 | | | | | | | Newsletter | 22.01.2009, 17:15 UTC | | | Newsline | | | World news: international | | | | | | | | | News | | | | | Current Article | | | | Obama orders closure of Guantanamo detention centre.
Newly-elected US President Barack Obama has signed an executive order ordering the closure of the controversial Guantanamo Bay military detention centre within the year. In a move designed to improve America's image abroad, Obama also ordered a halt to the harsh interrogation of terrorism suspects. In response to concerns raised by European leaders, Obama said he had set up a task force to find a solution for former detaineees considered too dangerous to remain on US soil. Meanwhile the US Senate Finance Committee has approved the nomination of Timothy Geithner as US treasury secretary. Geithner had appeared before the panel on Wednesday to account for 34,000 dollars in unpaid taxes. |  | | UN calls for urgent increase in humanitarian aid to Gaza
The United Nations has urged Israel to open border crossings for more than just humanitarian aid. The UN Relief and Works Agency which is in Gaza to assess the situation said economic transport would need access to allow the Palestinian territory to rebuild itself. The Agency has estimated it will need 270 million euros for its recovery efforts. The UN's child relief agency UNICEF has also launched a major humanitarian effort to help children and civilians in the Gaza strip. Israel began bombing Gaza in late December in response to rockets fired into Israeli territory by the Islamist Hamas group. 1,330 Palestinians and 13 Israeli's were killed during the three week offensive. The Israeli blockade of Gaza's borders is still in place. | | | Deutsche Post ex-head in tax-evasion trial
Deutsche Post's former chairman Klaus Zumwinkel has pleaded guilty to charges of tax evasion on the first day of his trial in the German city of Bochum. The 65-year-old admitted to concealing nearly 1 million euros from German tax authorities in trust funds managed by the LTG Bank in Liechtenstein. The former executive was detained in February 2008 after prosecutors obtained a list of alleged tax evaders from Germany's BND foreign intelligence service on trusts administered by the bank. If convicted Zumwinkel could face up to five years in jail. Court sources say a two-year suspended sentence and a hefty fine are more likely. A verdict is expected on Monday. Zumwinkel has resigned as head of Deutsche Post and from senior posts at Deutsche Telekom, Lufthansa and retail concern Arcandor.
| | | Turkish police detain dozens in investigation of alleged coup plot
Turkish police have made a number of arrests linked with an alleged plot to bring down the Islamic-rooted government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The state-run Anatolia news agency says that police detained dozens on Thursday, following raids on the headquarters of a trade union and an opposition television station. Currently 86 people are on trial in Istanbul on suspicion of belonging to the right-wing group Ergenkon. Secularists believe the series of detentions is designed to silence government opponents, but the government insists the network is intent on destabilizing the country.
| | | Two sentenced to death in China milk scandal
Chinese state media say two men have been sentenced to death for their role in a contaminated milk scandal in which at least six children died and 300,000 others were made ill. A court spokesman said another man was given a suspended death sentence, which amounts to life imprisonment. The Xinhua news agency said the former chairwoman of the Sanlu dairy group, the dairy at the centre of the scandal, has been given a life sentence, and other former Sanlu executives received jail terms of between five and 15 years. The accused were charged with involvement in producing or selling milk tainted with the industrial chemical melamine, which was used to enhance the apparent protein content. | | | Microsoft axes 5,000 jobs.
Software giant Microsoft has announced it is cutting up to 5,000 jobs as the Washington-based firm is hit by the global economic crisis. This is the first time the company has axed jobs. The news came after Microsoft released its results for the second quarter of the financial year which showed net profit down from last year by 11 percent.
| | | German film nominated for best foreign film
In a much anticipated announcement of the nominations for February's Oscar presentations, German Film ‘The Baader-Meinhof Complex' came away with a nomination for best foreign film. Directed by Uli Edel and based on a book by former Spiegel editor Stefan Aust the film follows the story of members of the West German terrorist group the Red Army Faction (RAF), active from the end of the 60s to 1977. The German film is competing with, amongst others, Waltz with Bashir, an animated film about the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982. | | | | | |  | | |  Up-to-date news at DW-WORLD.DE | | | | | | |  | | | Note
To unsubscribe to this newsletter, please click here.
If you have any questions or comments, please send us an email:
online@dw-world.de
For more information, please click here. | | |  | | | © 2009 DEUTSCHE WELLE | > Contact | | | |
Steinmeier Vows to Work Together With Clinton on Mideast, Iran
