Back to newsletter list
DEUTSCHE WELLE/DW-WORLD.DE Newsletter
English Service News
23.12.07, 17:00 Uhr UTC
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
We here at DW-WORLD.DE would like to wish all of our subscribers
Happy Holidays! Please click on the link to get a special greeting
from us in all 31 languages of Deutsche Welle.
http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=evx7wnI4501ileI0&req=l%3Devx7wmI4501ileI0
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
Survey Shows Germans Nervous About Their Economic Future
The economy has grown and unemployment has fallen during 2007, but
Germans are going into 2008 in a mood of increasing anxiety about
their economic future, a new survey has shown.
To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the
internet address below:
http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=evx7wnI4501ileI1&req=l%3Devx7wmI4501ileI1
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
US welcomes Thai vote as 'free and fair'
The United States has welcomed the outcome of Thailand's first
election since a military coup in September 2006. State Department
spokesman Sean McCormack said the vote had been free and fair. The
political party backing ousted Thai prime minister Thaksin
Shinawatra handily won the most seats in Sunday's parliamentary
election. With more than 90 percent of votes counted, Thaksin's
People Power Party was set to win about 230 seats in Thailand's 480-
member national assembly. Unofficial results show the rival Democrat
Party winning 161 seats. Thaksin has been living in self-imposed
exile in London since being deposed by the Thai military 15 months
ago.
Hindu nationalists win Gujarat poll
India's Hindu nationalists have scored a resounding victory in
Gujarat in a closely watched state election seen as a crucial test
before the next general election.The Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP,
led by Narendra Modi, won 117 seats in the 182-seat Gujarat state
assembly. The rival Congress Party, which governs at the national
level, took 59 seats with the remainder going to independents. The
Hindu nationalist BJP, blamed for stoking anti-Moslem riots in
Gujarat in 2002, did well in rural areas where scores of debt-ridden
farmers have committed suicide in the past few years.
Italy's Prodi visits Afghanistan
Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi paid a visit to Afghanistan this
weekend as the third western leader to go to the country. Prodi met
with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the commander of the NATO-led
International Security Assistance Force,ISAF, which is working to
combat the Taliban-led insurgency in the country. An Italian embassy
official said Prodi was also due to visit Italian troops stationed
in the western city of Herat. His visit follows trips by the leaders
of France and Australia, which also have troops in Afghanistan. Both
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and new Australian Prime Minister
Kevin Rudd stressed their continued support for Kabul's efforts
against terrorism.
Turkey launches new strikes against Kurds
The Turkish army has launched a new wave of air strikes against
separatist Kurdish rebel positions in northern Iraq. Iraqi Kurdish
sources said Turkish warp***s hit villages that had been largely
evacuated before the raids and that no one was hurt. The Turkish
military said the offensive against PKK rebels would continue. It is
the latest of a series of attacks. On Tuesday around 300 Turkish
troops briefly crossed the Iraqi border, and last weekend warp***s
bombed rebel positions in the region. Ankara claims that the PKK
uses the Iraqi border region as a shelter from which to conduct
operations into Turkey.
Israeli PM rules out ceasefire with Hamas
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has ruled out cease-fire talks
with the Palestinian militant group Hamas, saying that the army will
continue attacks on militants firing rockets across the border from
the Gaza Strip into Israel. Olmert said there can be no ceasefire
unless Hamas accepts conditions set out by the Quartet of Middle
East negotiators. The Quartet, made up of the United States, the
European Union, Russia and the United Nations, has demanded that
Hamas recognise Israel, renounce violence and abide by interim peace
agreements. Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed over 20 Palestinian
militants in the past week. Hamas seized control of the region in
June after routing forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud
Abbas.
Israeli cabinet okays missile defense system
The Israeli cabinet has allocated more than 200 million dollars over
the next five years to build a new missile defense system. The
system, known as Iron Dome, is being jointly developed by the
Israeli arms firm Rafael and the U.S. Raytheon company. Calling the
plan a national emergency project, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said
that Israel could not conduct a major withdrawal from the West Bank
before such a system was in place.
Five civilians killed in Mogadishu fighting
Witnesses in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, say at least five
civilians have been killed and eight wounded during overnight
fighting between Ethiopia-backed government troops and insurgents.
Islamist militants have waged an insurgency in Mogadishu since they
were defeated by Ethiopian and Somali forces earlier this year after
briefly ruling the country's southern and central region. The United
Nations has warned of a possible humanitarian disaster, with
hundreds of thousands of people having fled their homes.
UN budget approved over US objections
The UN General Assembly has approved a two-year budget of nearly 4.2
billion US dollars over the objections of the United States.
Washington issued the only vote against the budget increase of one-
half percent. It's the first time the budget has not been approved
by consensus in 20 years. The US called for the vote to show its
disapproval of financing an anti-racism conference that it called
anti-Israel. Washington also criticised an attempt to raise the
administrative budget by 25 percent. The US is the world body's
largest contributor, covering around 22 percent of the regular
budget.
Two Sudanese hurt in racist attack in Dresden
German police say two young Sudanese men have been beaten up in a
racially motivated attack by around 15 assailants in front of a
disco in the eastern city of Dresden. A young German man was also
attacked when he tried to intervene. None are said to have suffered
serious injuries.
British Queen launches Royal Channel
British Queen Elizabeth II has launched a channel on the popular
video-sharing website YouTube. The so-called Royal Channel contains
recent and historic material involving the Royal Family. It is also
to feature the Queen's traditional Christmas Day message this year.
Buckingham Palace says it is hoped that the monarch's annual speech
will in this way be made more accessible to young people and
internationally.
French author Gracq dead at 97
French author Julien Gracq has died at the age of 97. His family
said that Gracq died on Saturday in hospital near his home in
western France. Gracq, whose real name was Louis Poirier, was one of
the last links with the pre-World War II Surrealist movement. In
all he wrote some 20 books, the last, called "Entretiens" or
"Interviews", in 2002.
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
Want to refresh your German skills? Take a look at Deutsche Welle's
German course offerings:
http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=evx7wnI4501ileI2&req=l%3Devx7wmI4501ileI2
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
For more information please turn to our internet website at
http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=evx7wnI4501ileI3&req=l%3Devx7wmI4501ileI3
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.
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
Copyright Deutsche Welle 2007
