Deutsche Welle English Service News January 29th 2005, 17:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
Fighting Illiteracy in Germany Two years into the United Nations Literacy Decade, educators have been tackling the problem of illiteracy where many assumed it wasn't a problem: in Germany. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1471255,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- In light of the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II in 2005, DW-WORLD has put together a special site marking the occasion. Our coverage looks at the effect of World War II on countries around the world and includes interviews with scholars as well as picture galleries. To view the site, please go to http://www.dw-world.de/english ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Violence ahead of Iraq election Just hours before the beginning of Sunday's election Iraq's interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has called for all Iraqis to turn out to vote despite widespread violence ahead of the polls. Security forces have barricaded streets, sealed Iraq's borders and closed Baghdad airport, however more than a dozen polling stations have been attacked and insurgents have killed at least 17 people. Most of the attacks were concentrated in the Sunni heartland north of Baghdad. The Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who claims to be Al Qaeda's leader in Iraq, has vowed to instigate extreme violence at the polls. Meanwhile more than a quarter of a million expatriate Iraqis have begun casting their votes abroad. Polling booths have been set up in 14 countries and in Germany around 26,000 Iraqis are eligible to vote. 14 killed during march in Sudan According to hospital sources around 14 people have been killed by Sudanese police in the eastern city of Port Sudan. The deaths occurred when security forces opened fire on a protest march. Some twenty more people were injured. However an official source said the death toll was lower. Three days ago members of eastern tribes, mostly the Beja, presented a list of demands regarding power sharing to the Sudanese governor. They warned they would take unspecified action if their demands were not met within 72 hours. Zhao buried at low key funeral A funeral has been held in Beijing for former Communist Party leader Zhao Ziyang, who died earlier this month at the age of 85. Zhao was expelled from the party after challenging the decision to use military force to crush the Tianenmen Square student pro-democracy protests in 1989. He spent the last 15 years of his life under house arrest. A high-ranking member of the Communist Party leadership did attend the funeral. Zhao's family had argued with the party over how to honour the ousted former leader. Outside the Beijing cemetery, police broke up a protest by Zhao supporters calling for increased civil rights. Witnesses said there were several arrests. UN advises patience over Iran The head of the UN nuclear watchdog Mohammed ElBaradei has said that he lacks useful intelligence on Iran's nuclear programme and urged states that accuse Tehran of aggressive use of nuclear energy to provide the evidence. Speaking at a news conference at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, ElBaradei voiced frustration at countries such as the United States and Israel that charge Iran is secretly trying to develop nuclear weapons. In a veiled warning against military action in Iran, he said that all political and diplomatic options had to be thoroughly exhausted before considering any other options. China, Taiwan resume direct flights Taiwan and China have resumed direct commercial flights for the first time in 55 years. Taiwan has banned flights to mainland China for more than half a century for what it called security reasons. Over the next three weeks, 48 flights are scheduled for the Chinese New Year holidays. The resumption of the service marks a rare agreement across the Taiwan Strait, but underlying tensions between the two governments still remain. At least 300,000 Taiwanese live and work on the mainland and until now they have had to fly an indirect route back to Taiwan, changing planes at a third destination. Local elections in Indian Kashmir For the first time in over a quarter of a century voters have turned out in big numbers to take part in the first leg of local elections in the troubled region of Indian Kashmir. However Islamic separatist rebels staged a number of deadly attacks on candidates, party workers and rallies in the lead-up to the elections. According to an election official nearly 60 percent of those eligible to vote took part in the ballot. At least 40,000 have died in Kashmir since the eruption of the insurgency in 1989, according to Indian figures, but separatists say twice that number have died. Israel to end offensive in Gaza The Israeli army has announced it will limit its offensive in the Gaza Strip after Palestinian security forces took over control of southern Gaza on Friday. About 2,000 Palestinian police and security officers have been deployed in the region. The Palestinian forces have orders to prevent militant groups from attacking Israeli targets. Israel said it would re-open border posts in the Gaza Strip and would only use military force against militants in the event of imminent threats. Meanwhile unconfirmed reports say that Israeli troops have shot and killed a Palestinian man near Khan Younis in southern Gaza. Witnesses said the 35-year-old man, who reportedly had learning difficulties, was shot as he approached Israel's border fence. Israeli military sources said the army was unaware of the incident. Four arrested in match-fixing scandal Here in Germany four people have been arrested in connection with the football match-fixing and betting scandal. Berlin prosecutors said this week that the German Football Association had notified them of a suspected link between Robert Hoyzer, the referee at the centre of the scandal, and a Berlin bar frequented by Croatian gamblers. The latest revelations come after Hoyzer admitted that he had rigged a number of matches for which he had received 50,000 euros. He told prosecutors that other referees and some players were involved in match fixing. Germany is hosting the 2006 World Cup and FIFA, soccer's world governing body, has urged the DFB to resolve the scandal as quickly as possible. EU aims to ban Nazi symbols The current holder of the EU's rotating presidency, Luxembourg, is considering banning Nazi symbols and introducing tougher jail terms for neo-Nazis and others carrying out hate crimes motivated by racism and xenophobia. Luxembourg said members of the 25-member EU bloc would discuss the measures in Brussels next month. The call comes one day after world leaders mourned the victims of the Holocaust on the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp. German lawmakers called for an EU-wide ban on Nazi symbols after Britain's Prince Harry wore a Nazi costume and a swastika armband at a fancy-dress party. Interior Minister Otto Schily said he doubted tougher laws would be effective, citing the reemergence of the German far-right National Democratic Party as an example. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. You can even listen to all programmes as audio-on-demand. Serbian News Network - SNN news@antic.org http://www.antic.org/
