnappers At least 15 members of a kidnap gang operating in the southern Philippines have been killed in a military raid on their suspected hideout. Philippines army officials said that the operation was a law-enforcement drive and not meant to break a year-old ceasefire with Muslim separatist guerrillas from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), who also operate in the area. President Gloria Arroyo is seeking to convince the guerrilla group to return to the negotiating table after extracting a public commitment from its leaders to reject terrorism. Unrest continues in Georgia's Ossetia Georgia's parliament has passed a non-binding resolution calling for Russia's role in South Ossetia to be redefined and for a more international peacekeeping force. Georgia has repeatedly accused Russia of siding with separatists in South Ossetia and providing them with weapons. Violent clashes between central government and separatist forces are continuing for a third day, and at least three people have died in the fighting. Earlier, the convoy of Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania came under fire during a peace mission in the region. No one, however, was injured in the attack. South Ossetia is seeking union with Russia after more than a decade of de facto independence. Ceremony to commemorate Wall victims There has been a ceremony in the German capital, Berlin, to commemorate those people killed at the Berlin Wall, whose construction began exactly 43 years ago. Berlin's mayor Klaus Wowereit and State Parliament Speaker Walter Momper both laid wreaths at a memorial in the city centre. One hundred and ninety people are thought to have died trying to cross the Wall to escape from from East Germany. Austrian seminary shut in sex scandal The Roman Catholic Church has shut down a seminary near the Austrian capital, Vienna, which has been at the heart of a sex and child pornography scandal. Pope John Paul II appointed Bishop Klaus Kueng to investigate the allegations last month. This came after a magazine published pictures of priests at the St. Poelten seminary kissing and fondling students studying for the priesthood. A 27-year-old Polish student priest since expelled from the seminary has been convicted of possessing child pornography. He was given a six-month suspended sentence. Hurricane Charley pounds Havana Hurricane Charley has cut electricity, destroyed homes and uprooted trees after roaring across Cuba. The storm is expected to hit the US state of Florida's densely populated coast in the next 24 hours. Weather experts warn Charley will grow in strength and become a "major" hurricane before hitting Florida. Meteorologists are predicting winds up to almost 190 kilometres per hour. Around 800,000 residents and tourists have been evacuated from the area. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Enjoy our "World News" newsletter? Why not also subscribe to "Daily Bulletin", DW-WORLD's latest daily digest of the day's top German and European stories, delivered to you around 18:30 UTC. To find out more and sign up, please go to http://www.dw-world.de/english/newsletter ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. 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