Deutsche Welle English Service News February 17th 2005, 17:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
New EU Passenger Rights Anger Airlines New EU regulations aimed at giving passengers a fair deal when flights are overbooked, delayed or cancelled come into effect on Thursday -- but the new rules are getting a turbulent reception from European airlines. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1491637,00.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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Bush names new intelligence chief US President George W. Bush has nominated John Negroponte to fill the new post of Director of National Intelligence. Negroponte is the American ambassador to Iraq and Washington's former ambassador to the United Nations. The newly created position will oversee 15 US spy agencies in an effort to fix intelligence shortcomings that became evident following the September 11 attacks. Speaking at a White House press conference, Bush also called on Syria to withdraw its forces from Lebanon. Pressure on Syria has been mounting since Monday's killing of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri, which many in Lebanon blame on Damascus. Shi'ite parties win majority in Iraqi vote Official results from Iraq's historic vote have been announced by the electoral commission after reviewing dozens of complaints. The main Shi'ite religious parties won 140 seats in Iraq's National Assembly, followed by Kurdish parties with 75 seats. The bloc of interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, meanwhile, won only 40 seats. Around 8.5 million votes were cast, representing a turnout of some 58 percent. Sharon's son indicted in funds case Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will not face charges in a campaign funding scandal but his son, Omri, has been formally indicted by prosecutors. Omri Sharon, who is a member of parliament, faces criminal charges in connection with his involvement in setting up shell companies to funnel foreign donations to his father's 1999 primary campaign. If convicted, he could face up to seven years in prison. Car bomb kills 4 in Thailand A car bomb has killed four people and injured 40 in a tourist town in southern Thailand. The blast occurred shortly after the Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra left the region following a visit to discuss security issues with community leaders. The bomb exploded behind a hotel in Sungai Kolok, a town near the Malaysian border, killing bystanders gathered at a noodle shop. Police said the bomb was the work of Muslim militants who have killed more than 500 people over the past year. Chinese envoy to visit Pyongyang China says it will send a special envoy next weekend to North Korea which last week alarmed the world by declaring that it had developed nuclear weapons. The Chinese foreign ministry named the envoy as Wang Jiarui, the head of the Chinese Communist Party's international liaison section. China, which has ties with North Korea, said it still wanted a nuclear weapons-free Korean peninsula and indicated that North Korea should resume six-party talks. South Korean and US negotiators have gone to Beijing to consult with Chinese officials. China and Japan have played down remarks by the new CIA intelligence agency head Porter Goss on the danger posed by North Korean missiles. Annan says Darfur "like hell on earth" UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has appealed to the Security Council to take immediate action to stop the slaughter and destruction in Sudan's Darfur region. Annan described the situation in Darfur as "little short of hell on earth." He said he supported a US-drafted proposal to freeze assets and to impose a travel ban for those who violate a ceasefire in the region. Annan and the UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, said those reponsible for war crimes in Darfur should be tried at the International Criminal Court, a move opposed by the United States. At least 70,000 people have been killed and up to two million others displaced in Darfur in the past two years. Bomb blast as AU team visits Somalia A powerful bomb has killed at least two people in the lawless Somali capital of Mogadishu as a visiting African Union team arrived to prepare for a controversial deployment of regional peacekeepers. The AU delegation had been due to pass the site of the bombing. The team arrived in the country on Monday after the pan-African organization authorized the deployment of peacekeepers to help Somalia's transitional government relocate from exile in Nairobi to Mogadishu. Observers now fear an organized campaign of violence may be launched to prevent their arrival. EU commissioner heads to Ukraine EU external relations commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner is headed to Ukraine for top-level talks, days before the European Union is due to adopt an "action plan" to tighten ties with the former Soviet satellite. The European Commission said Ferrero-Waldner would meet Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko as well as Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko and senior members of her cabinet in Kiev. The Brussels action plan proposes 10 benefits for Ukraine, ranging from better trade terms to eased visa restrictions, but stops short of categorical support for membership in the EU. Fischer focus of visa inquiry A German parliamentary committee has begun its first public hearing into the so-called "visa affair". The focus is on Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer and claims by opposition conservatives that ministry visa regulations that were relaxed in 2000 led German embassies in eastern Europe to issue tourist visas that were used instead by many thousands of people to migrate illegally to Germany. The opposition wants Fischer to testify to the committee after Easter, before a key regional election. A federal government spokesman said Fischer's testimony would come later, before parliament's summer recess. Croatia must deliver war crimes suspect Poland is urging Croatia to hand over fugitive general Ante Gotovina to the war crimes court in the Hague or face a delay of accession talks with the European Union. Polish Foreign Minister Adam Rotfeld made the statement after talks in Warsaw with the warcrimes tribunal's chief prosecutor, Carla del Ponte. EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn already warned last month that the opening of accession talks would be postponed unless Gotovina is delivered to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Gotovina is accused of arranging the killing of at least 150 Serb civilians and the expulsion of 150,000 others in 1995. Conductor Viotti dies The renowned Italian conductor Marcello Viotti has died in Munich. He was 50. Viotti was admitted to hospital last week after suffering a stroke during rehearsal. Born in Switzerland to Italian parents, Viotti led German radio orchestras in Leipzig and Munich. He also conducted at major opera houses, including Vienna, Paris and New York. He was musical director of Venice's rebuilt La Fenice theatre, and had quit his previous job as conductor of Bavarian public radio's symphony orchestra in protest at cost-cutting plans. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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/
