Deutsche Welle English Service News February 7th 2005, 17:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
US Backs EU Efforts in Iran The United States supports a European effort to persuade Iran to abandon its nuclear program but has not "eliminated any alternative," US Vice President Dick Cheney said. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1480068,00.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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rice visits Middle East US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah. At a joint press conference with Abbas, Rice congratulated the Palestinians on their recent presidential elections. She said the current situation offered an opportunity for a two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Rice pledged 40 million dollars in immediate development aid to the Palestinian Authority. Speaking earlier with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in Jerusalem, Rice encouraged Israel to press ahead with its Gaza pullout plan and called on Palestinians to wage "an effective fight against terrorism". Rice's visit to the Middle East comes ahead of an Israeli-Palestinian summit set to take place in Egypt on Tuesday. Germany hails Mideast peace moves German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer has hailed the US administration's renewed commitment to the Middle East peace process. Fischer expressed hope that negotiations would replace terror in the region. He made the remarks during a visit to the Australian capital Canberra after talks with Prime Minister John Howard and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer. The German foreign minister is on a tour of countries affected by the South Asian tsunami, and is next slated to visit Malaysia and Indonesia's devastated Banda Aceh province. Hostage-taking at Spanish consulate Swiss police say they are searching the Spanish consulate in the capital, Bern, following the escape of three intruders who had been holed up in the building. The unidentified intruders had forced their way into the consulate earlier in the day, taking at least two people hostage. Reporters at the scene say the intruders had released a man and a woman. A consulate employee who was injured in the incident is said to have been taken to hospital. Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos has announced that all employees are safe. There have been conflicting reports from the Spanish and Swiss authorities on the number of intruders and hostages involved. The motives behind the hostage-taking are also unclear. Insurgents kill twenty-six in Iraq In Iraq, the group led by alleged Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has claimed responsibility for two suicide attacks that occurred within an hour of each other. In the city of Baquba, northeast of Baghdad, at least 14 people were killed in a suicide car bombing at a police station. Police in Mosul say a suicide bomber blew himself up after mingling with police, killing at least 12 people and wounding four. A mortar attack in the northern Iraqi city killed at least one civilian and injured three. Insurgents say they have killed an Iraqi translator who had worked for US forces. Media reports say insurgents have seized four Egyptian engineers in Baghdad. The group that abducted Italian journalist Guiliana Sgrena on Friday, and threatened to kill her if Italy does not withdraw its troops from Iraq, says her fate would be decided "soon". Rumsfeld says Iran far from nuclear US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has said on American television that Iran would need years to develop nuclear-weapons capability. Rumsfeld said the assessment was based on US intelligence, but he declined to say how detailed the information was. He added that statements by Tehran indicate that Iran has nuclear-arms ambitions. Rumsfeld reiterated assertions of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, that Washington is determined to use diplomacy to solve the standoff over Tehran's alleged nuclear programme. US President George W. Bush has said the option of military action against Iran was still open. Iran says any military strike would be met with retaliation. EU concerned over leadership in Togo The European Commission has called on the West African state of Togo to adhere to its constitution, following the inauguration as president of Faure Gnassingbe, the son of the deceased president. President Gnassingbe Eyadema, Africa's longest-serving leader, died on Saturday after 37 years in office. The military immediately sealed all of the country's borders and appointed Faure Gnassingbe to lead the country. Togo has ammended its constitution to legitimise the succession, which former colonial power France and African leaders call unconstitutional. The government in Lome has now reopened the country's borders, but banned all public demonstrations. Togo's exiled main opposition has called for street protests and a peaceful revolution. Calls for alliance against far right Claims by Bavarian state premier Edmund Stoiber that the government's economic policy is to blame for a rise in the far-right National Democratic Party has sparked vehement reactions. Greens' parliamentary leader Christa Sager accused Stoiber of downplaying the threat presented by the neo-Nazis. She said that as well pushing the NPD into the role of victims, Stoiber was also putting the unemployed on the same level. This, she said was an insult and irresponsible. In a newspaper interview Stoiber said that mass unemployment in Germany is the main cause for the NPD's resurgence. The speaker of the Bundestag, Germany's lower house of parlaiment, Wolfgang Thierse, has called for a wide alliance against the far right to prevent the right-wing extremists from entering the Bundestag. Pope still in hospital The Vatican says the health of Pope John Paul II continues to improve, but that he would remain in Rome's Gemelli hospital for a number of days. On Sunday, the Pope appeared at his hospital window for the first time since his illness. He said through an aide that he was still "serving the Church and all humanity". The 84-year-old Pontiff thanked the world for all the concern shown for his well-being. He was rushed to hospital last Tuesday with breathing problems caused by influenza. Gas accident in eastern Spain kills 18 Eighteen people gathered in a mountain hostel in eastern Spain have died in their sleep from a gas leak. Two others who slept in the building are said to have survived. The victims, aged between 20 and 40, were part of a group of about 50 people who had come together for a birthday celebration Saturday night in the town of Todolella. Officials said a gas heater in the room where the people slept had leaked, leading to the deaths. Chechen rebel leader calls for peace Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov has urged Moscow to open peace talks in response to his unilateral ceasefire. Maskhadov, believed to be hiding out in Chechnya's rugged southern mountains, said that he had ordered a temporary truce last week in the war-torn republic until February 22 as a "goodwill gesture" aimed at Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin insisted it would not negotiate with "terrorists." The guerrilla leader said he had chosen Umar Khambiyev, a former health minister in Maskhadov's separatist administration, to lead the peace effort in a bid to end the more than five-year conflict. Thai opposition leader resigns Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has confirmed that he will sever a coalition partnership with the Chart Thai party, paving the way for a one-party government following his landslide national election victory. Thai opposition leader Banyat Bantadtan has said he will resign after his party's overwhelming defeat. Banyat conceded defeat within 90 minutes after voting booths closed when exit poll results showed a decisive victory for Thaksin's Thai Rak party. Thaksin is the first Thai prime minister whose government has lasted the full four-year term. Game fixing scandal widens The game-fixing scandal in German football is continuing to capture the news headlines. According to a German tabloid, goalkeeper Georg Koch has revealed that he was offered 20,000 Euros last season to let his opponents score a couple of times. That was when he was playing for second division team Cottbus in their game against Regensburg. Koch said he refused and has now notified the German FA. Two days before the national team face Argentina, German national coach Juergen Klinsmann has issued a public statement about the game-fixing scandal in general. German Carnival in full swing In the German cities of Cologne and Duesseldorf the traditional "Rose Monday" Carnival parades have begun. More than a million people have turned out to watch the brightly-coloured floats and marching bands. Many floats are decorated to poke fun at politicians or events that happened during the past year. Participants toss sweets and flowers at the crowds. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DW-WORLD's "Click Back" monthly review quiz for February is waiting for you and will test your knowledge of stories we've written. If you answer all questions correctly, you can also win a great prize. To play, please go to: http://www.dw-world.de/english ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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/
