Deutsche Welle English Service News February 18th 2005, 16:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
Bird Flu: Germany Prepares for Worst Case Germany's agriculture minister expects bird flu to spread throughout the country and urged officials to prepare for a worst-case scenario. Efforts to contain the disease have top priority, he said. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1908372,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Win a trip to Germany! ""A Time to Make Friends"" is the motto of this summer's World Cup in Germany. Tell us what you associate with the host country and you could end up winning a trip for two to Germany. To find out more, go to: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1863969,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- New Palestinian parliament sworn in A new Palestinian parliament has been sworn in, in the West Bank town of Ramallah. The new parliament is dominated by the militant group Hamas, which holds 74 of the 132 seats in the assembly. Hamas parliamentarians who are based in the Gaza Strip had took part in the session via video conference because Israel had barred them from crossing its territory to reach the West Bank. Hamas, which does not recognise Israel's right to exist, has nominated a senior Gaza Strip leader, Ismail Haniya as the next prime minister. Israel, meanwhile has delayed a decision on whether to withhold tax revenues and ban Palestinian workers from entering the Jewish state until a cabinet meeting to be held on Sunday. 1,800 dead in Philippines mudslide Relief efforts are continuing on the Philippine island of Leyte, where at least 1,800 people are feared dead after a massive landslide buried an entire village on Friday. The local governor says only 57 people have been rescued and there is little hope of finding any more survivors with rescue efforts hampered by wet weather and mud up to ten metres deep. Philippines President Gloria Arroyo has warned that more mudslides are possible and ordered officials to take precautions. Two United States warships with 17 helicopters and 1,000 troops aboard are also providing aid. Two weeks of heavy rain triggered the collapse of a mountainside, burying hundreds of homes and a primary school. Germany, Austria, India report bird flu In Germany, another 28 wild birds have tested positive for bird flu. This brings the total number of H5N1-strain infections in Germany to 41. That's the strain that can be deadly to humans. On a visit to the site in northern Germany, where the new cases were found, German Agriculture Minister Horst Seehofer said measures were now being implemented to try and halt the spread of the virus. On Friday, Seehofer had criticised the sluggish response of local officials. Elsewhere, India has confirmed its first cases of the H5N1 strain. An official in the state of Maharashtra said 50,000 poultry had died in the past few days. Iran says that 135 dead swans have tested positive for the deadly disease there and bird flu has also been found in at least one swan in Austria. Italian minister resigns over cartoon T-shirt Italian Reforms Minister Roberto Calderoli has resigned. Calderoli had been facing intense pressure by his right-wing Northern Party to step down after he appeared on television wearing a T-shirt displaying a Prophet Mohammed cartoon. This has been blamed for sparking violent protests outside of the Italian consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi on Friday. At least 11 people were shot dead by police. Meanwhile, at least four demonstrators have been injured in clashes with police in Pakistan. Protests in many parts of the Muslim world were sparked by cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed that were first published by a Danish newspaper and then reprinted by several other European dailies. Nine foreign workers kidnapped in Nigeria In Nigeria, armed men have taken nine foreign oil workers hostage in an attack on a facility in the Niger Delta. A spokesman for the Shell energy corporation said the gunmen took the workers hostage after attacking a pipe-laying barge. The gunmen said in a statement issued via e-mail that they belonged to an ethnic Ijaw rebel group. They identified the captives as three Americans, a Briton, two Egyptians, a Filipino and two Thais. They also warned that they planned to step up their war on the oil industry in retaliation for recent government air-strikes. 1,000 search for German plane in Iraq Almost 1,000 rescuers are continuing to search in mountainous northern Iraq on Saturday for a private German plane that apparently crashed two days ago with six people aboard. The Cessna was carrying three German businessmen on a flight from Azerbaijan to the northern Iraqi city of Sulaimaniya when it encountered a heavy snowstorm. Police in Bavaria report the aircraft belongs to a German firm and began its flight in Munich. Officials declined to name the company. Germany leads Olympic medal count At the Winter Olympics in Turin, Germany has won another medal. Sven Fischer took bronze in the men's biathlon 12.5-kilometre pursuit. Earlier, Germany's Kati Wilhelm took the gold medal in the women's 10-kilometre pursuit, with silver going to her teammate Martina Glagow. Germany also took silver in the women's cross country relay. Germany leads the medal count with the medal count with six gold, six silver, and three bronze medals, followed by the United States and Russia. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. 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