 | | | | | | | Newsletter | 24.01.2009, 17:15 UTC | | | Newsline | | | World news: international | | | | | | | | | News | | | | | Current Article | | | | France floats EU plan on Guantanamo detainees
France has reportedly drawn up a plan for EU nations to accept 60 detainees from the US Guantanamo Bay prison camp. The German weekly Der Spiegel says the plan applies to inmates that are deemed innocent but would risk persecution or torture if sent to their home countries. Paris has reportedly sent the draft to EU capitals in order to discuss it when EU foreign ministers meet on Monday in Brussels. European governments, which have called for the closure of the controversial Guantanamo camp for years, are under pressure to help US President Barack Obama find a home for some of the approximately 245 remaining detainees. In Germany and across the EU, governments are divided on whether to accept inmates. |  | | Eight people killed as gales lash France and northern Spain
High winds and storms in France and Spain have left at least eight people dead. Four children were killed when the roof of a sports centre collapsed near Barcelona. Four other people were killed in northern Spain and southern France as high winds battered the region for a second day. Winds of up to 180 km an hour have placed France's south-western region under red alert cutting power, disrupting flights and blocking roads. Officials have closed the airports at Bordeaux, Biarritz, Pau and Toulouse as well several bridges in the region. France's high speed TGV train from Bordeaux has also been suspended. | | | Lampedusa refugees break out of camp to stage demonstrations
Hundreds of migrants and refugees have staged a peaceful demonstration against their treatment after temporarily breaking out of an overcrowded immigration camp on the Sicilian island of Lampedusa. An estimated 600 people forced open the gates at the facility and marched toward the island's center. They joined a demonstration by residents, who were protesting government plans to open another shelter on Lampedusa. The incident comes one day after the UN criticised conditions in the camp. About 2,000 people are forced to live in premises designed for 850. New immigration rules in Italy force refugees to stay in the camp until they are deported or granted asylum. Lampedusa camp holds people picked up or rescued trying to cross the Mediterranean from North Africa. | | | UN warns peacekeeping missions risking failure over shortages
The UN peacekeeping chief has warned that the UN's peacekeeping efforts are risking failure due too insufficient funds and lack of troops. Speaking to the UN Security Council in New York, Alain Le Roy said the UN was over stretched with 113,000 military, police and cilivian personnel deployed in 18 mission across the globe. He said 2009 would likely be a pivotal year for peacekeeping with several missions facing significant risk of failure. He pointed to Congo where the UN force was hard-pressed to manage the recent upsurge in fighting in the volatile east as well as the joint UN-African Union force in Darfur. Analysts fear the global financial crisis will likely make UN member states less willing to contribute to the peacekeeping budget which currently amounts to about 8 billion dollars. | | | US accused of killing 10 civilians in anti-terror raid in Afghanistan
The US military says that coalition forces have killed 15 armed militants in an overnight operation in eastern Afghanistan. The operation reportedly targeted a Taliban terrorist network in Mehtar Lam, about 40 miles northeast of Kabul. But the governor of eastern Laghman province said initial reports showed that 10 civilians were killed together with three Taliban during the US-led operation. He added that a team had been sent to the area to investigate. | | | Gilani calls for outside help to assist with border control
Pakistans's Prime Minister Raza Gilani has called for more help from other nations to combat militant activity on the border with Afghanistan. Speaking in an interview with The Financial Times newspaper, Gilani said that despite international pressure to crack down on extremists, Pakistan had only limited resources. Gilani also said Pakistan needed to move swiftly to improve relations with India following November's terrorist attacks on the Indian city of Mumbai. | | | First UN-run schools reopen since Gaza offensive
Up to 200 UN-run schools have re-opened in Gaza for the first time following the three week Israeli offensive against Hamas. Meanwhile the UN says that Israel is cooperating in efforts to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, saying more food and medicine is coming into the territory. A French naval frigate is heading to international waters off the coast of Gaza as part of a coordinated effort with Egypt and Israel to prevent weapons smuggling into the enclave. In a separate development a UN expert on the Palestinian territories has called for an independent investigation into whether Israel committed war crimes in Gaza where 1300 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed.
| | | China's central bank denies manipulating currency
China's central bank has rejected US claims that it was manipulating the country's currency. Su Ning, vice governor of the bank said the allegations made by US Treasury Secretary-designate Timothy Geithner earlier this week were untrue and misleading. Geithner had accused Bejing of manupulating its currency exchange policies to gain an unfair trade advantage. Many US lawmakers believe the yuan is much undervalued, giving Chinese exporters a big trade advantage. China worries that its already slowing exports will be even harder hit by US policies to narrow their trade imbalance. | | | Freddie Mac to ask for up to $35 billion government money
Giant US mortgage company Freddie Mac is to ask for a further 35 billion dollars in government money. Freddie Mac along with Fannie Mae owns or guarantees nearly half of the US home loan market, both companies lost billions of dollars last year before being taken over by the government in September. The move was intended to protect global financial markets. Freddie Mac has already received nearly 14 billion dollars from the US Treasury Department but said losses from the fourth quarter of 2008 were risking the firm's collapse. | | | | | |  | | |  Up-to-date news at DW-WORLD.DE | | | | | | |  | | | Note
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Refugees Break Out of Italian Camp, Protest Conditions
