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DEUTSCHE WELLE/DW-WORLD.DE Newsletter
English Service News
26.01.08, 17:00 Uhr UTC
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Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
EU Offenders to Get Better Rights if Tried Abroad
Criminals suspects -- but also ordinary Germans or Britons who cause
trouble while on holiday in the Mediterranean -- are to be granted
better rights when tried in a different EU member state, officials
said.
To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the
internet address below:
http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=evxh4wI4501ileI0&req=l%3Devxh4vI4501ileI0
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Annan calls for investigation in Kenya
Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called for an
investigation into human rights abuses in Kenya saying that the
crisis has gone well beyond a dispute over election results.
Meanwhile Kenyan police say that nineteen people have been killed in
ethnic clashes in the provincial capital of Nakuru, bringing the
toll since Thursday night to 45. The violence came despite hopes of
progress after President Mwai Kibaki met opposition leader Raila
Odinga for the first time on Thursday since December's disputed
polls. Nearly 800 people have died in the unrest in Kenya following
last month's disputed election and a quarter of a million have been
displaced. Annan is in Kenya to mediate attempts for a political
solution.
Palestinians continue to flood into Egypt
For a fourth day, Egypt is struggling with the problem of what to do
about the thousands of Palestinians spilling over its border with
the Gaza Strip. Heavy traffic continues across the border in both
directions, after a bid by Egypt to reseal it failed on Friday. The
Palestinians are defying a blockade on Gaza by Israel in order to
stock up on supplies. This in response to the shortages caused by
Israel recently tightening the blockade. Israel has said the
blockade was necessary to try to halt rocket fire into Israel from
Gaza. But it had faced accusations of imposing illegal "collective
punishment" on residents of Gaza, which is controlled by the
Islamist group Hamas. Meanwhile confusion surrounded reports that
Egypt's president offered to host talks for rival Palestinian groups.
Plans have however been announced for a meeting between Israeli
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
to discuss the crisis.
WTO chief hopeful of new Doha meeting
Ministers from the United States, the EU and over a dozen other
trading countries have met with World Trade Organisation chief
Pascal Lamy in Davos, Switzerland. The meeting's agenda was
dominated by efforts to reach a global trade deal in the Doha round.
Lamy said on Saturday that a decision to call a ministerial meeting
on the issue could be made in the coming weeks. Ministers attending
the World Economic Forum in Davos indicated that rich and poor
countries could meet around Easter to try to seal a long-elusive
global trade deal. A trade deal could inject much-needed confidence
into a troubled world economy, and help ward off protectionist
trends. Swiss Economy Minister Doris Leuthard said the idea of a
meeting around Easter was proposed by Lamy and supported by all
those attending.
Democratic primary kicks off in South Carolina
Democratic Party voters have started heading to the polls for the US
presidential primary in South Carolina. Democratic Party candidate
Barack Obama was leading in the opinion polls ahead of Hillary
Clinton, with John Edwards third. Obama badly needs a victory after
Clinton scooped up the Nevada caucuses and New Hampshire primary.
This is the final contest for the Democrats before Super Tuesday in
10 days' time, when more than 20 states will vote in primary
contests. Republicans are campaigning for their next contest in
Florida on Tuesday.
French rogue trader in police custody
French authorities say they have arrested the suspected rogue trader
Jerome Kerviel. He is accused of concealing five billion euros in
losses over the past year while working for France's second biggest
bank, the Societe Generale. Earlier police had raided the Paris
headquarters of the bank and the suspect's apartment. Speaking to
reporters in Davos, French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said
she would be filing a report for the Prime Minister but that it
would no doubt be made public at a later stage. As the
recriminations continue, both Societe Generale shareholders,
analysts and the French government have questioned how the rogue
trader was able to operate alone.
Lebanon mourns assassinated intelligence officer
Lebanon's police chief, talking at a memorial service for a police
intelligence officer killed in a car bomb, has vowed to confront
those who "terrorise the nation". Captain Wisam Eid, who helped
investigate assassinations in the country, was killed when a car
bomb exploded in a Christian suburb of Beirut on Friday. Five
people were killed and 42 injured by the attack. Eid's
assassination was the latest in a wave of bombings and political
killings that have shaken Lebanon over the past three years. A
stalemate between pro- and contra-Syrian elements has left Lebanon
without a president since pro-Syrian Emile Lahoud's term ended two
months ago.
Gunmen abduct US female aid worker in Afghanistan
An American aid worker has been kidnapped with her driver while
travelling in a volatile region in southern Afghanistan. The
provicial govenor said unknown gunmen took the pair outside of the
southern city of Kandahar. The unidentified 49-year-old woman worked
for Asian Rural Life Development Foundation aid agency. Followers of
the hardline Taleban, ousted in 2001, have been mounting a comeback
over the past two years. Much of the violence centres on the south
of the country.
Rice talks trade with Colombia
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has been meeting Colombian
President Alvaro Uribe at the end of a trip to promote a free trade
pact. President Uribe called the pact "an important step for there
to be more investment in Colombia". But the Democrat-controlled US
Congress has so far refused to approve the deal. Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez said the US and Colombia were plotting what he
called "military aggression" against his country, but provided no
evidence. The Venezuelan leader said that this was the real reason
for Rice's visit to Colombia, which he refered to as a "pawn of the
North American empire".
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