NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD            ALL THE NEWS AND HEADLINES FOR OCTOBER 2005

*Nazi 'Dr. Death' located in Spain: German magazine

*Iran says resumed nuclear talks would benefit the West .                                                                 *South Asia quake kills more than 30,000; Pakistani president appeals for help.                               *British anti-terror police arrest 10 in raids across England.                                                               *Suicide bomber wounds four Britons in attack in southern Afghanistan.                                         *London to get multimillion dollar sexual 'theme park' near Piccadilly Circus.                                      *German bishop whose homilies denounced Hitler's regime and condemned anti-Semitism beatified at Vatican.                                                                                                                                           *Israeli professor shares Nobel Prize in Economics for 2005                                                              *Putin rethinks rocket sales to Syria despite pledge to Sharon

Nazi 'Dr. Death' located in Spain: German magazine

JERUSALEM- A Nazi war criminal notorious for sadistic experiments that killed hundreds of prisoners during the Second World War has been tracked to Spain, news reports said Saturday. Spanish police said they had not yet found the man. The German weekly magazine Der Spiegel said Spanish investigators believe the 91-year-old suspect, Aribert Heim, has been in Spain recently. During the war, Heim earned the nickname "Dr. Death" for experimenting...

Iran says resumed nuclear talks would benefit the West

TEHRAN, Iran- An Iranian official said Saturday it would be in the interests of both Iran and the West to hold unconditional talks on resolving suspicions about Tehran's nuclear program. Mohammad Saeedi, deputy head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization, reiterated Iran would not accept any conditions for resuming talks with the European Union that broke off in August, an allusion to demands Iran again halt its uranium-conversion operations...

Putin rethinks rocket sales to Syria despite pledge to Sharon


LONDON- Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to re-examine a Syrian request for the Iskander-E rocket, also known as the SS-26. Western diplomatic sources said Putin would review an earlier decision that rejected the export of the Iskander-E to Syria. In May 2005, Putin promised Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that Moscow would not sell the advanced medium-range Iskander-E to Damascus.

NATO Rules Out Strong Role in Middle East

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said Oct. 12 he ruled out any prominent role for the alliance in the Middle East in the near future, but left the door open for partnerships with states in the region. "NATO is not going to be actively involved in the many problems facing this region," the chief of the 26-member alliance told reporters in Cairo after a meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit. NATO has for some time been seeking stronger ties in the region, notably through its so-called Mediterranean dialogue which aims to boost ties with Mediterranean-rim countries including Israel. The military alliance insists, however, that it has no designs to become a  political actor in the Middle East. De Hoop Scheffer explained that NATO had no intention of imposing anything on the region, but wanted dialogue and understanding. Egyptian officials said De Hoop Scheffer's discussions with Abul Gheit also covered developments in the region and the need to eliminate all weapons of mass destruction. Abul Gheit said they also discussed the situation in the Palestinian territories, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria. He added that they also discussed how NATO can help in the effort to clear mines planted during World War II. The NATO chief arrived in Cairo earlier in the day at the start of a two-day visit to Egypt. He was scheduled to hold talks on Thursday with Egyptian Defense Minister Hussein al-Tantawi.

 

The son of a Jewish dressmaker, Harold Pinter wins Nobel literature prize

Photo: Harold Pinter.

STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- British playwright Harold Pinter, known for his distinctive juxtaposition of the brutal and the banal in such works as The Caretaker and The Room, won the 2005 Nobel Prize in literature Thursday.. Read the full article

German bishop whose homilies denounced Hitler's regime and condemned anti-Semitism beatified at Vatican

Photo: Pope Benedict XVI is greeted by Reinhard Lettmann, Bishop of Mnster, Germany during the beatification ceremony of German bishop Clemens August von Galen in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican.

VATICAN CITY- A German bishop whose homilies boldly condemned anti-Semitism and other policies of Hitler's Nazi regime was beatified Sunday in a ceremony at St. Peter's Basilica, moving him a step closer to possible sainthood...

South Asia quake kills more than 30,000; Pakistani president appeals for help.

Photo: An aerial view taken on Sunday shows the earthquake worst hit town of Balakot, in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province.

BALAKOT, Pakistan- Villagers desperate to find survivors dug with bare hands Sunday through the debris of a collapsed school where children had been heard crying beneath the rubble after a massive earthquake killed more than 20,000. Pakistani officials said the death toll could go higher, and a provincial official in Kashmir said more than 30,000 died in that province alone. President Gen. Pervez Musharraf called Saturday's magnitude-7.7 earthquake the country's worst on record ...

Suicide bomber wounds four Britons in attack in southern Afghanistan

Photo: A Canadian soldier inspects a vehicle after it was attacked by a suicide bomber in Kandahar, southern Afghanistan, Sunday.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - A suspected Taliban suicide attacker rammed a car laden with explosives into an armoured vehicle carrying British government officials Sunday in southern Afghanistan, wounding four of them, a U.S.-led coalition commander said. The assault, coming three weeks after landmark legislative elections, underscored the terrorist threat still facing Afghanistan as it slowly moves toward democracy. It also added to fears that insurgents here are copying tactics used in Iraq...

Bird's-eye view of Katrina's fury

Almost two weeks after Hurricane Katrina struck the US Gulf coast, Lesly Curwin accompanies an aerial reconnaissance mission to assess the damage.

The Blackhawk helicopter lifted off in a clatter from Baton Rouge airport, flown by pilots of the Texas National Guard.

We flew a hundred miles south towards the ghost city of New Orleans, its downtown skyline shimmering through the morning mist. Lines of green oily water criss-crossed much of the city. Warehouses, car parks, power plants, highways were inundated by the filthy waters. But there were signs below of the gigantic operation to restore the city to life. Chinook helicopters dumped huge sandbags on to the breaches in the concrete defences which failed to protect the city...