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Deutsche Welle English Service News April 8th, 2001, 16:00 UTC --------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD: Kirch Files for Insolvency With the Kirch Group's filing for insolvency in a Munich court Monday, the scramble for the remains of Leo Kirch's fallen media empire officially began. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the Internet address below: http://dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1439_A_492842_1_A,00.html --------------------------------------------------------------------- Defiant Israel Puts Toll Beyond 200 Israeli commanders have said army incursions into West Bank Palestinian cities will continue beyond next Friday, when U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell is due in the region. Israel's admission, in defiance of worldwide calls to withdraw, coincided with mounting casualty figures. Israel's army said it had killed at least 30 Palestinians it described as armed in Nablus alone over the weekend - putting the total from its 10-day offensive at 200 Palestinians and seven soldiers killed. Palestinian sources put weekend losses at more than 70 Palestinians killed. Latest reports say Israeli helicopters had fired again at Jenin's refugee camp overnight. On Sunday Hizbollah shelled northern Israel from Lebanon, injuring five people. Residents sheltered in bunkers. Powell's First Stop - Morocco U.S. Secretary of State Powell has left Washington, heading first to Morocco, after saying he would only meet Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, who's besieged in Ramallah, "if circumstances permit". Powell is due to have talks later today in Rabat with Morocco's King Mohammed and Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah. On Wednesday, Powell heads to Madrid, where EU foreign ministers also consult U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and Russia's foreign minister. Igor Ivanov made telephone calls on Sunday to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Arafat, demanding that both support peace efforts. Pro-Israel Rallies Solidarity rallies in support of Israel and against anti-semitism drew tens of thousands of people in France on Sunday - in contrast to pro-Palestinian protests staged on Saturday. In Paris 50,000 attended a pro-Israel rally that was overshadowed by a stab wound to a police officer during a melee between pro-and-anti demonstrators. Similar pro-Israel rallies took place in Toulouse, Lyon, Strasbourg and Marseille. Pro-Palestinian protests took place on Sunday in Brussels, Barcelona, Ottawa, Bahrain, Beirut and Rabat. Moroccan police estimated a crowd of 1.5 million. Three attacks were made on synagogues in France over the weekend - the third late on Sunday in a northern suburb of Paris. The news agency AP says petrol bombs were thrown. Property damage was limited. The arsonists fled. Hungary's Orban Trails - Run-off Likely Hungary appears headed for a run-off election on April the 21st, with the opposition Socialists edging ahead of Prime Minister Viktor Orban's conservative alliance after Sunday's poll. With 90 percent of votes counted, the Socialists, led by prime ministerial candidate Peter Medgyessy, have nearly 42 percent. Their likely allies, the liberal Free Democrat Alliance have 5.8 percent. Orban's alliance, Fidesz, trails on 41.4 percent. The far-right MIEP fell below the five-percent hurdle, denying it seats in parliament. Hungary's complex system combines direct and proportional voting. The country is a leading candidate for EU enlargement in 2004. FARC Blamed for Car Bombing Police in Colombia have blamed leftist FARC rebels for Sunday's car bomb attack in a crowded street that killed 12 people and injured another 67 in the city of Villavicencio. It lies 60 kilometres from Bogota. Police said night revellers were drawn by a small detonation early on Sunday morning. A 50-kilogram car bomb then exploded. No group has yet claimed responsibility. Only hours earlier, a priest had been shot dead in the province of Huila while officiating at communion. President Andres Pastrana ended peace talks with FARC in February, ahead of elections in May. A front-runner is Alvaro Uribe, who's promised a crackdown. Spotlight on Ex-Soviet States German President Johannes Rau has criticised censure of Russia's media and the war in Chechnya during an award ceremony in Cologne for "Memorial", a human rights network in former Soviet states. Memorial received the Lew Kopelew Prize for pioneer work in documenting crimes of the Stalinist era. President Rau said commentators on Russian TV were being silenced. Referring to Chechnya's war between Russian forces and separatists, Rau said no war should harm civilians. His remarks precede a visit to Germany on Tuesday by Russian President Vladimir Putin. He'll attend regular German-Russian consultations in Weimar. Memorial's chairman, Arsenij Roginski described Chechnya's war as "senseless" and said Russian politics amounted to controlled democracy, reminiscent of old times. Invest in Africa - Chretien Visiting South Africa, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien has lobbied for NEPAD, the project to encourage foreign investment in African economies and sound governance. The plan, adopted by presidents Thabo Mbeki and Olusegun Abasanjo, will be a topic at a G-8 summit in Canada in June. Chretian's six-nation tour includes stopovers in Ethiopia and Senegal. Mystery Rocket Firings in Kabul In Afghanistan the multinational force ISAF has located a firing ramp southeast of Kabul from which two rocket-propelled grenades were launched by unidentified attackers early on Sunday. One rocket impacted 500 metres from an ISAF compound; the other landed without detonating outside the perimetre fence. Soldiers later found the ramp, plus eight unused rocket grenades. The incident follows what Afghan officials said was a plot last week to destabilise the interim government of leader Hamid Karzai. Insurgency in Nepal Claims More Lives Nepal's defence ministry has blamed Maoist rebels for the deaths of five soldiers killed by a landmine on Sunday after gunbattles in which 24 rebels were reportedly killed. The detonation, at Kothiyaghat, 600 kilometres west of Kathmandu, wounded seven others, according to a ministry spokesman. The Maoist rebels peace quit talks last November and began attacking military outposts in a bid to overthrow Nepal's constitutional monarchy. Bio Diversity Conference in The Hague Delegates from 182 nations have gathered in The Hague, Holland for a two week bio-diversity conference. The U.N. sponsored gathering will discuss how to further the protection of the world's plants and animals. The UN Environment Program (UNEP) hopes to establish guidelines on sharing the world's biological and genetic resources. The summit will also lay the groundwork for the Earth Summit which will be held in September in South Africa. Fewer Seek Asylum The number of people seeking asylum in Germany during the first three months of 2002, was significantly less in comparision to the same period last year. The Federal Interior Ministry said 33,905 people had sought asylum of which just 2.2 percent were approved. Most of the refugees seeking asylum came from Iraq, Turkey, and Yugoslavia. --------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
