Deutsche Welle English Service News 20. 01. 2005, 17:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The waiting is over: on Jan. 21 the Bundesliga returns from its winter break and starts off the second half of the 2004/05 season. The 17 remaining match days leading up to the final on May 21 guarantee plenty of excitement. Can FC Bayern-Munich keep its lead at the top of the table or will one of the strong contesters Schalke 04 or VfB Stuttgart overtake the club from the Bavarian capital? And how do the lower ranked teams keep up with the rest? Who will survive into the next season and who will be forced down a notch? Keep informed of what’s happening in Germany’s premier soccer league at http://www.dw-world.de/soccer. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
Not Exactly the Welcome Wagon Thousands of protesters are expected at US President George W. Bush’s inauguration. While some in Germany will hit the streets, demonstrators really want their voices to be heard during the president’s February visit. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1463273,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Bush inauguration opens George W. Bush has been sworn in for his second term as US president. Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist delivered the oath of office. In his inauguration speech Bush outlined his goals for the coming term. Earlier Vice President Dick Cheney was sworn in for his second four-year term. Some 13,000 security personnel are on duty for the $40 million ceremony. The entire area around Capitol Hill and the White House has been cordoned off. About 500,000 people have gathered for the ceremony and parade. Militants claim Briton, Swede murdered A militant group has said it abducted and murdered a Briton and a Swede in Iraq. The Army of Ansar al-Sunna, linked to terror network Al Qaeda, posted its claim on the Internet. The statement's authenticity has not been confirmed. The group said it killed them in the central Iraqi city of Beiji. The British and Swedish authorities had no details on the claims. On Wednesday, a Briton and an Iraqi died in an ambush while travelling in a convoy near Beiji, and their employers said another foreigner was missing. The Army of Ansar al-Sunna has kidnapped and beheaded several Iraqi soldiers and foreign workers. It has also vowed to disrupt national elections at the end of the month. Zarqawi predicts long war in Iraq Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has allegedly told his followers to prepare for a lengthy war against US-led forces in Iraq. Zarqawi purportedly made the statement on an audiotape that was posted on an Islamist website on Thursday. The tape's authenticity has not been confirmed. In the recording the speaker says victory in the holy war could take months and years. The voice also claims that around 800 Israeli and Jordanian troops took part in the US-led assault of the city of Fallujah last November. Germany mourns tsunami victims Germany's parliament has commemorated the victims of the Asian tsunami catastrophe this Thursday. Addressing the Bundestag, President Horst Koehler paid tribute to those that had died. He said that the tragedy touched the lives of many Germans, who knew people killed, wounded, or missing. Parliament stopped its work for an hour in honour of those who lost their lives. At least 60 Germans officially died and 598 are still missing. Palestinians present Gaza plan Palestinian and Israeli security officials have met to discuss the deployment of Palestinian security forces along the Gaza strip. A senior Palestinian official said security troops could be deployed at any time in an effort to halt the militant attacks on Israeli targets. In response, the Israeli government said it would reopen the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt. It was closed last month after militants attacked an Israeli patrol. Meanwhile the militant group Hamas has set out its conditions for a ceasefire. They include an end to all Israeli military activity in Gaza, the dismantling of checkpoints and the release of Palestinian prisoners. Afghan warlord escapes bomb blast The Afghan warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum has escaped an assassination attempt in his hometown of Shiberghan after a suicide bomber blew himself up. A video of the attack showed Dostum among a throng of people at an open-air prayers ceremony. Moments later an explosion was heard and smoke rose from where Dostum had been sitting. At least 20 people were reported wounded. The ousted Taliban government said it had carried out the attack in response to Dostum killing Taliban fighters. Dostum fought the Taliban in the late 1990s and helped US forces overthrow the government in 2001. Yushchenko to visit Moscow The Russian news agency Interfax says that President Vladimir Putin has congratulated Viktor Yushchenko on winning the Ukrainian presidential election. And Yushchenko's office announced that he will be visiting Moscow on Monday, after he takes the oath of office on Sunday. A majority of parliamentary deputies has voted to hold the inauguration on Jan. 23. It follows a Supreme Court ruling earlier on Thursday that rejected appeals from the defeated candidate, former Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich. Yushchenko beat Yanukovich in the ballot by a margin of eight percentage points. The new president says he wants to move Ukraine closer to Europe while maintaining traditional links with Russia. Many dead in Nepal violence At least 29 Nepalese soldiers and six Maoist rebels have reportedly been killed in a new wave of violence in eastern Nepal. It marks the first major fighting since a deadline to hold peace talks expired. Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has vowed to hold long-delayed elections later this year after the rebels failed to respond to an offer to hold talks by Jan. 13. Maoist leaders have warned the government it would pay a heavy price if it went ahead with the general election. Iran's leader warns US Iran's President Mohammad Khatami has warned the United States that his country would defend itself against any US military action. Khatami was speaking in the Ugandan capital Kampala at the end of a seven-nation tour of Africa. He said the US had its hands full in Iraq and said any type of attack would not benefit anyone. This comes after US President George W Bush said on Monday he would not rule out military action if Tehran failed to end its nuclear programme, which Washington alleges is being used to make nuclear arms. Pfahls put in German custody A former German minister, wanted on corruption charges, has been taken to a jail in Augsburg. France extradited Holger Pfahls earlier on Thursday. He is to appear before a court within the next 24 hours. Pfahls had been on the run for five years before he was arrested in Paris last summer. He was a junior defence minster under former chancellor Helmut Kohl and is accused of accepting a two-million euro bribe in connection with an arms sale to Saudi Arabia in the 1990s. His trial in Augsburg is due to begin in March. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- When the ball gets rolling on the first day of the second half of the Bundesliga season, it’s time to place your bets at DW-WORLD again. Bet, score and win is the name of the game. Compete with soccer fans around the world by predicting who will be up or down, how many goals and how tops the table. Return for each match day and participate in the game individually or as a team with friends and colleagues. Prove your skill at picking the winners, and if you bet correctly, you’ll be awarded with great prizes each time the Bundesliga plays. So join the fun, it’s only a click away. http://www.dw-world.de/english/kickofftip ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. 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