DEUTSCHE WELLE/DW-WORLD.DE Newsletter English Service News 03. 04. 2006 16:00 Uhr UTC
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD: Nuclear Power Tiff to Dominate Merkel's Energy Summit German Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet with ministers and industry chiefs on Monday to plot strategies for long-term energy security. Nuclear power will likely heat up the debate. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1952663,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Click Back is waiting for you! DW-WORLD invites you to participate in the April version of our monthly quiz and win a jacket: http://www.dw-world.de/english ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Thaksin considers stepping down Thailand's Thaksin Shinawatra has signalled he would be prepared to step down as prime minister for the sake of the country's unity. Speaking on television, Thaksin said he would set up a panel of experts to advise him on how to resolve the country's crisis and would resign if the committee asked him to. Earlier, he claimed that his party had won more than 50 percent of the vote in Sunday's vote, but admitted that support for him had plunged. He said that around 16 million people had voted for him compared to 19 million last year. The main opposition parties had refused to put up candidates in Sunday's election after accusing Thaksin of corruption and abuse of power. The Election Commission said there were signs of a large protest vote. Maoist declared Kathmandu ceasefire Maoist rebels in Nepal have announced a unilateral ceasefire for the Kathmandu area ahead of pro-democracy protests. A four-day general strike is due to begin on Thursday under a campaign by seven political parties to pressure King Gyanendra to drop his direct rule and restore constitutional democracy. The rebels in an Internet statement denied a government claim that they planned to infiltrate opposition rallies and create unrest. The king took power in February last year, saying the-then government had failed to quell Maoist revolt. Since 1996 it's been blamed for 13,000 deaths. Taylor pleads not guilty in Freetown Liberia's former president Charles Taylor has pleaded not guilty to charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity at his first appearance before a UN-backed war crimes court in Sierra Leone's capital Freetown. Taylor is indicted on 11 counts including murder, mutilation, sexual abuse and the use of child soldiers under the age of 15. Taylor was arrested in Nigeria whose government had granted him asylum in 2003. The UN Security Council is considering a request to transfer the proceedings to the criminal tribunal in The Hague in the Netherlands because of security concerns. China, Australia sign uranium deal Australia and China have signed a landmark nuclear safeguards pact, paving the way for the export of uranium to fuel China's nuclear power industry. The two countries' foreign ministers signed the deal during a visit to Australia by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. Shipments of uranium are not expected to start until 2010, and could amount ot up to 20,000 tonnes per year. This would double Australia's current exports. The nuclear safeguards deal prohibits military use or resale to a third country. But critics in Australia fear that exporting uranium to China will allow the Asian superpower to divert more of its domestic uranium production to its nuclear weapons program. Eastern Europe on high alert for floods Swollen rivers and floodwaters have forced thousands of people across eastern Europe to leave their homes, and there are fears melting snow could make matters worse. Half the Czech Republic's 14 provinces have been put on flood emergency alert, and the death toll there from the flooding has risen to at least seven. In the Austrian town of Duernkrut, near the Slovakian border, hundreds of people had to be evacuated after a dam broke early on Monday morning. Authorities in the eastern state of Saxony, the worst affected region in Germany, expect the flood to reach its high point on Tuesday. Around 1,500 people had already been evacuated, but so far the waters have remained much lower than the catastrophic levels of 2002. US cargo plane crashes, no fatalities An American Air Force cargo plane with 17 people on board has crashed near an airforce base in the US city of Dover in the state of Delaware after developing problems during takeoff. An airforce spokesman said all 17 had survived although a number of people were injured. The C-5 transport plane is one of the largest aircraft in the world. UN aid chief barred from Darfur The United Nations humanitarian aid chief has been barred from entering Sudan's volatile Darfur region. A spokeswoman for the UN Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Jan Egeland had been refused access despite having the necessary visa. Egeland was due in the region later on Monday before travelling to the Sudanese capital Khartoum. Egeland has recently increased his criticism of the government which he says is not doing enough to alleviate the plight of thousands of refugees. Koehler holds talks in Mozambique German President Horst Koehler has arrived in Mozambique on the first leg of a 10-day trip to southern Africa. After talks with President Armando Guebuza, Koehler welcomed the country's reform efforts but said more needed to be done in the fight against corruption and bureaucracy. Koehler, who is accompanied by a business delegation, was also due to travel to Madagascar and Botswana. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The Week in Germany: The best from German culture, business and politics in a convenient weekly wrap-up. Read and subscribe at www.germany.info/twig ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 [email protected] http://www.antic.org/
