 | | | | | | | Newsletter | 17.02.2009, 17:15 UTC | | | Newsline | | | World news: international | | | | | | | | | World News | | | | | Current Article | | | | German reported to be considering taking stake in Opel
Bloomberg news agency is reporting that US car manufacturer General Motors is considering plans to close three of its Opel plants in Bochum, Eisenach and the Belgium city of Antwerp. The state premier of North-Rhein Westphalia, Jürgen Rüttgers, who is currently visiting Washington, warned board members at General Motors against taking such a step, arguing that GM could not survive without Opel. Financial Times Deutschland said the German government could take a stake in Opel if its American parent company declares bankruptcy. But newly-appointed Economics Minister Karl Theodor zu Guttenberg told German television that the government had no concrete plans to bail out Opel. General Motors is facing a deadline this Tuesday to submit a restructuring plan to the US government. This is part of the terms set of a 13-billion-dollar federal bailout. |  | | Dramatic losses at German carmaker Daimler
Germany's premier luxury automaker, Daimler, has announced a dramatic decline in profit for the 2008 business year. At a news conference in Stuttgart, the manufacturer of Mercedes-Benz cars and trucks said profit before interest and taxes had plummeted to 2.7 billion euros, down from 8.7 billion a year earlier. The company said more than 3.2 billion euros of that loss was due to its shares in American carmaker, Chrysler, and a precipitous drop in sales of Mercedes-Benz cars in the last quarter of 2008. | | | Cambodia opens first 'Killing Fields' trial
The long-awaited trial of a former Khmer Rouge leader in Cambodia has opened at a Phnom Penh court, 30 years after the fall of the ultra-Maoist Pol Pot regime. Kaing Guek Eav - better known as Duch - is the first defendant to go on trial at the UN-backed war crimes court. He was head of the notorious Tuol Sleng prison camp in the Cambodian capital and is accused of presiding over the murder and torture of prison inmates. The 66-year-old Duch is one of five former Khmer Rouge leaders who face trial for the deaths of up to two million people, made famous in the Oscar-winning "Killing Fields" film. The court was established after a decade of negotiations between the United Nations and the Cambodian government. | | | German foreign minister in Baghdad for talks
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier is in Baghdad for talks with Iraqi government officials. Bilateral trade is expected to be one of the main topics of discussion. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has called on German firms to play a greater role in the reconstruction of his country. Prior to leaving for Baghdad, Steinmeier said in a press release that Germany was committed to helping Iraq make progress towards a stable democracy. The visit is the first by a German foreign minister since 1987. Steinmeier, who is being accompanied on the trip by a representatives of business and cultural organisations, is also slated to open a German consulate in the northern city of Arbil. | | | Equatorial Guinea says repels attack on presidency
The government of Equatorial Guinea says its armed forces have fought off an attack on the presidential palace by gunmen believed to have come by boat from Nigeria's Niger Delta. It said in a statement that at least one assailant was killed in an exchange of fire in the presidency and some others drowned when their boat was sunk by the navy. It said the situation was now under control. | | | Clinton warns North Korea on missile launch
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has warned North Korea against test-firing a long-range missile. Clinton told reporters in Tokyo that such a move would be unhelpful. But she also said that the administration of President Barack Obama was prepared to offer North Korea aid if it ends what she described as its provocative language and actions. Her comments come amid speculation that Pyongyang is planning to carry out a missile launch soon. Clinton who is in Japan on the first leg of her Asian tour, also announced that the US president will meet with Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso in Washington next week. Aso will be the first foreign leader to be received at the White House since Obama took office last month. | | | Sudan and Darfur rebel group sign accord
The Sudanese government and Darfur's most active rebel group have signed an agreement that will pave the way for broader talks aimed at ending the six-year conflict in Darfur. The deal was announced following a week of talks in Qatar between the Khartoum government and the Justice and Equality Movement. Officials say that the deal includes a prisoner exchange and a commitment to end attacks on refugee camps. However, other factions involved in fighting in Darfur are still declining to talk with the government. The United Nations estimates that 300,000 people have died and more than 2.2 million have fled their homes since rebels in Sudan's western Darfur region took up arms against the government in February 2003. | | | Stephan takes silver at world biathlon championships
In sports: Germany's Christoph Stephan has taken the silver medal in the men's 20-kilometer individual race at the world biathlon championships. The 23-year-old Stephan came in only 14 seconds behind the winner, Ole Einar Björndalen, of Norway. Germany, so far, has won one gold and three silver medals at this year's championships, which are being held in Pyeongchang, South Korea. | | | | | |  | | |  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 | | | |
German Foreign Minister Visit Changes Relations with Iraq
