 | | | | | | | Newsletter | 12.02.2009, 17:15 UTC | | | Newsline | | | World news: international | | | | | | | | | World News | | | | | Current Article | | | | Mumbai raid partly planned in Pakistan
A senior Pakistani official has admitted for the first time that last year's attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai were partly planned in Pakistan. Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik said that several suspects are now being held and a case has been filed which may lead to their prosecution. At least 173 people were killed in November's attacks. Tensions between between India and Pakistan rose after Delhi said all 10 gunmen were Pakistani. Pakistan denied any responsibility in the immediate aftermath of the attacks, but later it admitted that the sole gunman captured alive was Pakistani. |  | | Pope condemns Holocaust denial
Pope Benedict XVI has told American Jewish leaders that any denial of the Holocaust is "intolerable", especially if it comes from a clergyman. He made the comments during his first face-to-face talks with Jewish leaders since he lifted the excommunication of a Holocaust-denying bishop. The Pope said he was unaware that Bishop Richard Williamson had denied the full extent of the Holocaust. The Pope's decision, ending Bishop Williamson's excommunication on an unrelated matter, has caused a bitter row, as the bishop does not believe that millions of Jews were gassed by the Nazis in World War II. Bishop Williamson has since apologised for the controversy he has caused, and has been removed from his post as the head of a Roman Catholic seminary in Argentina. However, he has refused to withdraw his remarks, despite an order from the Vatican to do so. | | | Congress, White House reach final stimulus deal
US lawmakers have reached a compromise deal on a $789 billion package of tax cuts and spending meant to help rescue the country's ailing economy. Democrat Harry Reid, the majority leader in the Senate, said the stimulus package would create more than three million jobs. He did not reveal specific details of the compromise, which pulled together separate bills passed by the Senate and House of Representatives. The Senate had passed an $838 billion stimulus bill while the House had approved an $820 billion bill. Negotiators worked around the clock to reconcile the differences and get it below $800 billion as some Republicans demanded. | | | Coalition talks begin in Israel
Both Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and right-wing opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu are looking for coalition partners to form a government after inconclusive general elections. Livni's centrist Kadima party won 28 seats in the 120-member parliament, just one ahead of Netanyahu's Likud party, leaving the country facing perhaps weeks of political uncertainty. Livni immediately started coalition talks with Avigdor Lieberman, the leader of the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu party. Later, Lieberman, whose party won 15 seats in the election, met with Netanyahu. Israeli President Shimon Peres has to decide whom he will ask to try and form a government. He is expected to meet with party leaders next week to hear their coalition plans. | | | Banned Dutch politician held at Heathrow
A Dutch far-right politician barred from Britain because of his anti-Islamic views has been detained by immigration officials at Heathrow Airport. Geert Wilders, best known for his anti-Islam short film "Fitna," is leader of Party for Freedom which has nine seats in the Dutch parliament. British authorities informed Wilders on Tuesday that his presence in the United Kingdom would pose a "genuine, present and sufficiently serious threat to one of the fundamental interests of society." Wilders ignored the warning and flew in into London from Amsterdam anyway after being invited to show his controversial film - which links the Islamic holy book to terrorism - in the UK's House of Lords. It is expected that Wilders will be denied entry to Britain. | | | US and Russian satellite collide
A Russian and a US satellite have collided in space. It's believed to be the first time two satellites have crashed in orbit. The accident above Siberia produced hundreds of pieces of debris, which could cause problems for other space operations. However, the launch of the space shuttle Discovery in ten days is expected to go ahead as planned. NASA said the international space station only faces a small risk. | | | Holbrooke visiting tense Kabul
US envoy Richard Holbrooke has arrived in the Afghan capital Kabul, one day after Taliban suicide bombers breached the city's defences and killed 26 people. Holbrooke, who was recently assigned the troubled region by the new US President Barrack Obama, arrived from Pakistan where he examined Pakistani attempts to tackle havens used by Islamist militants along the border with Afghanistan. In Kabul, a US embassy spokesman declined to give details of Holbrooke's schedule. The Afghan foreign ministry said Holbrooke would meet with President Hamid Karzai on Saturday. Obama is due to decide in the next few days on whether to send more US troops to Afghanistan. | | | Australia announces day of mourning for fire victims
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has said there will be a national day of mourning and memorial service for the victims of bushfires that have killed at least 181 people in the state of Victoria. Police have been questioning two people in connection with the fires, some of which are suspected to have been deliberately lit. Police say the death toll is likely to rise to beyond 200 as investigators enter towns that were devastated in the fires. Some 500 people were injured and nearly 5,000 homes destroyed. Meanwhile there are reports of fresh bushfires, also believed to have been started by arsonists. | | | Japanese Pioneer Corp. to cut 10,000 jobs
Japanese electronics company Pioneer Corporation has said it will cut 10,000 jobs globally after severe losses in the current fiscal year to March. It said its net loss in the period will be around one billion euros. The group had already cut 5,900 jobs between March and December 2008. | | | | | |  | | |  Up-to-date news at DW-WORLD.DE | | | | | | |  | | | Note
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Pope Meets Jewish Leaders to Quell Storm Over Holocaust Denier
