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2 July 2002 Scajola says sorry for "offensive" remarks
Italy's Interior Minister Claudio Scajola has publicly apologised for calling a government aide murdered by left-wing guerrillas "a pain in the arse". The comments have landed the government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in fresh controversy. Scajola said at a news conference: "My words, taken out of context and exaggerated, have offended (Biaggi's) family. For this I ask their pardon." Italian media and the opposition have heaped scorn on Berlusconi for refusing to accept Scajola's resignation, which he tendered on Sunday. An advisor to the Employment Ministry, Marco Biagi was shot dead outside his home in Bologna in March. The Red Brigades, the notorious leftist guerrilla group which terrorised Italy during the late 1970s and the 1980s, claimed responsibility for the assassination. It said it killed Biagi because he was helping to prepare laws to make it easier for employers to sack people, but no-one has ever been caught. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is due to address parliament on Wednesday over his Interior Minister's comments and his own decision to stand by Scajola. |
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Two planes collide in Germany killing scores of people
More than seventy people are feared dead following a a devastating mid-air collision involving two large planes near the German Swiss border next to Lake Constance. Many are believed to be children. The planes were flying at around 12 thousand metres when they crossed paths. Part of the wreckage hit the ground on a road close to the lake, but debris has been scattered over a 30 kilometre area, some of it falling in nearby towns. A school and several houses were set on fire. Police have found two bodies so far, but no one is expecting to find survivors. The army has been brought in to help in the search for bodies and plane parts. One of the aircrafts was a passenger plane carrying around 70 people, the other was a cargo plane with just two people on board. It ended up in Lake Constance. Although the accident happened over German territory, Swiss air traffic control is in charge of air movement in the area. The passenger plane was a Tupolev 154. It had come from the Urals in Russia, via Moscow and Munich. It was on its way to Barcelona. The other craft was a Boeing 757 cargo plane carrying just two people. It had come from Bahrain via Italy and was on route to Brussels. |
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120 Afghan civilians reported killed or wounded in U.S. attack
U.S. war planes are reported to have either killed or wounded at least 120 civilians in a botched bombing raid in Afghanistan. The victims were attending a wedding party in a village near of Uruzgan, northeast of the city of Kandahar. The Pentagon said at least one bomb dropped by the B52 plans in the area missed their intended target. But it could not could not confirm the reports of casualties made by local residents. A spokesman said the strike happened after the planes were fired on. The US launched air strikes in Afghanistan last year against the al Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden and the group's Taliban protectors, in response to the September 11th attacks The claim by the residents was the latest in a series of incidents in which several Western troops and dozens of Afghan civilians have been reported killed by "friendly fire" in the war there. |
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Difficult debates for Israel's Labour party Israel's centre-left
Labour Party, which is a coalition partner of Ariel Sharon's government, has some important questions to address during its annual conference this week. Will it set a peacemaking agenda with the Palestinians, and what is its future with Sharon's right wing government.? At the conference opening yesterday the party leader who is also Sharon's Defence Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer rejected demands from dovish members to end the partnership Ben-Eliezer said quitting the government would lead to the immediate halting of the separation fence Israel is building; a 350-kilometre barrier along the border with the West Bank designed to keep suicide bombers out. He said this was necessary, and as a result some settlers on the other side of the wall would have to in the long term leave. |
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Danes take EU helm with Viking determination
Denmark has taken over from Spain as the European Union's presiding nation; it is now responsible for steering through one of the most crucial periods in the bloc's history. European Commissioners will work hand in hand with Copenhagen for the next six months, to ensure successful expansion of the EU in 2004. Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen is resolute about sticking to the planning calendar, to wrap up negotiations with enlargement candidates by December, when leaders will decide which to accept as new members. "Finalisation of the negotiations in 2002 is a historic opportunity for Europe, a unique chance to take advantage of this window of opportunity - We must succeed." Rasmussen has asked partners for a degree of flexibility to attain this. He prefers to look on the last remaining obstacles to enlargement not as problems, but as challenges. |
