Deutsche Welle English Service News February 25th 2005, 17:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
Iranian Negotiator Would Welcome US Help Iran's chief nuclear negotiator in Berlin on Friday said he would welcome US assistance in the talks over his country's controversial nuclear program. But a senior Iranian cleric accused Europeans of stalling for time. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1501066,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Are you interested in German soccer? Then DW-WORLD has just the thing for you: On Saturday, we offer you a live ticker of a Bundesliga match. The game starts at 15:30 CET, so be sure not to miss it. Follow all the action by clicking on the LIVE SOCCER banner at DW-WORLD's new Bundesliga Web site: http://www.dw-world.de/soccer ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Pope "spends peaceful night" Pope John Paul II spent a peaceful night in a Rome hospital following a tracheotomy operation Thursday. Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Vall said the pontiff was now breathing without a respirator and that his heart and circulation remained good. He added that doctors had advised the Pope not to speak for several days to rest his throat. This is the second time in a month that the 84-year-old head of the Roman Catholic church was rushed to the hospital with breathing difficulties. It remains uncertain if the Pope will be able to make his usual weekly benediction on Sunday. Ayatollah accuses EU of "killing time" A senior Iranian cleric has accused European negotiators of what he called "killing time" in discussions over Iran's nuclear programme. Ayatollah Ahmad Janati, a hardline cleric who heads an Iranian government watchdog agency, used a weekly prayer sermon broadcast live on state radio to accuse the European Union of acting under American pressure. Washington alleges that Iran is developing nuclear weapons. Visiting Berlin, Iran's chief negotiator Hassan Rohani said he believed diplomacy would resolve the issue. German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said the main problem was to establish objective controls ensuring that Iran's nuclear programme is solely for peaceful purposes. More talks between Germany, France, Britain and Iran take place next month. UN investigates Lebanese assassination A United Nations team began an inquiry in Beirut on Friday into the assassination of Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. Lebanon's Syrian-backed government has rejected previous calls for an international investigation into the killing but has pledged to cooperate with the UN's three member team. Lebanon's opposition blames Syria for the bombing murder of Hariri, whose death has intensified pressure on Damascus to end its political and military domination of Lebanon. In response, Syria announced plans on Thursday to pull back its 14,000 troops stationed in Lebanon closer to the two countries' mutual border. The move falls short, however, of demands by the US, France and the UN Security Council for a total withdrawal. Nine Afghan troops killed Nine Afghan troops have been killed by gunmen in an ambush near the border with Pakistan. A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for Thursday night's attack, one of the bloodiest on Afghan troops in months. The ambush came hours after government troops killed 10 Taliban insurgents who attacked a convoy in the southeastern province of Khost. In a separate incident, a US soldier and an guerilla were wounded in a shooting in Kandahar province. Taliban fighters are still waging an open revolt against pro-government and foreign troops more than three years after being toppled from power by a US-led invasion. 9 UN troops killed in eastern Congo The United Nations says a number of its peacekeeping troops from Bangladesh have been ambushed and killed in eastern Congo. A UN source said nine were dead and 11 wounded. Four other UN peacekeepers who were missing after the deadly attack have, in the meantime, been found safe. The patrol was attacked in the mineral-rich district of Ituri, where the UN's mission MONUC has nearly 5,000 troops from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Morocco and Nepal. Since December they have been trying to disband six militia groups which have been harassing villagers. On Thursday, MONUC arrested 27 suspected militants in the town of Datule. Aid workers say clashes in the past two months have displaced 70,000 civilians. Iran to return Russian nuclear fuel Russia's atomic agency chief Alexander Rumyantsev flew to Iran on Friday to sign an agreement on the return of spent nuclear fuel. The accord will finally allow Russia to launch the Islamic state's first nuclear power plant. Russia had refused to complete the plant near the southern Iranian town of Bushehr until Iran guaranteed to return all of the nuclear fuel provided by Russia. Washington had fought furiously to convince Russia to drop the project, fearing that Tehran could reprocess the material to make a nuclear weapon, a fear that Moscow shares. Iran had initially refused to accept the conditions but, after months of negotiations, Russia is now prepared to complete the 606-million-euro project by the start of next year. France's Gaymard quits French Finance Minister Herve Gaymard has quit after criticism over a housing scandal. This follows revelations that he, his wife and eight children were living in a large luxury apartment in Paris paid for by the French state and costing 14,000 euros per month. Gaymard, an ally of President Jacques Chirac, became finance minister only last November. Several French publications say Gaymard already owns several properties across France. The scandal coincides with a government drive to cut state expenditure and public alarm over difficulties of finding affordable accommodation in France. ACP - EU agreement reached After more than a year of negotiations, the European Union and the 77 so-called ACP states of Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific regions have reached a new aid agreement. Among other points, the ACP governments commit themselves to taking stronger preventive measures against the spread of weapons of mass destruction. For its part, the EU declared itself ready, in principle, to increase development aid funding but without setting a definite amount. The EU has not yet determined a formula to divide the costs among its member nations. This latest version of the 2003 Cotonou Agreement is scheduled to be signed in Luxembourg in June. 107 Germans among tsunami dead The confirmed German death toll from the Indian Ocean tsunami rose to 107 on Friday but that number is expected to increase further as more bodies are identified through DNA tests, according to a government spokesman. The German dead were tourists on winter vacations to beach resorts in Sri Lanka and Thailand. Foreign ministry spokesman Walter Lindner said 502 Germans remain missing two months after the Asian disaster which killed at least 290,000 people. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DW-WORLD values your opinion: We look forward to hearing from you about stories we write and regularly post your letters in our reader response section. 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