 | | | | | | | Newsletter | 28.01.2009, 17:15 UTC | | | Newsline | | | World news: international | | | | | | | | | News | | | | | Current Article | | | | Economic turmoil to dominate agenda in Davos
Political and business leaders from around the world have gathered in the Swiss town of Davos for the annual World Economic Forum. This comes as governments try to shore up their financial sectors amid a worsening economic crisis. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart, Wen Jiabao, are to give the keynote speeches at the start of the five-day forum. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is also among the heads of state and government who are to address the forum. Delegates will also be following developments in the US, where the House of Representatives is expected to approve a stimulus package worth more than 800 billion dollars in the next few hours. The start of the forum coincides with the release of the International Monetary Fund's latest economic forecast. It has cut its prediction for global growth this year to just 0.5 percent. This would be the weakest level of growth seen since World War II. |  | | US envoy in Israel to discuss Gaza ceasefire
The new US envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, has arrived in Israel to discuss a fragile Gaza ceasefire. He was travelling from Cairo where he assured President Hosni Mubarak that Washington supported Egypt's efforts to find a permanent truce in the Gaza Strip. His arrival comes a day after Israeli warplanes attacked smuggling tunnels on the Egypt-Gaza border in response to a roadside bombing that killed an Israeli soldier. The flare-up came 10 days into an informal ceasefire between Israel and the Islamist militant group Hamas which runs the Gaza Strip. Mitchell plans to meet with Israeli and Palestinian leaders during his trip but has no plans to meet with Hamas. He will also go to Jordan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. | | | Russia ''halts'' Kaliningrad missile deployment
Moscow has reportedly suspended plans to install Iskander missiles in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. The Interfax news agency quoted a Russian military official who said the decision was prompted by a perceived change in Washington's attitude toward a planned US missile shield in Eastern Europe. The announcement comes two days after President Barack Obama spoke to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev by telephone. The White House said the two men had agreed to stop the drift in their countries' relations. Last November, Medvedev had threatened to deploy missiles near the Polish border in response to the Bush administration's plans of installing a defence shield in Eastern Europe. | | | Landmark provincial polls under way in Iraq
Polling is under way in the first stage of Iraq's landmark provincial election, the nation's first ballot since 2005. The early voting is taking place ahead of Saturday's main ballot to try to avoid the security, logistical and electoral fraud problems of four years ago, when all eligible Iraqis had to vote on the same day. With the help of the United Nations, Iraq is holding the elections in 14 of its 18 provinces. Some 15 million citizens are being called to the polls to elect officials for 440 seats. The polls are seen as a crucial step towards securing stability as US troops prepare to accelerate their plan to withdraw from Iraq by 2011. | | | EU proposes global carbon trading scheme
The European Commission has called on the world's richest nations to create a global carbon trading scheme in the near future. The proposal calls on all 30 OECD members to set up their own Emissions Trading Scheme by 2013, and to allow permits to be traded between the schemes by 2015. EU diplomats proposed that developing powers such as China should join such a system no later than 2020. EU Energy Commissioner Stavros Dimas stressed that the richer nations would have to help fund the efforts of their poorer developing counterparts. The EU has already pledged to make a 20-per-cent cut in carbon dioxide emissions by 2020 compared to 1990 levels. Brussels has offered to go to 30 per cent if other developed economies accept a similar reduction. | | | Zimbabwe cholera spreads amid political stalemate
The World Health Organisation says Zimbabwe's cholera outbreak has killed over 3,000 people and infected more than 57,000 since August. According to the Geneva-based UN body, 57 deaths and more than 1,500 new cases have been registered since Tuesday. While Zimbabwe is stricken by the biggest and deadliest cholera outbreak the African continent has seen in 14 years, President Robert Mugabe and opposition leaders have repeatedly failed to implement a September power-sharing deal. Leaders of the Southern African Development Community are calling on Zimbabwe to form a unity government with MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai as Prime Minister by next month. | | | Madagascar's president blames mayor for unrest
Madagascar's President Marc Ravalomanana has accused his political foe, the mayor of Antananarivo, of stoking protests in the capital in which at least 30 people have died this week. Anti-government protests called by Mayor Andry Rajoelina on Monday turned violent as mobs set fire to the state radio building and ransacked the President's private TV station and businesses. On Tuesday, firefighters found over 20 charred bodies in the rubble of a shopping centre. Ravalomanana later called for national unity and talks with his opponent but no negotiations have taken place. The tussle between the two men worsened after the mayor's television network was shut down for broadcasting an interview with former president Didier Ratsiraka. | | | Germany's software giant SAP to cut 3,000 jobs
The world leader in professional software, Germany's SAP, has announced that it will cut more than 3,000 jobs this year to save up to 350 million euros as demand slumps. The company said the job cuts will allow it to "adjust to difficult market conditions." Worldwide SAP employs some 51,000 people. The company said its net profit fell 2.0 percent in 2008.
| | | Warning strikes ground 80 Lufthansa flights
A warning strike by flight attendants forced the German flag carrier, Lufthansa, to cancel more than 80 flights into and out of Frankfurt and Berlin this Wednesday. The airline said short-haul and medium-range flights were affected by the six-hour walkout. Last week, a similar, three-hour strike led to more than 40 cancellations. The union that most of Lufthansa's 16,000 cabin crew, is seeking a 15-per-cent pay rise. Lufthansa has offered 10 per cent. | | | Air-traffic controllers strike in Greece
Dozens of international flights at Greek airports have been cancelled after air traffic controllers walked off the job in a show of solidarity with farmers protesting falling commodity prices. The 24-hour strike began at midnight despite a court ruling that declared the walkout illegal. The air traffic controllers were demanding the hiring of additional personnel and an improvement in their health-care benefits. They also wanted to show unity with farmers, whose protests the past week-and-a-half have cut access to major highways and blocked border crossings with Bulgaria and Turkey. | | | | | |  | | |  Up-to-date news at DW-WORLD.DE | | | | | | |  | | | Note
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EU Calls for Global Emissions Market to Fight Climate Change
