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Fiat workers fight for their jobs
Fiat's beleaguered workers have gone on the march, in defence of their jobs. The struggling company is slashing its Italian car-manufacturing workforce, incuts affecting more than 8,000 people on its payroll. Shock among staff is now turning to anger. Facing an uncertain future, workers are keen to make clear that they won't take such measures lying down. With a factory near Milan in the firing line, its workers staged a protest today, bringing traffic to a standstill as a sign of their rage. Fiat has asked for government help to soften the blow of the lay-offs. Umberto Agnelli, head of the Agnelli family's holding companies which control Fiat and whose grandfather founded the carmaker in 1899, told reporters that he was "very sad" about the job cuts but described them as a "necessary step." With already impoverished Sicily also set to suffer with the closure of its Fiat factory, feelings are running high. Unions say a four-hour strike is planned for tomorrow. Meanwhile, it is feared that the cuts could have a devastating ripple effect in Italy, with thousands of other workers, whose jobs are linked to Fiat's fortunes, also set to feel the bite. Violence flares in Middle East
A Palestinian suicide attack on a motorway near Tel Aviv has left one woman dead and at least five others injured. The death toll could have been much higher. As the bomber tried to board the rush hour bus two passengers noticed him, pinned him to the ground and then fled before the explosives were detonated. Hamas had warned of reprisals after Monday night's raid in Khan Younis which left 16 Palestinians dead. While Israel describes this morning's blast as terrorism, militant groups claim it is a reaction to the military operations and occupation. However the revenge attacks bring more raids. Two Palestinian teenagers were killed in an overnight incursion in the Rafah refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. Algeria goes to the polls
Casting the ballots, Algerians have been voting in local elections. However any thoughts the vote will bring democratic change are taking a backseat to fears the ballot will push the northern African nation further into bloodshed. More than 100,000 people have been killed in violence in Algeria since 1992, when authorities cancelled a parliamentary election that radical Islamists were poised to win. The election is a showdown between Algier's central government and radical Berber militants, who have vowed to disrupt the vote. Some 119,000 candidates are standing while some 17 million people are registered to vote. But that does not mean they are all going to. One man complained that the system is 'sick'. He said, "It is not an election for change". Another man who had voted in every election since the country gained independence from France, said this time he will not. He said, "People have more important things to think about, like where their next meal is coming from". Politicians and analysts predicted President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's ruling National Liberation Front party would win most of the vote and strengthen its grip on power after its victory in a parliamentary election in May. First elections in three years of military rule
Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf has cast his vote in a polling station in Rawalpindi in general elections seen as his attempt to legitimise the power he took in a bloodless coup three years ago. While Musharraf says the ballot will usher in a new era of democracy, critics accuse him of trying to manipulate it. They say little will change as the President will still have overall control. Brushing off the allegations Musharraf says he is prepared to hand over executive powers to the New Prime Minister as soon as November. If Musharraf plans to consolidate his power by producing a compliant assembly, then things may not be going to plan. In the key provinces of Punjab and Sindh the party of exiled Benazir Bhutto has been making gains. Musharraf made it virtually impossible for the former Prime Minister to stand for election. It's thought about 50% of the electorate will turn out. Among them women living in several tribal areas in the north west who have been allowed to vote for the first time. Out of 342 seats in the National Assembly sixty have been reserved for women. Hundreds of international observers are overseeing the polls and security is high. But already clashes between supporters of rival parties have killed at least four people. Iraq invites US to visit weapons sites
A direct appeal to the United States, in an effort to avert the ever-growing threat of war, Baghdad's regime has invited Washington to send officials to visit Iraqi sites suspected of producing weapons of mass destruction. The deputy prime minister and minister responsible for Iraq's weapons programmes refuted claims that his country is producing chemical and biological weapons, and said this was the chance for America to find out for itself. Nevertheless Washington is unlikely to accept the invitation. President Bush is pushing hard in Congress for agreement to a tough new resolution backing a possible U.S. military strike on Iraq if it does not cooperate fully with United Nations weapons inspections. America wants Iraq to be placed in a no win situation. Either it has to yield fully, and allow inspectors to go wherever and whenever they want, or face the full force of the United States military. However Iraq's deputy prime minister warned America that his country would teach it an unforgettable lesson if it launched a military campaign to oust Saddam. Sniper suspected of striking again
A man shot dead as he was filling up with petrol near Washington D.C. is likely to be the seventh murder committed by a serial killer known to police as "The Sniper". Police have few leads in this case, which has terrified the suburbs around the U.S. capital. The only clue the sniper has left was outside a school in the Maryland town of Bowie. The sniper shot and critically wounded a teenage boy, then left the message "Dear policeman, I am God" with a tarot card symbolising death. The sniper's method is always the same: a single shot from a high-powered long-range rifle. Auschwitz survivor wins Nobel literature prize
From Nazi death camps to Nobel prize winning glory, Imre Kertesz has come a long way. The Hungarian novelist has been named as the winner of this year's Nobel Prize for Literature. It marks the recognition of writing marked by his experience as a Jewish teenager sent to Auschwitz and then Buchenwald. The post-war world was also turbulent for Kertesz, as he returned to his home country, working as a writer under the Communist regime. The Swedish Academy, which awards the prize, praised him "for writing that upholds the fragile experience of the individual against the barbaric arbitrariness of history." Kertesz said his first reaction to the news that he had netted the Nobel honour was "a mixture of surprise and joy." Meanwhile, in a sign that it is not afraid to face up to its past, Germany has acknowledged Kertesz's literary prowess, with his titles among those on display at the prestigious Frankfurt Book Fair. EU candidate states resume membership preparation after EC report
All systems go was the verdict of the EU Commission's report on enlargement, now it is down to the countries wanting membership of the union to digest the text and follow its recommendations. Journalists in Brussels were eager to scour the document for potential problems. Some were highlighted in the report, namely the implementation of EU law and the disruption of internal markets. Ten mostly eastern European states are in line for membership in two years time. Bulgaria and Romania have been given a target date of 2007. In the report Commission President Romano Prodi hailed the efforts made by candidate states and said they were meeting targets. But he said the Commission would be following very closely the developments in each nation and would not hesitate to intervene. He added there would be difficulties in certain areas like agriculture but that the EU would do its best to help candidates meet the requirements..
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