Deutsche Welle English Service News January 31st 2005, 17:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
Germany United in Praise for Iraq Germany's political parties all praised the millions of Iraqis who braved threats of violence to vote in Sunday's election. Chancellor Gerhard Schröder spoke of an encouraging sign for the country. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1473955,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Are you coming to Germany soon? DW-WORLD has just the thing for you: Ever Monday, we compile a list of the top five events that are going on this week -- from exhibitions to concerts to festivals and markets. Check out "Germany's Top Five" at www.dw-world.de/english ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Allawi calls poll victory over terrorism In Iraq vote counting is underway after the country's first multi-party elections in 50 years. Iraq's interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi hailed the election as a victory over terrorism. He spoke as the UN's senior election official said turnout was higher than expected. However he stressed that voting among Sunnis, whose participation in the poll is seen as key to the success of the new government, was nonetheless low. Western leaders have reacted positively to the poll in Iraq. A spokesman for German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said the higher than expected voter turnout was a sign of the country's resolve to determine its own future. The leaders of United States and Britain praised the courage of Iraqis in casting their ballots. British military plane crashes in Iraq Ten British troops are missing and feared dead after their transport plane crashed in Iraq. The British defence ministry says it is investigating the cause of the crash, which happened some 40 kilometres northwest of Baghdad on Sunday. A spokesman said the aircraft was on its way to the US airbase at Balad, with weather conditions reported fine at the time of the crash. An Islamist group has posted a message on the Internet saying it shot the plane down, and security analysts say the crash happened in an area where several US aircraft have been hit by ground-to-air missiles. Hamas fires mortars at Gaza settlement The radical Palestinian group Hamas has fired mortar shells at a Jewish settlement in the southern Gaza Strip after the fatal shooting of a Palestinian schoolgirl. The attack came after the 10-year-old girl was shot dead at a UN-run school in the southern town of Rafah in an incident which medical sources said was the result of Israeli army gunfire. An Israeli military source said that the army was not aware of any shooting incident and was investigating. The violence has strained a de facto cease-fire brokered by new Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ahead of a planned Israeli pullout from Gaza. Guantanamo tribunals "unconstitutional" A US judge has ruled that the Guantanamo military tribunals for terrorism suspects are unconstitutional. In a setback for the Bush administration, US District Judge Joyce Hens Green also ruled the prisoners at the US military base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba have constitutional protections under the law. More than 540 suspects are being held at Guantanamo after being detained during the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan and in other operations in the so-called war on terror. Bush administration attorneys argued the prisoners had no constitutional rights and their lawsuits must be dismissed. Yugoslav general jailed over Dubrovnik Former Yugoslav general Pavle Strugar has been sentenced to eight years in jail for his role in the 1991 siege of the Croatian town of Dubrovnik. At least 50 people died and hundreds were wounded during the three-month siege of the medieval town. The UN war crimes tribunal at The Hague ruled that he did not order the bombing but failed to stop the attack when he could have done so. The war crimes tribunal at The Hague is also currently hearing the trial of the former head of the Bosnian army, Sefer Halilovic, over the killing of Bosnian Croat civilians during the civil war. Halilovic is the most senior Bosnian Muslim commander to face trial at the tribunal. His charges relate to an operation to retake territory controlled by Bosnian Croat forces and to end the blockade of the city of Mostar. Trial of Mont Blanc disaster opens A trial has opened in France to establish responsibility for a fire in the Mont Blanc tunnel which killed 39 people almost six years ago. Sixteen defendents are being charged and could face up to three years in prison. The blaze in the tunnel, which links France and Italy, was believed to have started in a Volvo truck and spread to other vehicles, creating thick smoke that killed most of the victims. It took firefighters nearly three days to put out the flames. The trial proceedings are being translated into four languages and are expected to last three months. UN "says" no genocide in Darfur The Sudanese foreign minister claims that a United Nations report says that genocide was not committed in Darfur. If genocide was found to have taken place, signatories to a UN convention are legally obliged to act to end it. The report has been given to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan who said it would be published shortly. More than 70,000 people have been killed and two million forced to flee their homes in Darfur. The United States says that government- backed militias have committed a genocide against Darfur's non-Arab groups. The government denies arming the Janjaweed militias and blames Darfur's rebel groups for starting the conflict. German jobless total passes 5 million Germany's economics minister Wolfgang Clement has said he expects the latest labour market figures to show that unemployment in Germany has passed the five-million mark. In a newspaper interview he said that although the increased figure was influenced by seasonal factors, it was mainly due to labour market reforms. As part of these changes, for the first time 200,000 people receiving social welfare are now counted as jobless. The latest official unemployment figures are due to be announced on Wednesday. German club admits player took money Germany's football match-fixing and betting scandal has taken another turn with lower league soccer team Paderborn saying that its captain took money before the game at the centre of the scandal. Dutchman Thijs Waterink accepted 10,000 euros from an unidentified man shortly before Paderborn's German Cup tie against Hamburg on the understanding he could keep the money if his side won. Referee Robert Hoyzer has already admitted helping Paderborn beat first division Hamburg 4-2. Paderborn's anonymous backer was reportedly connected with Croatian mafia circles that persuaded Hoyzer to rig matches for 70,000 euros. The Hoyzer scandal shows no sign of abating with three Croatian men arrested in Berlin on Sunday. Three Hertha Berlin players have also been named in the scandal. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The waiting is over: On Jan. 21 the Bundesliga returned from its winter break and starts off the second half of the 2004/05 season. The 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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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/
