 | | | | | | | Newsletter | 06.02.2009, 17:15 UTC | | | Newsline | | | World news: international | | | | | | | | | World News | | | | | Current Article | | | | UN suspends Gaza deliveries in dispute with Hamas
A United Nations aid agency says it has suspended deliveries to Gaza due to a dispute with the territory's ruling Hamas movement. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency accuses Hamas of twice confiscating its aid, including 10 truckloads of flour and rice delivered on Thursday. A UN spokesperson said the agency wanted its aid returned and credible promises that Hamas would not seize future deliveries before it resumed operations. Hamas said the supplies were taken by mistake and called the situation a misunderstanding. Israel's blockade and recent military offensive against Gaza have left the Palestinian territory's 1.5 million residents in acute need of aid. |  | | EU, Russia discuss differences
The chief of the European Union's executive has met with Russian leaders to discuss strains in the bloc's relations with Moscow. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso discussed energy security, human rights issues and foreign policy differences with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Barroso appeared to irritate the Russian premier when he said the EU was concerned about the murder of journalists and activists in Russia. Prime Minister Putin said the EU should concern itself with rights abuses in its own territory. Ties between the EU and Moscow have been strained by Russia's war with Georgia and the gas dispute with Ukraine, which disrupted Europe's gas supply for two weeks. Putin requested the EU to keep its observers in Ukraine until the end of March to monitor the transit of Russian gas to Europe. | | | Deutsche Bahn chief says "sorry" to employees
The head of the German railway operator Deutsche Bahn has apologised to staff over the secret surveillance of employees. Earlier, two German rail workers unions demanded that CEO Hartmut Mehdorn apologise personally for the affair, and threatened to demand his resignation. The unions have given Deutsche Bahn's supervisory council until next Tuesday to give a full account of the company's surveillance activities. The rail operator has admitted to spying on over 200,000 workers in order to monitor for potentially corrupt dealings with suppliers. | | | Ban praises Iraqi provincial elections
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has praised the Iraqi people after last weekend's provincial elections, saying they had come a long way. Ban arrived in Baghdad on a surprise visit for talks with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki a day after the Shiite premier's bloc swept to victory in the vote held in 14 of the country's 18 provinces. At a joint press briefing with al-Maliki, Ban said the polls were an important step toward full democracy but added that Iraqis still had work to do before they could enjoy genuine freedom, security and prosperity. Just over half of the Iraqi electorate voted in the poll seen as a vital test of Iraq's progress since the US-led invasion ousted Saddam Hussein from power almost six years ago. Ban also met President Jalal Talabani. | | | US unemployment rises to 7.6%
New economic figures show that the US economy shed nearly 600,000 jobs in January. The Federal Labor Department's monthly report was significantly worse than analysts had expected. Economists had forecast the world's largest economy to lose just over 500,000 jobs. The figures catapult the US unemployment rate to 7.6 percent, the highest since 1992. The price of oil dropped below 40 dollars a barrel on the news. Earlier, President Barack Obama called on the Senate to approve urgently a 900-billion-dollar economic rescue package. Republicans in the Senate are seeking to pare back some of the spending proposals in the legislation. They are demanding a greater emphasis on tax cuts to stimulate the economy.
| | | Kyrgyzstan says decision to shut US base is final
Kyrgyzstan says its decision to shut a US air base is final. The base is an important staging post for US and NATO forces in neighbouring Afghanistan, and its closure deals a blow to Washington's efforts to defeat the Taliban there. Earlier, the US said it was still in talks with Kyrgyzstan about keeping the base. Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev announced the base closure earlier this week after securing more than two billion dollars in financial aid from Russia during talks in Moscow. His country is a former Soviet republic and has traditionally had close ties to Russia. | | | Disgraced Pakistani nuclear scientist free
A Pakistani court has declared the disgraced nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan free. Khan has been under effective house arrest since 2004 for admitting to selling nuclear secrets to several countries, including Iran, North Korea and Libya. It is not clear how far Pakistan's security agencies intend to lift restrictions on Khan's movements. Although his detention has been relaxed over the past year, a state prosecutor said “security measures” for Khan would remain in place. Pakistan regards the case as closed, but US and other investigators still want to question him over his nuclear proliferation activities. Pakistan has never let foreign investigators question Khan. | | | Corrupt bank thriller opens Berlin Film Festival
The Berlin Film Festival has opened with an action thriller about the often dark and crooked world of global banking. German director Tom Tykwer's film "The International" draws on the story of big global banks that have been caught after getting involved in dubious dealings. The plot loosely follows the scandal surrounding the 1990's collapse of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International. | | | Economic downturn hits Toyota harder than expected
The world's biggest carmaker, Toyota, has forecast a far-bigger loss for last year's operations than originally expected. The Japanese car giant estimated that it lost nearly four billion dollars in 2008, nearly triple the original loss forecast made in December. The company blamed its troubles on tumbling auto sales, especially in the U.S. and Europe, as well as the strong yen, which is sapping its overseas earnings. | | | | | |  | | |  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 | | | |
US Will Seek To Repair Euro-Ties at Munich Security Conference
