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USA insists despite French and German objections
American officials have further brushed aside objections to a U.S.-led war against Iraq as stated by Germany and France and echoed by Canada, Russia and China. After talks in Washington with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Washington would find other nations to support its military build-up. Visiting Turkey, German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer reacted to U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's remark about an "old Europe" by urging him to cool down his rhetoric. Fischer was in Istanbul, where foreign ministers from six Middle East Moslem nations told Iraq to cooperate more with UN weapons inspectors, and, in a message read by Turkish minister Yasar Yakis, urged the United States to consult within the UN Security Council. Canada's Foreign Minister Bill Graham urged the USA to "hold off", adding, however, that war might be justified if Iraq was found to be developing mass weapons. China said it uneasy about the "large scale" U.S. build-up in the Gulf.
German troops guard U.S. bases
Despite Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's objections to a U.S.-led war against Iraq, German troops have begun guarding some of the 95 U.S. military bases located within Germany. The German Defence Ministry said 300 Bundeswehr soldiers would conduct entry checks and patrols at bases initially in southern Germany. Eventually, 2,600 troops would be assigned. Berlin made its pledge to guard U.S. bases last November.
Preliminary peace deal for Ivory Coast
Factions at the Ivory Coast peace talks near Paris say they've reached a preliminary peace agreement to end Ivory Coast's four- month civil war and create a broad coalition government. A non-partisan prime minister would govern alongside President Laurent Gbagbo and arrange future elections and disarmaments. Rebel factions had previously demanded Gbagbo's immediate resignation. West African leaders are due in Paris this weekend to ratify the agreement. Officials of former colonial power France, which has 2,500 patrolling Ivory Coast's ceasefire line, said Paris wanted the deal to be monitored by the United Nations. On the issue of Ivorian identity, the text calls for an accelerated nationalisation process for many Ivorians entitled to citizenship but caught up in red tape. Ivory Coast's crisis left virtually split in half.
Rival economic forums preoccupied by Iraq
As the Davos Economic Forum enters its second day in Switzerland, subdued by fears over a war on Iraq, the rival World Social Forum has begun in Brazil with a large anti-war demonstration. Organisers said the march in the Brazilian city of Porto Alegre was attended by 100,000 people from 153 nations. Some delegates carried banners highly critical of President George W. Bush and perceived "U.S. imperialism". The World Social Forum is to be addressed this Friday by Brazil's new leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, whose government plans a major land reform for peasants. Organisers, using the motto "another world is possible" reiterated criticisms that World Bank, WTO, and IMF were institutions that propagated quote "unrestrained capitalism". In Switzerland, the Davos forum is to be attended by U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, the head of OPEC and bosses of Saudi and Russian oil firms.
Unemployment soars worldwide
Unemployment worldwide reached a record 180 million late last year, according to a report by the International Labour Organisation, and it warns that even more people will become jobless in the future. The ILO says two years of economic slowdown, since 2001, had created 20 million more unemployed. Alone, the tourism branch had lost 10 million. Worst hit were women textile workers and youth seeking first jobs, and a region-by-region basis, the Caribbean and Latin America, with jobless rates of 10 percent. In the Middle East and and North Africa, rates were even higher, around 18 percent. On top of 180 million unemployed worldwide, the ILO says a further 550 million people earn less than one dollar a day, while another 1.6 million have only casual or illicit jobs. The ILO urges the creation of one billion new jobs over the next decade, warning that otherwise the UN won't reach its goal of halving severe poverty by 2015.
Top Korean aides to head north
South Korea has said the nation's outgoing president Kim Dae-jung and successor Roh Moo-hyun will send their top aides to North Korea next week for talks on crisis over the North's nuclear programme. The presidential office in Seoul the delegation would be led by Kim's special security and unification advisor, Lim Dong-Won. North Korea's official news agency confirmed the visit, agreed at inter-Korean talks held in Seoul. Japan, meanwhile, said its foreign minister Yoriko Kawakuchi and visiting U.S. arms control chief John Bolton had agreed that the crisis be resolved through diplomacy. Tensions rose in October when the USA alleged that North Korea was pursuing a nuclear weapons programme in breach of a 1994 agreement.
Fiat veteran Agnelli dies
The patriarch of the Italian carmaker Fiat, Giovanni Agnelli, has died of prostate cancer at the age of 81 in Turin. He became chairman of Fiat in 1966 and turned what was then a tiny family company into a global corporation that grew to represent a 20th of Italy's economy. He was also a powerful voice in Italy's political right. Fiat's fortunes declined recently, with the lay-offs of 8,000 of its Italian staff as part of a restructuring. News of Agnelli's death today prompted a rise it Fiat's share price.
Clonaid says new clone baby born in Japan
The Clonaid group, run by the controversial Raelian sect, has said a third cloned baby was born to a Japanese couple, but as with its previous announcements, no proof was offered. At a press conference, Clonaid president Brigitte Boisselier said a baby boy had been cloned from cells from the couple's previous child who died in an accident. Clonaid has refused to give evidence for its claims to have produced three human clones. International scientists have expressed widespread skepticism.
Germany's Schuettler reaches Melbourne final
Finally sport and at the Melbourne tennis open, German outsider Rainer Schuettler has reached the men's final against Andre Agassi to be played on Saturday. Schuettler, ranked 31st seed, defeated American Andy Roddick in the semis and becomes only the second German, since Boris Becker, to reach a men's final in Melbourne's 98-year history. Meanwhile, the women's doubles final has been won - once again - by the Williams sisters of the USA. Serena and Venus Williams beat the Spanish- Argentinian duo of Virgina Ruano Pascual and Paola Suarez. The Williams are opponents for Saturday's womens' singles final.