 | | | | | | | Newsletter | 23.01.2009, 17:15 UTC | | | Newsline | | | World news: international | | | | | | | | | News | | | | | Current Article | | | | Germany welcomes Obama's decision to close Guantanamo
Germany has welcomed US President Barack Obama's plan to close the military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay on Cuba. A government spokesman told reporters in Berlin that the move would mark an end to a difficult period in trans-Atlantic relations. Chancellor Angela Merkel's grand coalition government still hasn't agreed on whether Germany should take in released former Guantanamo inmates. Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who favours the idea, is to meet with Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble in the near future to try to reach a common position. Washington has indicated that it would like its allies to take in some of the detainees, but has not yet made a formal request to Germany. |  | |
US President Barack Obama has expressed confidence that he will soon win Congressional approval for a new economic stimulus plan. He was speaking ahead of a meeting with congressional leaders from both parties at the White House. This comes a day after House of Representatives committees backed a package of tax cuts and spending programmes as part of the $825 billion stimulus package. Obama has set a target of mid-February for getting the legislation passed. | | | DRC rebel chief Nkunda arrested in Rwanda
The government of the Democratic Congo says it will seek the extradition of Tutsi rebel general, Laurent Nkunda from neighbouring Rwanda. This comes after Nkunda was arrested in a joint operation involving both the Rwandan and Congolese armies. A joint military statement said Nkunda was arrested after crossing into Rwanda in bid to escape. The military operation was aimed at bringing peace to the eastern Congo by tackling both Nkunda's Tutsi CNDP rebels, and their Hutu rivals, the FDLR. Nkunda's forces launched an offensive in Congo's eastern North Kivu province last August, which displaced more than 200,000 people and raised fears of a wider regional conflict. | | | UN calls for urgent humanitarian aid to Gaza
The United Nations has urged Israel to open border crossings with Gaza for urgently needed relief aid. The UN Relief and Works Agency, which is assessing the situation in Gaza following Israel's three-week offensive against Hamas militants, estimates that it will need €270 million for its recovery efforts. The agency called on Israel to allow normal transportation access to the Gaza Strip so Palestinians can begin rebuilding. Meanwhile, a UN expert on the Palestinian territories has called for an independent investigation into whether Israel committed war crimes in Gaza. The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Occupied Territories, Richard Falk, said he believed there was a case for reaching that conclusion.
| | | Cabin crew walkout hits Lufthansa flights
The German flagcarrier, Lufthansa has been forced to cancel 40 flights this Friday due to a walkout by cabin crew at Frankfurt airport. A spokesman for the airline said the cancellations affected short-haul and medium-range flights. The trade union that represents most of Lufthansa's 16,000 cabin crew, said it called the three-hour stoppage to back up its demands for higher pay and better working conditions. It's seeking a 15-per-cent pay rise over the next 12 months. Lufthansa has offered 10 per cent, over 14 months. | | | Iceland to call early general elections for May 9
Iceland is to hold early general elections on May 9. Prime Minister Geir Haarde made the announcement at a press conference in the capital, Reykjavik. The government has been coming under growing pressure to step down over its handling of the economic crisis. Haarde's Independence Party is part of a coalition government with the Social Democratic Alliance. It was not legally required to call a general election until 2011. | | | German chipmaker Qimonda files for insolvency
The German chipmaker, Qimonda, has declared bankruptcy after talks aimed at securing additional rescue funding collapsed. That's according to the administrative court in the southern city of Munich, where Qimonda is based. This comes a month after the company secured a 325-million-euro rescue package from the federal government, the eastern state of Saxony, a Portuguese development bank and Qimonda's majority shareholder Infineon. Qimonda has been hit hard by falling chip prices and demand. Qimonda employs around 13,000 people at its operations in Munich, Dresden and Porto. | | | Britain in recession as Q4 output slides 1.5 percent
Britain has slipped into recession for the first time in 17 years. Figures released by the British statistics office show that the country's economy shrank by 1.5 percent in the fourth quarter of last year. This was the biggest fall since the second quarter of 1980. The drop follows a 0.6 percent decline in the third quarter of 2008. Two straight quarters of falling output is the most widely accepted definition of a recession. Britain's economy has been hard hit by the world financial crisis, with rising unemployment, falling house prices and its slumping currency, the pound sterling. | | | Polish lawmakers urge president to sign Lisbon Treaty.
Over 250 Polish lawmakers have urged President Lech Kaczynski to ratify the European Union's Lisbon reform. Kaczynski refused to sign the treaty after Irish voters rejected it last June. Polish parliament approved the Lisbon accord, which is designed to streamline EU decision making last April but the final say lies with the president. Kaczynski has previously said he will not sign until Ireland have given their yes-vote. Ireland has promised its EU partners to hold a new referendum on the treaty by November 2009. The treaty has to be ratified by all 27 EU member countries before it can come into force. | | | | | |  | | |  Up-to-date news at DW-WORLD.DE | | | | | | |  | | | Note
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Analysis: EU in Disarray Over Guantanamo Inmate Relocation
