Deutsche Welle English Service News May 31st 2002, 16:00 UTC
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD: Senegal Upsets France in Inaugural Match France's former colony beat the defending world champion 1-0 in a sensational start to the historic World Cup in South Korea and Japan. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1451_A_566081_1_A,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Leave India - USA, Britain and Germany Advise Citizens The USA and Britain - and now Germany - have advised their citizens in India to leave the region because of raised tensions over Kashmir between the nuclear rivals India and Pakistan. The warnings apply to 60,000 U.S. citizens and some 20,000 Britons. The USA said "tensions had risen to serious levels". British foreign minister Jack Straw said war was "not inevitable", but Britons should consider leaving. Diplomatic staff were being scaled down. Likewise, the German Foreign Office said German citizens and family members of diplomats in India should consider departure. U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld visits the region next week. India said its prime minister would attend a summit of 16 Asian nations next week, but Atal Behari Vajpayee would not meet Pakistan's leader Pervez Musharraf. Latest border clashes have reportedly left one more person dead on each side and several injured. Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes the situation was "stable", apart from artillery duells. Israel Raids Nablus - Fischer Winds up Talks Israeli forces have raided the West Bank city Nablus and its Balata refugee camp as German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer winds up a visit aimed at initiating an international peace conference. In Tel Aviv, Fischer was due to meet his EU colleague, Javier Solana, before flying on to Egypt. After talks with Israeli leaders, Fischer today met Palestinian politicians in Ramallah. Germany was willing to assist in a democratisation of Palestinian institutions, he said. Witnesses in the Nablus area said Israeli forces searched homes and detained 100 men, including a Fatah leader, Issam Abu Bark. A curfew had been imposed. The army said it was responding to recent suicide bombings. U.S. assistant secretary of state William Burns has had separate talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders. Algeria's Ruling Parties Returned In Algeria the ruling FLN party of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has been declared the winner after Thursday's parliamentary election that was marred by a turnout of only 48 percent and opposition boycotts. The interior ministry said the military-backed FLN won 199 of parliament's 389 seats. The coalition RND party of former president Liamine Zeroual came second with 48 seats, sharply down from 156. Thursday's poll was largely boycotted in the Kabylie region populated by ethnic Berbers. Interior Minister Noureddine Zerhouni said one protestor was killed as Berber militants and security forces clashed on polling day in Tizi Ouzou, a Kabylie city. 110 other people were hurt. Foreign diplomats and analysts say many Algerians remote from a ruling elite are disillusioned by poverty and high unemployment. U.N. Warns of Refugee Disaster in Congo-Brazzaville International aid agencies say tens of thousands of refugees in Congo-Brazzaville urgently need help. A United Nations spokesman said they've fled to forests and little villages from continuing fighting in the Pool region and are destitute. Government troops supported by Angola have for weeks been fighting big battles with opposition Ninja militias. The UN co-ordinator for humanitarian matters in Brazzaville, William Paton, says most of the refugees are in areas inaccessible so far because of security concerns. In New York the UN emergency relief co-ordinator, Kenzo Oshima, called on the conflicting parties to assure safe passage to the sufferers. Germany's FDP Regrets Moellemann's Remarks Germany's opposition FDP has distanced itself from alleged anti- Semitic remarks made by its deputy leader Juergen Moellemann but Jewish leaders in Germany says they still want a direct apology. Just back from a trip to Israel, FDP leader Guido Westerwelle issued a declaration adopted unanimously by his executive, expressing regret and disapproval of Moellemann's remarks. They had been erroneous and misunderstood, the party said, and Mollemann had since retracted them. Michel Friedman, the vice president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, who'd been the target of the remarks, today also reiterated a council demand that Moellemann's FDP parliamentary group in the Duesseldorf regional assembly also expel a recent recruit, Jamal Karsli, who'd sharply criticised Israel's premier Ariel Sharon. German Opposition Flexes Muscle Germany's opposition centre-right parties have use their new majority in parliament's upper Bundesrat chamber, to block legislation submitted by Chancellor Schroeder's governing coalition. Since last month's regional election in eastern Saxony-Anhalt state, won by a CDU-FDP coalition, the opposition has a one-vote margin in the Bundesrat. Draft law designed to stop cheap-wage firms from undercutting on public construction and transport tenders was diverted to parliament's inter-chamber mediations committee. Outside the Bundesrat in Berlin, 15,000 people protested the obstruction. The Bundesrat, comprising 16 regional Laender, also rejected SPD-Greens' legislation aimed at better informing consumers on products they buy. Taskforce to trace German feed poison Top German agriculture officials have set up a taskforce to investigate a scandal over supposedly organically grown animal feed grain contaminated with a banned, cancer-causing weed-killer, Nitrofen. The substance has got into the food chain and consumers are being urged not to eat certain products. One possible cause of the contamination being suggested is sabotage to discredit organic farming. There are also press allegations that the authorities knew of the pollution since January but failed to act. Soccer Cup - Senegal Beats France! Soccer's World Cup has begun in Korea and Japan with a sensation. New-comer Senegal has beaten defending champion France, 1-nil. Senegal's winning goal was kicked by Douba Diop. France lacked its star Zinedine Zidane. The opening match was played in Seoul where South Korea's President officially opened the four-week contest. Germany's first match is against Saudi Arabia in Sapporo, Japan. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. 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