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DEUTSCHE WELLE/DW-WORLD.DE Newsletter
English Service News
30.04.08, 16:00 Uhr UTC
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Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
Serbian Nationalists Reject Signing of EU Agreement as Treason
Serbian caretaker Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica on Wednesday,
April 30, dismissed the Stabilization and Association Agreement with
the European Union as a "false document" which legalizes the
secession of Kosovo.
To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the
internet address below:
http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=evyb2hI4501ileI0&req=l%3Devyb2gI4501ileI0
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NATO concerned about Russian-Georgian tensions
NATO has expressed concern over Russia's troop buildup in Georgia's
breakaway Abkhazia region. An alliance spokesman said Russia's move
would raise tensions und undermine Georgia's territorial integrity.
Russia had previously announced an increase in peacekeeping forces
to the two rebel Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
This was in response to what it called aggressive moves by pro-
Western Georgia. Russia maintains a peacekeeping force in both areas
under agreements with Georgia in the 1990s. Some 3,000 Russians
currently serve in the two regions. Georgia, which is striving to
become a NATO member, accuses Moscow of attempting to annex the
territories. The former Soviet Republic has rejected the Russian
military's allegations and called the announced troop increase
unacceptable.
Pakistan's Sharif, Zardari hold first talks
The leaders of Pakistan's ruling coalition have held talks in Dubai
about their pledge to reinstate senior judges sacked by President
Pervez Musharraf last year. No details have emerged from the meeting
between former premier Nawaz Sharif and the head of the Pakistan
People's Party Asif Ali Zardari. They disagree on the formalities of
restoring the justices, whom they promised after winning recent
elections to return to the bench by the end of April. Zardari's
party is seeking constitutional changes to implement judiciary
reforms but Sharif has said the judges' restoration should be
separate from that.
Zimbabwe's army accused of nationwide attacks on opposition
Human Rights Watch says the Zimbabwean army is responsible for a new
wave of nationwide attacks against members of the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Military forces are reportedly
providing trucks and equipment to militias, so-called "war veterans"
who have been implicated in numerous acts of torture and other
violence against MDC members and supporters. Victims were being
intimidated into voting for President Robert Mugabe in a possible
second round of presidential elections. The official results of the
country's presidential elections on March 29 are still unknown. The
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) said on Monday that it had the
figures from the controversial partial recounting of the
presidential election results, but the final verification of results
would take three days.
April was deadly month for US, Iraqis
The month of April has been one of the deadliest months in Iraq for
both US troops and Iraqi civilians in the last half year. Hospital
officials in Baghdad's Sadr City district report that as many as 421
Iraqis have been killed since late March. The death toll of US
troops reached 47 this month, the most since last September when 65
soldiers died. The violence has been centred in Sadr City where the
government has been trying to disarm Shi'ite militants. On Wednesday,
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki used some of his toughest language to
date towards the Mahdi Army militia, saying the government would
disarm them by force if they do not put down their weapons
peacefully.
Seven dead in Kabul siege
Seven people have been killed in Kabul when Afghan security forces
assaulted a house containing suspected Taliban militants. Two
insurgents, one of their wives and a child as well as three
government agents died in the eight-hour siege. Original reports
said five Taliban were killed in the assault. Afghan intelligence
chief Amrullah Saleh said the two suspected Taliban were responsible
for the failed assassination on President Hamid Karzai last weekend,
a claim confirmed by the Taliban. Saleh said the woman was to be
used for a suicide bombing.
Israeli PM makes surprise visit to Jordan
Jordanian officials say Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has made
a surprise visit to the Jordanian capital and held talks with King
Abdullah II on the Middle East peace process. The two leaders
reportedly discussed ways to make progress towards the objectives
set at last year's Annapolis conference in the United States. The
November conference relaunched Israeli-Palestinian peace
negotiations that have shown little visible sign of progress.
Olmert's visit to Jordan, his second since January, comes a week
after Abdullah discussed the peace process with US President George
W. Bush in Washington.
Palestinian factions agree to truce with Israel
Egyptian state media say that 12 small Palestinian militant factions
meeting in Cairo have agreed to an Egyptian proposal for a truce
with Israel, starting in the Gaza Strip. The MENA news agency quoted
a senior Egyptian official as saying the proposal aimed at creating
a situation that allowed the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip to
be lifted. The plan, which would later take effect in the West Bank,
is already backed by Hamas and Fatah.
Human rights groups say Turkey must scrap law
Human rights groups say an overnight vote by the Turkish parliament
to amend a law restricting free speech does not go far enough.
Activists say the law known as Article 301 should be scrapped
completely. It has been used in the past to prosecute hundreds of
people, including Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk and other intellectuals,
on the charge of insulting Turkishness. The European Commission
welcomed the change to the law but asked that Ankara take further
steps to ensure that unwarranted prosecutions stop. The change in
the law was made following criticism from the EU of Turkey to make
legal reforms in order to join the European bloc.
Olympic torch arrives back on Chinese soil
The Olympic torch has arrived in Hong Kong after a 20-nation relay
overseas that was marred by protests against Beijing's human rights
record. It arrived back on Chinese soil as the nation marked the
start of the 100-day countdown to the Beijing games. The torch will
be held in an undisclosed location until Friday, when it begins its
run through Hong Kong, Macau and then the Chinese mainland on its
way to the capital, Beijing. Its arrival has raised fears over
freedom of speech as protesters are barred from the city. On Tuesday,
Hong Kong authorities deported three pro-Tibet protesters as they
arrived at the airport. Four other activists have been turned away
since the weekend. Police say about 3,000 officers will guard the
flame when it begins the Hong Kong leg of its relay.
US diplomats must leave Belarus
The former Soviet republic Belarus has issued a list of US diplomats
it said must leave over Washington's failure to meet a demand to cut
staff at its embassy in Minsk. On its Internet site, the foreign
ministry said a note had been issued to the US charge d'affaires in
which a staff reduction from 17 to six was demanded. The reduction
was the second Belarus had sought from the United States this year
in connection with what it said were extensions of US sanctions.
President Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled since 1994, has been
banned from the US and the European Union on allegations he rigged
his re-election in 2006.
DNA tests identify two murdered children of Russian Tsar
Russian media says DNA tests have positively identified two murdered
children of Russia's last Tsar. Their human remains were found in
Russia last year. Tests carried out in a US laboratory confirmed
that the remains belonged to Prince Alexei Nikolayevich and Grand
Duchess Maria Nikolayevna. These had been unaccounted for since Tsar
Nicholas II and his family were executed by a Bolshevik firing squad
in 1918. Following the collapse of Communist rule, remains believed
to belong to the Tsar, his wife and three daughters were exhumed.
They were reburied in a controversial ceremony in St Petersburg in
1998 .
Nazi file archive open to general public
After nearly six decades of limited access, an archive of files on
non-Germans persecuted and killed in the Holocaust has officially
been opened to all historians. Some 50 million files that contain
the names of most concentration camp inmates, forced-labour victims
and others persecuted can now be viewed in the central German town
of Bad Arolsen. Proponents of the opening of the archive said such
exposure was the best answer to people who deny the existence of the
Holocaust in which nearly six million people were systematically
killed by the Nazis.
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Copyright Deutsche Welle 2008
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