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DEUTSCHE WELLE/DW-WORLD.DE Newsletter
English Service News
28.12.07, 17:00 Uhr UTC
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Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
Mass Lawsuit Planned Against Sweeping Data Retention Law
More than 20,000 Germans plan to launch a mass lawsuit against a
controversial data retention law that allows the storing of telephone
and Internet data for up to six months as part of efforts to combat
terrorism.
To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the
internet address below:
http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=evx8usI4501ileI0&req=l%3Devx8urI4501ileI0
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Benazir Bhutto buried in southern Pakistan
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has been buried near
her family's ancestral home in Sindh province. She was laid to rest
in a mausoleum where her father, former Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali
Bhutto is also buried. Hundreds of thousands of mourners had
gathered for her funeral, which came a day after she was shot dead
after an election campaign rally in Rawalpindi. Her assassination
has sparked violent protests throughout the country. Senior
officials said at least 19 people were killed in clashes with police.
Security forces in Sindh province have been ordered to shoot violent
protesters on sight. Despite Bhutto's death, Pakistan's caretaker
Prime Minister Mohammadmian Soomro said the government had no
immediate plans to postpone next month's parliamentary elections.
Poland to send additional 400 troops to Afghanistan
Poland is set to send 400 additional troops to Afghanistan. Poland
already has 1,200 soldiers serving as part of the NATO-led
International Security Assistance Force. Defence Minister Bogdan
Klich told a Polish television news channel that the decision came
in reaction to the unrest in neighbouring Pakistan, which was
sparked by Thursday's assassination of Benazir Bhutto. The extra
troops could be deployed to Afghanistan as soon as April.
Vote counting continues after Kenya elections
Elections officials in Kenya are continuing to count the ballots
following the country's closest-ever presidential race. Unofficial
early results showed President Mwai Kibaki trailing his main rival,
opposition candidate Raila Odinga. Turnout was high in Thursday's
presidential and parliamentary elections with queues at polling
stations stretching for several kilometres in some areas.
Preliminary results have also shown that several cabinet ministers
were voted out of office.
Nepal votes to abolish monarchy
Nepal's parliament has passed a motion to abolish the country's
centuries-old monarchy and make the country a federal democratic
republic. The move is part of a peace agreement with the country's
Maoist rebels. The decision to remove the king, however, won't be
implemented until after constituent assembly elections, which are to
be held by the second week of April.
Convicted French aid workers leave Chad
Six French aid workers sentenced to hard labour in Chad for trying
to kidnap 103 children have left the African nation on a flight
bound for France. The French government had asked Chad to return the
four men and two women from the humanitarian group, Zoe's Ark, under
the terms of a 1976 treaty. The relief workers had claimed they were
helping to rescue orphans, but most of the children were found to
have come from families whose parents were still alive.
Iran receives more nuclear fuel from Russia
Russia has delivered a second batch of nuclear fuel to Iran for use
in its Bushehr nuclear power station that it plans to open by the
end of next year. Iran received its first nuclear fuel shipment on
December 17 and is due to receive total of eight deliveries of
nuclear rods by February. Washington says now that Iran is receiving
nuclear fuel, it should end its disputed uranium enrichment
programme. The West suspects Iran of covering up a nuclear weapons
program while Tehran says it needs nuclear fuel for energy purposes.
China and Japan see progress at summit talks
Summit talks between China and Japan are making progress, according
to the leaders of both countries. Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo
Fukuda arrived in China on Thursday for a four-day summit to discuss
a number of issues, ranging from North Korea's nuclear programme to
climate change and territorial disputes over gas fields in the East
China Sea. Japan has urged China to use its growing influence to
make an impact on key global issues such as climate change. Chinese
Premier Wen Jiabao said on Friday that ties had improved between the
two countries, which have a long history of animosity stemming from
disputes over territory, resources and war atrocities. Fukuda is
also scheduled to meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao on Friday.
South Korea extends troop presence in Iraq
South Korea's parliament has voted to extend the deployment of its
troops in Iraq by one year. The majority of MPs endorsed a
government proposal to extend the controversial troop presence until
December 2008 but to halve the size of the force to about 650. South
Korea sent 3,600 soldiers to Iraq in 2004, but troop numbers were
reduced in the past years due to public pressure against the mission.
South Korea currently has about 1,200 troops in a relatively safe
area in the Kurdish section of Iraq.
Baghdad car bomb kills at least 10 people
At least 10 people have been killed and dozens of others injured in
a car bombing at a market in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. The popular
market in central Baghdad was full of shoppers heading home from
Friday prayers when the bomb went off. Police said all of the
victims were civilians.
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For more information please turn to our internet website at
http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=evx8usI4501ileI1&req=l%3Devx8urI4501ileI1
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.
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Copyright Deutsche Welle 2007
