 | Iranian president says "welcomes" talks with US
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said he would welcome talks with the United States, but only if they were based on what he called "mutual respect". Speaking at celebrations marking the 30th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Ahmedinejad said he hoped the changes promised by the Obama administration were "fundamental and not tactical". His comments come a day after US President Barack Obama said he was looking for opportunities for having a "constructive dialogue" with Tehran. The United States broke off diplomatic ties with Iran 30 years ago after the US-backed Shah was ousted. Relations between the two countries have become increasingly tense in the past years amid Western fears that Tehran could be developing nuclear weapons, something Iran denies.
|  | | Israel votes in tight election
Israelis have been voting to elect a new government - the 18th in the country's 60-year history. Approximately 4.8 million eligible voters will choose from 33 lists in the proportional elections, with pre-election polls predicting a tight race between the hawkish Likud party, headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, and the centrist Kadima party led by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. First official results are not expected until Wednesday. | | | Sarkozy arrives in Baghdad on surprise visit
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has made a surprise visit to Baghdad, the first such trip since the downfall of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003. During his visit he will meet with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. Elysee Palace said Sarkozy is in Iraq as part of a regional tour that will also take him to Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman, where he is due later on Tuesday. | | | Obama urges Congress to pass stimulus plan
US President Barack Obama has urged Congress to pass his $828 billion stimulus package, warning that delaying it would worsen a "full-blown crisis". In his first full White House news conference, Obama said only government could break the vicious cycle crippling the US jobs market. Obama said his plan will create up to four million jobs and help lift the economy. The House of Representatives has already approved the plan and the Senate is due to vote later on Tuesday. The version approved by the House differs from that being discussed in the Senate, and the two chambers will have to agree on a single final version. On Monday, the Senate voted 61-36 to end its debate, paving the way for a final vote on the Senate's version of the bill on Tuesday. | | | Australia's PM Rudd vows to rebuild after bushfires
Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has vowed his country would rally after the worst bushfires in its history. Rudd told MPs that areas devastated by bushfires would be rebuilt. A police task force has been launched to investigate the cause of the fires that have swept across southern Australia killing at least 181 people. Rescuers searching scorched areas say they fear the death toll could rise to over 200. Some 500 people have been injured and nearly 10,000 homes destroyed. Residents in parts of Victoria state are still on alert as more than a dozen fires continue to burn out-of-control. Police suspect some of the blazes may have been started by arsonists. | | | New Darfur talks begin in Qatar
The Sudanese government has begun talks in Qatar with one of the main Darfur rebel factions. A government delegation met with representatives from the Justice and Equality Movement for the first time since 2007. In May last year, the group launched an unprecedented attack on the Sudanese capital, Khartoum. Other rebel groups have said the talks will fail, as they do not include all factions involved in the conflict. International experts say 200,000 people have died and 2.7 million been driven from their homes since rebels in Darfur took up arms against Khartoum in 2003, accusing it of neglecting the development of the region. | | | South Africa calls elections for April 22
South African President Kgalema Motlanthe says his country's national elections will be held on April 22. The ruling African National Congress Party is expected to win, but with a reduced majority following the formation of a breakaway party. Defectors from the ANC formed the Congress of the People party in protest at last year's ouster of former President Thabo Mbeki. The new party could break the ANC's two-thirds majority in parliament. ANC leader, Jacob Zuma, is expected to become president despite facing a corruption case. His party has dominated South African politics since the 1994 elections which ended apartheid. | | | Czech PM warns on protectionism
Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek says the European Union must avoid protectionist policies if an even worse financial crisis is to be averted. Topolanek, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, said the European response to the crisis had deformed the euro zone. He said most of the states in the zone had disregarded the bloc's common rules. These include regulations regarding budget deficits, free internal trade and state aid to companies. Topolanek is planning a summit to address the danger of protectionism by the end of the month. The Czech government has recently clashed with France over trade issues after French President Nicolas Sarkozy said car makers receiving state aid should keep production at home. The Czech Republic is home to a number of foreign-owned car plants, including one belonging to the French company PSA Citroen Peugeot. | | | UN to resume Gaza aid operations
The UN is to resume delivering aid in Gaza after it said Hamas returned humanitarian supplies seized from UN warehouses last week. But the UN Relief and Works Agency said that the earliest it could resume deliveries was Wednesday because the Israeli-controlled crossing points are closed for the country's elections. The agency suspended shipments on Friday after Hamas seized 200 tonnes of rice and flour, 3,500 blankets and more than 400 food parcels from a distribution store. Hamas denied it confiscated any supplies, calling it a mistake due to a lack of co-ordination. On Monday, UN officials reiterated their call for Israel to lift the blockade on Gaza and open the crossings to urgent supplies. The top UN official in Gaza criticized Israel on Monday for blocking the shipment of paper to print textbooks for a new human rights curriculum that will be taught to children in all grades in the Palestinian territory. | | | Germany gets new Economics Minister
Germany has sworn in a new economy minister. The conservative Bavarian politician Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg replaces Michael Glos, who announced his surprise resignation at the weekend. zu Guttenberg comes from the Christian Social Union, the sister party to Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats. At 37 years of age, he is the youngest ever person to take on the cabinet position in Germany. His appointment has provoked some controversy. A number of fellow conservative lawmakers have complained that zu Guttenberg has too little expertise to take on the job amid a global economic downturn. | | | German tool industry forecasts 25,000 job cuts
The German Engineering Federation (VDMA) says that the global economic crisis has badly affected the demand for machine tools, a key branch of German industry. It said orders for machine tools plunged by 29 percent in the last quarter of last year. The Federation said it expected output to shrink by 7 percent this year, threatening the jobs of 25,000 workers. Last year, the sector saw an overall increase of 5.4 percent in production and an eight percent increase in sales. Major markets for German production were Brazil, China, India and Russia. | | | USB post full-year loses of nearly $16.8 billion
Swiss bank UBS has reported a fourth-quarter loss of $6.9 billion. The results exceed fears by analysts who had expected losses of $5.4 billion. Switzerland's biggest bank said on Tuesday that the results bring its full-year loss to nearly $16.8 billion for 2008, with about half of the losses incurred in the fourth quarter. UBS blamed the losses largely on bad decisions by its investment bank. The bank warned that the immediate outlook remained cautious and that it would continue to cut costs and risks. | | | Italian right-to-die woman dead
An Italian woman at the centre of a controversial right-to-die case in Italy has died. Italy's health minister announced that 37-year-old Eluana Englaro died on Monday evening. Italian Senators had been debating emergency legislation to prevent doctors from withdrawing life support for Englaro, who was in a coma for the past 17 years. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi introduced the legislation in a last-ditch bid to circumvent a court ruling, which cleared the way for doctors to discontinue feeding Englaro last Friday. Englaro's family fought for the past 10 years to let her die. The case divided Italy and prompted Berlusconi's government and the Church to push to keep Eluana Englaro alive. | | | Hurricane force winds cause outages in France
Hurricane force winds have lashed France, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of households on Tuesday and prompting the closure of Paris' two international airports for the first time in 34 years. More than 200 flights have been cancelled as a result. Wind gusts over 140 kilometres per hour were recorded on France's Atlantic coast. The French navy has put three rescue vessels on standby to sail to the aid of any ship in difficulty, while sandbags have been deployed on sea-fronts exposed to potential flooding. The storm comes just two weeks after another storm that left 11 people dead in the southwest of the country. | | | | |
Deutsche Bahn Spying Scandal Grows
