Bird flu reached further into Europe on Wednesday, prompting governments across the continent to step up efforts to prevent a potentially devastating outbreak of the H5N1 virus in domestic fowl. Germany became the fourth European Union country to detect H5N1, saying additional tests on two dead swans had confirmed its presence, first shown by preliminary results on Tuesday. Authorities later said they had also found the virus in a hawk. "Unfortunately it has been confirmed that the swans were infected with H5N1 from Asia," Reinhard Kurth, head of the Robert Koch Institute, told German television. "We have no doubts whatsoever any more." Other European countries were testing samples from wild birds, including Poland and Hungary. Results showing H5N1 in either would mark their first cases of the virus which can kill humans in its highly pathogenic form. ... http://abcnews.go.com censor News |
Editor - 10:06:00 02-15-06 |
Parents who caged kids indicted Charges include child endangerment, lying for adoptions |
The parents accused of forcing some of their 11 adopted children to sleep in cages were indicted Tuesday, accused of child endangerment and other offenses.The indictment, handed down Tuesday in Norwalk, Ohio, also accuses Michael and Sharen Gravelle of falsifying adoption applications and lying under oath when being qualified for adoption funding.The Gravelles said the criminal charges filled against them are a government vendetta.They have denied mistreating the children, ages 1 to 15. The youngsters were placed in foster care last fall after a county social worker likened the wood and chicken-wire cages to kennels.... http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/02/15/caged.kids.ap/index.html?section=cnn_us
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Editor - 10:04:00 02-15-06 |
Cheney in spotlight for shooting |
US Vice-President Dick Cheney is to make his first public comments since accidentally shooting his hunting companion on Saturday. Mr Cheney, under growing pressure from politicians and the media to make a statement, will appear on Fox TV. Harry Whittington, 78, was left with pellets in his body after the shooting on a ranch in Texas, leading to a minor heart attack, doctors said. He was moved back into intensive care on Tuesday. The BBC's Justin Webb says the strange affair has become a potential political liability for the White House. Mr Cheney - who visited Mr Whittington in the hospital on Sunday - is scheduled to appear on Fox television on Wednesday. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4715232.stm
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Editor - 10:01:00 02-15-06 |
China defends internet regulation |
China has responded to international criticism of its internet regulations by saying its rules are "fully in line" with the rest of the world. Government official Liu Zhengrong said western criticism of China's internet censorship smacked of double standards. He also said no one had been arrested just for writing online content. According to a BBC correspondent in Beijing, Rupert Wingfield-Hayes, these assertions contrast sharply with a number of recent cases. Several people are reported to have been jailed in recent years for posting information on the internet deemed subversive. Shi Tao, a Chinese journalist, was last year jailed for 10 years for sending foreign-based websites the text of an internal Communist Party message. The Chinese official's comments came amid mounting concern in the US about how its companies are operating in China, because of local regulations. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4715044.stm
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Editor - 09:59:00 02-15-06 |
Disabled Jenin man shot by troops |
A young Palestinian man with learning disabilities has been shot dead by Israeli troops near the West Bank town of Jenin, Palestinian officials said. Mujahid al-Simadi, 20, was shot through the chest during a raid to arrest militants. The Israeli military said its soldiers had seen a "suspect armed with a weapon who was threatening them". A 12-year-old boy was shot dead in the Jenin refugee camp three months ago during a stone-throwing protest. Local residents said Mujahid al-Simadi had gone up to the troops with a toy gun and shouted that they should leave the village. He was among a number of children who had surrounded a house occupied by Israeli soldiers and began to throw stones, Palestinian security sources said. The soldiers opened fire from the house and Mujahid al-Simadi hit in the chest and died immediately, they said. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4715570.stm
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Editor - 09:55:00 02-15-06 |
Tanzania: Food needed for 3.7 million |
Tanzania is appealing for 100,000 metric tons of food aid for 3.7 million people suffering because of a drought, an official said Wednesday.The appeal came two days after the U.N. refugee agency said an average of 100 people from neighboring Burundi flee to western Tanzania every day to escape a punishing drought that has left 2.2 million people in need of food aid in the small central African country.Up to 7 million people in neighboring Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia also are affected by the drought, with the situation in Somalia particularly severe because of its ongoing lawlessness, the International Committee of the Red Cross said Wednesday."The crisis that we are witnessing cannot be expected to end until July," said Jacques de Maio, the Geneva-based ICRC's head of operations for the Horn of Africa. "The places where this is occurring would be a challenge to any government on Earth."... http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/africa/02/15/tanzania.food.ap/index.html?section=cnn_world
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Editor - 09:51:00 02-15-06 |
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