 | | | | | | | Newsletter | 26.11.2008, 17:15 UTC | | | Newsline | | | World news: international | | | | | | | | | News | | | | | Current Article | | | | Brussels approves 200 billion euro recovery plan
The European Union's executive has approved a 200 billion euro economic stimulus package. Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said the two-year plan would help the 27-member bloc weather the economic crisis and put the Union back on the growth track. The EU commission is asking member states to commit 1.5 percent of their gross domestic product, half a percent more than had first been expected. The plan also envisages sales tax cuts and funds to needy sectors such as the auto industry. The Commission's proposals will be submitted to an EU summit in December for approval by European leaders. |  | | German economy will recover by 2010: Merkel
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said that her government will do what ever is necessary to ensure that Europe's biggest economy weathers the financial crisis. Merkel was addressing the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, which is debating the 2009 budget this week. The government's budget plan includes more than 18 billion euros in new debt. The Chancellor said that her government was building a bridge to ensure improvement in 2010 and described Germany as "very strong". She also said that a balanced budget should be achieved by the next legislative period. Germany fell into recession in the third quarter and the government recently slashed its 2009 growth forecast by one percentage point to 0.2 percent.
| | | ECB president "ready" for another interest rate cut
European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet has said he is ready to cut interest rates, but declined to give specifics. The central bank's governing council meets on December 4 in Brussels, and is widely expected to lower its main lending rate by at least another half a percent. The ECB lowered its main rate twice in October and November by a half percent each time, bringing the benchmark cost of borrowing to 3.25 percent. | | | Top Czech court unblocks Lisbon Treaty ratification
The Czech Constitutional Court has ruled that the European Union's reform treaty conforms with the Czech law, allowing parliament to proceed with ratification.The treaty faces opposition from some government backbenchers, who are supported by the eurosceptic President Vaclav Klaus. Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek says it is a price worth paying for EU membership. If approved by all EU member states, the Lisbon Treaty will limit individual states' powers in some decisions, and give the EU a permanent president and a beefed-up foreign representative. Ireland became the only member state to reject the document in a referendum earlier this year. | | | Rights group: Greece mistreating asylum seekers
A US-based human rights groups says Greece is violating international law by rounding up asylum seekers, holding them in degrading conditions and secretly expelling them across the border to Turkey. In a report entitled "Stuck in a Revolving Door", Human Rights Watch (HRW) described how coast guards forced out migrants trying to enter Greece's territorial waters, sometimes puncturing their inflatable boats or disabling their vessels. Human Rights Watch also accused non-EU member Turkey of carrying out abuses at the border, including detaining the migrants in inhumane and degrading conditions and repatriating Iraqi migrants without giving them the chance to apply for asylum. The European Commission estimates there are up to 8 million illegal migrants in the 27-member bloc, with up to half a million arriving every year. | | | Thai PM rejects army call for new elections
Thailand's Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat has rejected a call by the country's army chief to hold fresh elections in order to resolve a deepening political crisis. In a televised address to the nation, Somchai said anti-government protesters were trying to subvert the democratic process. He emphasised that his government had been legitimised by elections and would continue to perform its duties. Meanwhile supporters of the People's Alliance for Democracy, or PAD, continue to occupy the passenger terminal at Bangkok's international airport. They moved into the building late on Tuesday as they step up their six-month quest to oust the Thai government. Flights have been cancelled, and thousands of passengers stranded at the airport have been taken to nearby hotels. PAD supporters are also continuing to surround the temporary offices of the prime minister. | | | Brazil hit by severe flooding, over 80 dead
Flooding and landslides triggered by two months of heavy rain in southern Brazil have killed at least 84 people and forced over 50,000 to flee the state of Santa Catarina. Civil Defense officials said more than 1.5 million people had been affected since the weekend and that the death toll could rise substantially because a large number of people were still missing. Air force helicopters were continuing operations to rescue stranded people cut off from families from areas isolated by floodwaters. Many victims are said to be without access to electricity, drinking water and food. Authorities have declared four cities disaster zones and eight municipalities have been cut off from the outside world. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is expected to announce a relief fund worth up to 235 million euros to help the victims. | | | Iraqi parliament delays vote on US security pact
Iraq's parliament speaker says that a crucial parliamentary vote on a proposed security agreement with the United States has been delayed until Thursday. The announcement came after a planned session to hold the vote didn't go through on Wednesday afternoon, due to prolongued negotiations among Iraqi factions. The Shiite-led government is reportedly struggling to meet the demands of political blocs, including a large group of Sunni Arab lawmakers, that seek concessions in return for supporting the deal. Parliament speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani said the general atmosphere indicated there would be an agreement and that the leaders had agreed on all the points under discussion except for one. He did not provide any further details. The planned security agreement between Baghdad and Washington envisages the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq by the end of 2011. | | | Iran nuclear programme: over 5,000 centrifuges operating
Iran says it is making progress with its controversial nuclear programme. Speaking in Tehran, Iran's Nuclear chief, Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, said over 5,000 centrifuges were now actively running at the country's uranium enrichment plant. At the end of August, Iran said it was operating about 4,000 centrifuges and planning to instal several thousand more. Aghazadeh also said Iran had made good progress in constructing a 40 Megawatt heavy-water reactor near Arak. Iran is already under three sets of UN Security Council sanctions over its refusal to freeze enrichment. Western powers, led by the United States, suspect the nuclear programme is a cover for producing nuclear weapons. Iran has repeatedly denied the allegation and insists its programme is designed to generate electricity. | | | China cancels EU-China summit over Dalai Lama visit
Beijing has postponed next Monday's EU-China summit, angered over a visit to Europe by the Dalai Lama. EU diplomats earlier cited a row over French President Nicolas Sarkozy's plan to meet with the Tibetan spiritual leader at a ceremony with Nobel Peace Prize winners in Poland next month. China is very touchy about Western leaders meeting with the Dalai Lama, claiming he is seeking support for Tibetan independence. German Chancellor Angela Merkel upset China late last year by meeting with the Dalai Lama in Berlin despite protests from Beijing. | | | Russian upper chamber votes to extend presidential term
The upper chamber of the Russian parliament has voted overwhelmingly in favour of a bill to extend future presidential terms from the present four to six years. The bill is widely expected to see Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who has served two terms as president, seek a third term in the next election scheduled for 2012. Analysts predict the change could be used as a pretext for an earlier vote. The bill must now be approved by two-thirds of Russia's regional legislatures. That's a virtual certainty because they are dominated by Putin's party. | | | Two Western journalists kidnapped in Somalia
Somali gunmen have kidnapped two Western journalists in the northern province of Puntland. Their nationalities have not been confirmed but a senior Somali official said one was a French, the other a Spanish national. Two freelance journalists, an Australian and a Canadian, are still being held after being taken captive in the capital Mogadishu in August. | | | Dubai customs officials seize suspected looted Iraqi artefacts
Dubai customs officials have arrested six Iranians who were trying to smuggle 128 pieces of valuable artefacts hidden in a traditional sailing vessel into the Gulf emirate. Many of the pieces are 3,000 years old and believed to have been plundered from Iraqi museums and palaces after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003. Around 32,000 artefacts were looted from 12,000 archaeological sites in Iraq during that time. 15,000 items were also stolen from the Baghdad National Museum. | | | | | |  | | |  Up-to-date news at DW-WORLD.DE | | | | | | |  | | | Note
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Merkel Blames German Banks Amidst Criticism Over Budget
