DEUTSCHE WELLE/DW-WORLD.DE Newsletter
English Service News 05. 09. 2006 16:00 Uhr UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD: Lebanon Signals Delay in Requesting German Troops The Lebanese government has set preconditions for the deployment of a German naval peacekeeping force, saying Israel must first lift its air and sea blockade. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=1hlt4iIfcha79I0&req=l%3D1hlt6mIfcha79I0 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Click Back is waiting for you! DW-WORLD invites you to participate in the September version of our monthly quiz and win a great prize. To play, go to: http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=1hlt4iIfcha79I1&req=l%3D1hlt6mIfcha79I1 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Lebanon agrees to German participation The Lebanese government has given the go-ahead for German naval units to deploy along Lebanon's coast as part of the UN's international peacekeeping force. The German government had been waiting for the move, which still has to be put to the UN and is conditional upon Israel lifting its blockade of Lebanon. The naval force's main task would be to prevent arms being smuggled to the Hezbollah militia. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has asked Israel to lift its blockade within 48 hours. Annan to send envoy for prisoner release United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said he would appoint a special envoy to mediate between Israel and Hezbollah to help secure the release of the two Israeli soldiers held by the guerrilla group. Annan's spokesman said both sides had made the request. At a press conference in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Annan refused to reveal the name of the envoy. Annan has moved on to Egypt for talks with President Hosni Mubarak and Arab League chief Amr Mussa to shore up support for the truce in Lebanon. Blast wounds Lebanese intelligence officer In Lebanon, four people have been killed and a senior Lebanese intelligence officer wounded in a car bomb explosion in the southern city of Sidon. There was no word on the motive for the attack on the officer, Colonel Samir Shehade. Al-Arabiya television network said Shehade had been involved in the arrest of four pro-Syrian Lebanese generals in Lebanon in August 2005. Those four were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in February 2005. Olmert to meet Abbas if soldier is freed Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is prepared to hold peace talks with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas if an Israeli soldier held by Palestinian militants is freed. Israel's Vice Premier Shimon Peres made the announcement on Israel's Army Radio saying that he expected the two leaders to meet as soon as the soldier, who was captured on the Gaza border in June, is released. Peres said talks between the two sides would focus on the roadmap peace plan for the Middle East. Iraq's parliament re-opens Iraq's parliament has re-opened after a month-long summer recess marked by rising sectarian violence. The session began with a discussion about possibly breaking up the country into semi-independent regions. Sunni lawmakers fear such a move could lead to the country falling apart. Parliament also extended the powers of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to combat violence, including curfews and military operations. In the latest violence this Tuesday, three civilians died and six others were wounded by two roadside bombs in the city of Samarra, 100 kilometres north of Baghdad. More than 50 Taliban killed in Afghanistan US artillery and airstrikes have killed between 50 and 60 suspected Taliban militants on the fourth day of a NATO-led offensive in southern Afghanistan. A NATO spokesman said that US troops, operating under NATO command, clashed with the militants in Panjwayi district of Kandahar province. The Afghan Defense Ministry also said Tuesday that 200 militants had died since Saturday in the NATO operation. Pakistan, pro-Taliban militants sign pact The Pakistani government and pro-Taliban militants have reached an agreement to ensure peace in the tribal region bordering Afghanistan. In the deal signed in Miranshah in the Waziristan region, the militants agreed to stop attacks in both Pakistan and across the border in Afghanistan. Hundreds of Pakistani troops and militants have been killed in the Waziristan province as part of the US-led war on terrorism. Many members of the al Qaeda network and the Taliban fled to Waziristan after the overthrow of the Taliban in Afghanistan in late 2001. Danish police arrest nine in terror sweep Danish police have arrested nine people suspected of plotting a terror attack. The intelligence service said the nine suspects were taken into custody early Tuesday morning in a raid in Odense, Denmark's third-largest city. Lars Findsen, the head of the Danish intelligence service, said the nine, some ethnic Danes and some with immigrant backgrounds, were arrested after they allegedly acquired material to build explosives. He did not reveal the planned target of the attack. S. Africa to get non-permanent UN seat South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki has said that his country is to take up a two-year non-permanent UN Security Council seat from next year. He made the announcement following talks with visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Cape Town. Putin is on a two-day visit, the first ever by a Russian leader to South Africa. Aside from talks with Mbeki and other leaders, Putin will oversee the signing of deals for Russian investments in South African mining, metal-refining and diamond ventures. German 2006 deficit at 2.8 percent Germany's Bundestag parliament has begun four days of debate on its federal budget for 2007. Finance Minister Peer Steinbruck reiterated his intention to comply with EU rules and bring Germany's budget deficit back under three percent of gross domestic product. For 2006 he expects 2.8 percent. It would be the first time in four years that Germany fulfilled Brussels' fiscal measures. The opposition liberal Free Democrats accused Steinbruck of financing the move by dipping into peoples' pockets from 2007 by raising taxes. Works starts on new Berlin airport Work has started on a new international airport for Germany's capital Berlin. Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit and Federal Transport Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee took part in the symbolic ground-breaking ceremony at the new site which is next to the current former east German Schoenefeld airport. The new airport, which had to overcome 14 years of legal and political wrangling, is to open in October 2011 and will replace the three Berlin airports currently in use. 2005 Bali bombings suspect sentenced An Indonesian court on the resort island of Bali has sentenced an Islamic militant to eight years in prison for his role in last year's suicide bombings on the island. Abdul Aziz was found guilty of harbouring one of the suspected masterminds in the attack last October that killed 20 people. He also helped set up a Web site that called for attacks against Westerners. Prosecutors had recommended a 10-year sentence. Greenpeace alarm over Chinese rice Greenpeace has warned about rice noddles imported illegally into Europe from China containing an insect-resistant genetic modification that can also trigger allegies in humans. It says "Bt Rice" from Wuhan province has been found in five out of 29 brands of noddles sold in Germany, France and Britain. Genetically modified rice varieties are banned within the European Union. Greenpeace says "Bt" stems from a university research project in Wuhan. Seed rice was sold to farmers. Chinese authorities had destroyed crops but Greenpeace says traces were found in baby foods in Chinese cities. Bavaria criticised over meat scandal The German Ministry for Consurmer Affairs has accused the state of Bavaria of failing to inform the public properly during the so-called rotten meat scandal. A senior ministry official said he had only learnt about the several cases of rotten meat through media reports. Agriculture and Consurmer Affairs Minister Horst Seehofer is concentrating his efforts on combating food scandals in the new consumer information law, which should soon be approved by parliament. Seehofer said the new law would allow the names of offenders caught selling rotten meat to be made public. During a debate in the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, the minister called for unified standards for food controllers. -------------------------------------------------------------------- The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States brought grief to the families of some 3,000 victims and shocked and traumatized billions around the globe. In a special dossier to mark the fifth anniversary of the attacks, DW-WORLD.DE takes a look at what has changed in Germany and Europe, but also further abroad. 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