Germany in Brief

Second strike slows train traffic

German rail workers launched a second warning strike on Monday in their push to win a 5 percent pay raise from Deutsche Bahn. The target of Monday's 90-minute protest was Magdeburg, the capital of the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt. The workers carried out their first warning strike on Saturday in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, disrupting the huge celebrations that precede Lent in Germany. A high-ranking executive of Deutsche Bahn said on Monday that the company was willing to offer its 160,000 employees a 1.3 percent raise to offset inflation. The next round of talks will be held on Thursday.

Social Democrats take second pounding

The Social Democratic Party of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder suffered its second drubbing at the polls within the past month on Sunday. In local elections held in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein, the Social Democrats fell from 42.4 percent of the vote in 1998 to 29.3 percent. At the same time, the country's major opposition party on the national level, the Christian Democrats, experienced their second election triumph. It captured 50.8 percent of the vote compared with 39.1 in 1998. The Social Democrats' general secretary, Olaf Scholz, said Schröder would stick to his social reform effort despite the losses. The local elections were held one month after the Christian Democrats drove the Social Democrats out of power in Schröder's home state of Lower Saxony and won an absolute majority in the central state of Hesse.

German President visits India

German President Johannes Rau began a six-day tour of India on Monday in which he will focus on the scientific and cultural exchange between the two countries. During the trip, he will visit Hyderabad, the home of a technology and space flight center.

U.S. conducts worldwide base review

The commander of U.S. forces in Europe confirmed on Monday that the Pentagon
is considering reducing its bases in Germany as part of a worldwide review aimed at cutting costs and improving the military's striking power. Marine Gen. James Jones, who commands the U.S. European Command in
Stuttgart, said he expected a decision to be made next March. During a meeting with
German journalists, Jones denied that the review had anything to do with the
deep disagreement the United States and Germany have over a possible war
against Iraq. The military base of the future will probably be more like a storage
depot with a small number of soldiers, he said. That total could grow rapidly
if necessary. The change would eliminate the need to have large housing
areas and a network of schools for servicemembers' families, he said. The United States has about 116,000 troops in Europe, 60,000 of whom are in Germany.