Deutsche Welle English Service News 25. 01. 2005, 17:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
Berlin Commemorates Auschwitz Liberation Chancellor Schröder warned Germans to be vigilant in the fight against anti-Semitism on Tuesday and expressed his shame as Berlin marked the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1468497,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DW-WORLD values your opinion: We look forward to hearing from you about stories we write and regularly post your letters in our reader response section. Check them out at: http://www.dw-world.de/english or write us an e-mail yourself: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Germany marks Auschwitz liberation Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has marked the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp by warning Germans to be vigilant in the fight against anti-semitism. In a speech to Holocaust survivors and Jewish leaders at Berlin's German Theatre, Schroeder acknowledged Germany's responsibilty. The chairman of the World Jewish Congress, Israel Singer, also reminded Germany of its role. Speaking at the UN headquarters in New York, German foreign minister Joschka Fischer said his country had been deeply affected by the responsibility it bears for the Nazi atrocities. More than one million people were killed, mostly Jews, in Auschwitz between 1940 and the time it was liberated on Jan. 27, 1945. Schily sees little hope for NPD ban Germany's Interior Minister Otto Schily says he sees little chance of pushing through a ban of the far-right National Democratic Party. Schily said the Constitutional Court had introduced high legal hurdles making it difficult to lodge an application for a ban. This comes after Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder had said every avenue had to be explored in convincing the legal system of the necessity of a ban. Last Friday NPD representatives in the eastern state of Saxony caused uproar when they walked out of the assembly as other politicians paid tribute to the victims of the Nazi regime. The NPD members also compared the allied bombing of Dresden to the crimes committed by the Nazis. Arab TV shows video of US hostage The Al Jazeera TV network has broadcast a video allegedly showing a US national taken hostage by insurgents in Iraq. He's been named as Roy Hallams and is seen pleading for his release with a gun held to his head. Earlier an Iraqi judge was assassinated in eastern Baghdad just five days before the Iraqi elections. Meanwhile a leading human rights group has accused the Iraqi authorities of routinely using torture against prisoners. The US-based group Human Rights Watch cites examples of detainees being beaten with cables, subjected to electric shocks and kept in long-term isolated detention, sometimes without food or water. It accuses the interim Iraqi government of failing to keep its pledge to honour and respect basic human rights. Bush wants more war funds The Bush administration is planning to ask the US Congress for about 80 billion dollars in new funding for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. If approved it would push total military spending to 280 billion dollars since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. Congress has already approved about 25 billion dollars for this year. This comes as US army officials announced plans to keep at least 120,000 troops in Iraq for the next two years. The US budget deficit currently runs at around 500 billion dollars a year. Tsunami conference opens in Beijing Officials from China and several southeast Asian states are holding a two-day conference in Beijing aimed at setting up a tsunami early-warning system for the Indian Ocean. Indonesian authorities have said that the death toll from the tsunami on Dec. 26th has now risen to 280,000 and left more than one million others homeless. Scores dead in Indian stampede As many as 300 people are feared dead following a stampe in a temple in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Scores more were reported injured. Police said the panic started after a fire broke out in a nearby shop. Authorities said around 200,000 people had been taking part in an annual religious ceremony near the village Wai, around 250 km south of Bombay. German growth only sluggish The new chairman of Germany's so-called economic panel of five wise men has said the German economy is likely only to grow by 1.5 percent this year. Bert Ruerup said the government's prediction of 1.7 percent of gross domestic product growth for 2005 was too optimistic. Although German exports are booming again, domestic demand remains very sluggish. The government's annual economic report is due to be published this Wednesday. Yuschenko visits Council of Europe Following his visit to Russia newly-installed Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko embarks on a visit to western Europe. His first stop will be Strasbourg, where Yuschenko will speak at a parliamentary gathering of the Council of Europe. On Monday he met with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, where he praised Russia as an "eternal strategic partner". The European Commission believes Ukraine could eventually join the European Union but does not want to make any commitments at this stage. Yuschenko will be meeting lawmakers in Brussels on Thursday. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. 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