 | | | | | | | Newsletter | 23.11.2008, 17:15 UTC | | | Newsline | | | World news: international | | | | | | | | | News | | | | | Current Article | | | | APEC backs free trade amid economic crisis
Leaders from the Asia Pacific region have pledged to agree next month on the outlines of a global free trade deal. The 21 leaders at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Peru also promised to refrain from new protectionist measures in response to a global economic downturn. APEC, which accounts for half the world's trade activity, also urged reform of global financial institutions, echoing the Group of 20 summit held in Washington the previous weekend. Chinese President Hu Jintao repeated his call that developing countries be given a greater voice in bodies like the International Monetary Fund. APEC leaders will wrap up their meeting in Lima with a final declaration on Sunday. |  | | Russia and US agree to fight piracy
The United States and Russia have agreed to cooperate in combating the growing problem of piracy off the Horn of Africa. US President George W. Bush and his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, signaled the joint initiative on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Forum in Peru. The announcement comes as tensions mount in Somalia between pirates holding a Saudi oil tanker for ransom and Islamist fighters threatening to attack them. The Islamists are opposed to the taking of a vessel belonging to a Moslem country. | | | EU rejects aid for automakers
The EU Commissioner for Industry, Günter Verheugen, has categorically rejected financial support for the bloc's ailing auto industry. Speaking on German radio, Verheugen said the European Union had, in the past, expressly scrapped subsidies as an instrument of industrial policy. He did say, however, that an expansion of credit lines offered to carmakers by the European Investment Bank were under discussion. Verheugen said this made economic sense because the auto industry needed to make large investments to meet new and stricter environmental standards. | | | Germans nationals held as spies in Kosovo
Three German nationals, alleged to be intelligence operatives, have been arrested in Kosovo. Prosecutors in Pristina accuse the three of involvement in a bomb attack, as well as connections to the German BND intelligence agency. A judge has ordered the suspects to be held for interrogation for 30 days. The investigation is connected to an incident on November 14, in which an explosive device was thrown at the headquarters of the European Union's special envoy to Kosovo. The German Foreign Ministry has confirmed the arrests, but declined to comment further.
| | | Abbas threatens snap elections if Hamas talks fail
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has threatened to call snap elections if a reconciliation deal between Fatah and Hamas is not reached by the end of this year. He told members of his Palestine Liberation Organisation in Ramallah that he would issue a presidential decree early next year for simultaneous presidential and parliamentary elections, if unity talks failed. The Islamist Hamas movement which controls Gaza pulled out of Egyptian-brokered unity talks with Abbas's secular Fatah faction earlier this month, accusing his security forces of rounding up its supporters in the West Bank. | | | China rejects UN report on torture
Bejing has rejected a UN report that criticises past and present incidents of torture in China. A Foreign Ministry spokesman said the allegations were "untrue and slanderous" and claimed that China had fulfilled the obligations set out in the UN convention against torture. The report released by a UN committee on Friday accuses China of widespread use of torture and ill treatment of suspects in police custody. The committee also criticised China's actions in Tibet, noting there had been "longstanding reports of torture and other abusive treatment, in particular of Tibetan monks and nuns." | | | Dalai Lama warns exile leaders to be prudent
The Dalai Lama has warned Tibetan exile leaders to be prudent in their policy toward China or risk failure. He made the statement after a gathering of Tibetan exiles threatened a policy shift that could encompass a push for independence if China does not grant more autonomy soon. The Dalai Lama had called a week-long conclave in the Indian town of Dharamsala after admitting that his attempts to secure more autonomy from China had failed to achieve a breakthrough. | | | Thai protesters massing in Bangkok
Protesters seeking the resignation of Thailand's prime minister are massing in the capital, Bangkok. The protesters, who call themselves the People's Alliance for Democracy, said they were hoping to assemble over 100,000 supporters to march on Parliament. Thousands of soldiers and police have been ordered to use nonviolent means to keep the peace. The PAD has been spearheading a five-month street campaign to oust Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, whom they accuse of being an illegitimate proxy of exiled former leader Thaksin Shinawatra. | | | Bangladesh postpones election to December 29
Bangladesh's army-backed authorities have postponed parliamentary elections by 11 days to December 29. The Chief Election Commissioner said the new date for the polls had been set after consultations with the country's two main political parties. The Commission also extended by a week the deadline for filing nomination papers to November 30. The move is seen as a compromise to ensure that all major political parties participate in the landmark polls, the first in seven years. | | | Obama pledges continued support for Afghanistan
Afghan officials say US President-elect Barack Obama has used a phone call to Afghan President Hamid Karzai to pledge Washington's continued support for the country. The office of Karzai quoted Obama as saying that fighting terrorism in Afghanistan and the region would be a top priority of his administration. The phone call between Obama and Karzai is the first reported contact between the two leaders. The US currently has 32,000 troops stationed in Afghanistan, however, there are plans to increase that figure by up to 20,000 next year in order to quell a Taliban insurgency and safeguard scheduled presidential elections. | | | | | |  | | |  Up-to-date news at DW-WORLD.DE | | | | | | |  | | | Note
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German Expert: Kosovo Arrests Point to Internal Power Struggle
