Deutsche Welle English Service News 26. 01. 2005, 17:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The waiting is over: On Jan. 21 the Bundesliga returned from its winter break and starts off the second half of the 2004/05 season. The remaining match days leading up to the final on May 21 guarantee plenty of excitement. Can FC Bayern-Munich keep its lead at the top of the table or will one of the strong contesters Schalke 04 or VfB Stuttgart overtake the club from the Bavarian capital? And how do the lower ranked teams keep up with the rest? Who will survive into the next season and who will be forced down a notch? Keep informed of what’s happening in Germany’s premier soccer league at http://www.dw-world.de/soccer ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
Keeping the Holocaust Relevant As Europe observes the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Nazi concentration camps, Holocaust educators in Germany are wondering how to keep its lessons relevant to future generations. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1468811,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Many killed in US helicopter crash As many as 36 US soldiers have died in separate incidents in the US military's biggest single loss in Iraq so far. Thirty-one marines died in a helicopter crash in western Iraq. The cause of the crash is still unclear. Elsewhere, insurgents killed at least four US marines in the restive Anbar province while another was killed in northern Baghdad. Earlier at least nine people were killed and 12 wounded as three car bombs went off outside a police station near the city of Kirkuk. British Prime Minister Tony Blair, meanwhile, says certain areas of Iraq could be handed over to local security forces after Sunday's election. Bush hails Iraqi election In his first White House press conference following his second-term inauguration, US President George W. Bush has urged Iraqis to defy insurgents by voting in Sunday's poll. Bush said the violence would not deter the Iraqis' quest for democracy. On other issues Bush said he would continue to remind the Chinese leadership to improve its human rights record and to press Russian President Vladimir Putin on the need for more democratic reforms. Palestinians, Israelis in top-level talks High-level Palestinian and Israeli officials have met in Jerusalem following Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's decision to lift a ban on diplomatic contacts. The talks were expected to pave the way for a summit between Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. Ties were frozen two weeks ago when Palestinian militants killed six Israelis in a Gaza border ambush. An agreement was also reportedly reached between both sides on the deployment of Palestinian forces throughout southern Gaza within 24 hours in an effort to prevent attacks on Israeli targets. Meanwhile, undercover Israeli troops have killed a wanted Palestinian militant in the northern West Bank. Two other Palestinians were also killed on Wednesday. Leaders commemorate Auschwitz victims World leaders have began converging on Poland for ceremonies marking the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the biggest Nazi extermination camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau. On Thursday, leaders from 44 countries including German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder will join camp survivors to pay tribute to the more than 1 million victims, most of them Jews. Schroeder has warned Germans to be vigilant against the rise of neo-Nazism and anti-Semitism, saying it is the "duty of all society to fight against it." More than six million Jews were killed in the holocaust, as well as millions of Poles, Roma, homosexuals, Soviet prisoners and the handicapped. Fischer in talks with Rice German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer has urged the United States to work more closely with Europe. Fischer said he and the designated US secretary of state, Condoleeza Rice, had agreed on many issues at a meeting in Washington. However he added that this was just a starting point. The talks come against the backdrop of tensions between the United States and Iran over the latter's nuclear programme. Germany and other EU states involved in talks with Tehran have urged the US to avoid any military confrontation with Iran. US President George W. Bush is visiting Germany next month as part of his trip to Europe. Acting Ukraine PM faces charges Russia's prosecutor general has said that Ukraine's designated Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko still faces criminal charges in Russia. A court there issued an arrest warrant for her last September on charges of bribery. Tymoshenko is accused of bribing Russian military officials over gas contracts when she was in charge of Ukraine's electric power body in 2001. Russian President Vladimir Putin has declined to comment on the case. Several dead in US train crash In the United States at least nine people have been killed in a train crash just outside Los Angeles. Authorities there said two commuter trains collided causing one of them to derail. Rescue teams are searching for passengers believed to be trapped in the debris. It's still unclear what caused the accident. World Economic Forum opens The five-day World Economic Forum has begun in Davos, Switzerland. Under the theme "Taking Responsibility for Tough Choices," some 2,000 political and business leaders will discuss a host of global issues, ranging from the global economy to climate change and the Middle East. Meanwhile, a UN report released at the Forum says the number of patients receiving AIDS drugs in poor countries has jumped by three quarters over the past year. The report warned, however, that this was only just over 10 percent of people living with AIDS. Via video link up with Davos, French President Jacques Chirac proposed the creation of an international tax to help fight AIDS. US to confirm secretary of state The US Senate is set to confirm Condoleezza Rice as the new secretary of state on Wednesday. With control of the Senate firmly in the hands of George W. Bush's Republican party, her nomination is almost certain. However, Democrats have blasted the former National Security Advisor for her role in crafting US policy in Iraq. They have accused Rice of misleading the US public on Iraq's nuclear threat, fudging the state of readiness of Iraqi security forces and failing to take a stand on the use of torture against terror suspects. Rice will succeed outgoing Secretary of State Colin Powell, and will be the first African American woman to hold the position. Student fees likely in Germany Germany's Constitutional Court has ruled that the federal government can no longer forbid fees for first-time university students. The ruling enables fees to be set from the first term by Germany's 16 regional states, who have a major say on education under Germany's federal system. The teacher's union GEW said it was a "black day" because the court had removed students' entitlement to get a tertiary education irrespective of income. In future, social origin would decide who attended. The German students' association has demanded that universities across Germany standardise their fees at a maximum of 500 euros per term. German states run by the opposition CDU had sought the constitutional ruling. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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/
