Deutsche Welle English Service News February 19th 2005, 16:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
Bird Flu Spreads Across Europe Just days after avian influenza appeared in Germany, France has confirmed its own cases of the deadly virus. The disease is rapidly spreading across the continent, with new reports appearing daily. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1909054,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Sign up for our new podcast! In "Correspondents report," Deutsche Welle journalists provide coverage of the top stories on the world and European news agenda. Every day, you will be able to listen to at least two stories from Newslink, DW-RADIO's news journal. For more information and to sign up, please go to http://www.dw-world.de/dw/0,,9541,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Israel imposes sanctions on Palestinians Israel has decided to impose a range of economic sanctions on the Palestinian Authority's new government, led by the Islamist militant group Hamas. Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem that Israel would have no dealings with what he described as a terrorist regime. This comes a day after the new Palestinian government was sworn in, in a ceremony held in the West Bank town of Ramallah. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas used a speech to the new parliament to call on Hamas to uphold all agreements with the Israelis. But senior Hamas parliamentarian Mushir al Masri said the group would continue to deny Israel's right to exist. Meanwhile, two Palestinian militants have been killed in an Israeli air strike in the southern Gaza Strip. Merkel alarmed by bird flu in Germany German Chancellor Angela Merkel says she is alarmed by the rapid spread of bird flu on the northern island of Ruegen. During a surprise visit to the region, Merkel said the situation was serious and that the federal government would continue to monitor it closely. The total number of dead wild birds infected with H5N1 strain of the virus in Germany has risen to 59, since it was first discovered on Ruegen five days ago. Sections of the sparsely populated resort island have been closed to the public and the entire island has been put under close observation. India denies human bird flu death Indian health officials say laboratory tests show that a poultry farmer who had been suspected of having bird flu actually died of a bacterial infection. The man lived in the region where the country's first outbreak of the H5N1 virus was reported on Saturday. Another 30 people in Maharashtra state are still being tested for bird flu. Indian authorities say 250,000 birds have been culled in an effort to contain the outbreak. Indian Joint Secretary for Animal Husbandry Upma Chawdhry told reporters in New Delhi that other measures were also being taken. Meanwhile, the French agriculture ministry has confirmed that a wild duck found dead near Lyon did have the H5N1 strain of the disease. Steinmeier tells Iran to take Russia's offer Germany and South Korea have called on Iran to accept Moscow's offer to enrich uranium for Tehran's nuclear programme on Russian soil. That's a compromise that Russia has offered aimed at resolving a dispute between Tehran and the West over Iran's nuclear programme. The United States and the European Union fear Iran could be seeking to produce nuclear weapons. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his South Korean counterpart, Ban Ki Moon, made the statement to reporters in Seoul. South Korea is the first stop on Steinmeier's five-day trip to the region, which will also take him to Japan and China. Anti-cartoon protests continue Protests against a series of cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed are continuing in parts of the Muslim world. Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Istanbul to protest against the cartoons chanting slogans denouncing Denmark, Israel and the United States. Meanwhile, police fired teargas and rubber bullets to break up a banned protest against the cartoons in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. The government banned the demonstration after similar protests in Pakistan turned violent. The Danish ambassador to Pakistan, meanwhile, is reported to have left the country for security reasons. The cartoons were first published in a Danish newspaper last September. German plane wreckage found in Iraq The wreckage of a small private German plane has been found in northern Iraq. The aircraft, carrying five Germans and one Iraqi had gone missing on Thursday. All six bodies were found in the wreckage. It was discovered by local residents about 40 kilometres north of the city of Sulaimaniya. The cause of the crash is not yet clear, but there was stormy weather in the area at the time the plane went missing. Philippine mudslide kills hundreds The hopes of finding survivors in a Philippine village buried by a massive landslide are fading, four days after a mountainside collapsed, burying hundreds of homes and a school. As many as 1,800 people are feared dead as rescuers have failed to find any more survivors since Friday. Relief efforts are being hampered by 10-metre-deep mud and washed out roads and bridges. Ten kiled in US helicopter crash Ten crew members were killed when two US military helicopters crashed off the coast of Djibouti on Friday. US military officials in the Horn of Africa country confirmed the deaths in a statement. The two helicopters carried a total of 12 crew when they crashed during a training mission. Military officials said earlier that two crew members who survived were rescued on Friday. They haven't commented on the cause of the crash. Bosnian film takes top award in Berlin A drama about Bosnia's post-war trauma and the lingering impact of the systematic rape of women by Serb soldiers during the 1992-95 conflict has taken top honours at the Berlin Film Festival. "Grbavica" by Sarajevo director Jasmila Zbanic took the Golden Bear for best film at the conclusion of the 56th Berlin festival. The best acting Silver Bear awards went to two Germans. Sandra Hueller was honoured for her performance in "Requiem" while Moritz Bleibtreu was selected as best actor for "The Elementary Particles." ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Win a trip to Germany! "A Time to Make Friends" is the motto of this summer's World Cup in Germany. 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